Arctic Monkeys

Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
	File:Arctic monkeys.png
Background information
Origin	Sheffield, England
Years active	2002–present
Members	Alex Turner; Jamie Cook; Andy Nicholson; Matt Helders

Arctic Monkeys are a four-piece indie rock band from High Green, Sheffield, England. Their debut single, "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor", went straight to number one in the UK Singles Chart. Described as a northern Libertines, their post-punk/dance-punk sound and wry lyrics have also been compared to the The Jam, Pulp and The Streets.

Established in 2002, the band consists of:-

Alex Turner: guitar, vocals
Jamie 'Cookie' Cook: guitar
Andy Nicholson: bass
Matt Helders: drums

Early years - 2002 to May 2005

The band were formed in 2002, not named after Cook's uncle's band from the 1970s, despite what they told the press. They first started to gain the attention of the mainstream public when their demos were made available to download on the internet in late 2004. Around this time they began to receive a great deal of attention from BBC Radio 1 and the British tabloid press for their catchy songs and witty lyrics. Their first gig came at the The Grapes in their home town of Sheffield.

Their appearance on the Carling Stage at the 2005 Reading and Leeds Festivals was hyped by much of the music press – NME in particular – and the band was received by an unusually large crowd for the billing they played. The critically acclaimed performance even included spontaneous sing-alongs from the band's most devoted fans. Impressively, this included tracks that were only available as demos on the internet. It was at this time that vocalist Alex Turner took the opportunity to rebuff claims that his band could not live up to the hype that has followed their emergence, and declared, "It feels like a moment, us playing here."

The band made their London debut in February 2005 at the popular Indie club night "Flook", playing Upstairs at the Garage in Highbury. The 200-capacity show sold out just ten minutes after doors were opened. Also on the bill that night were East London band The Chineapples.

In May 2005, Arctic Monkeys released their first EP, Five Minutes with the Arctic Monkeys, featuring the songs "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and "From the Ritz to the Rubble". This release was limited to 1000 CDs and 500 7" records, but was also available to download from the iTunes Music Store.

Their popularity rocketed following several shows, which notably impressed many who went to them. Beneath the Boardwalk – the renamed demo CD made available on the website of an individual calling himself "The Sheriff" – quickly became available on several "illegal" peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. The scale of this grass roots buzz became apparent when, in October 2005, the band played at a sold out London Astoria and 2000 fans sang the words to every song, despite the fact that the band had only released one record. The band declared their rampant rise to stardom via the Internet "amazing", although adding "I'm sure one day it will come back and bite us in the arse". The band's novel method of reaching the number 1 spot has led some to suggest that it could signal a change in how new bands achieve recognition. [1]

In November 2005, the band were voted Best New Act by their peers at the 2005 Muso Awards ceremony in London.

Domino years - June 2005 to present

The grass-roots, chat-room frenzy surrounding the band eventually lured record company scouts. Fast becoming a pop phenomenon, the band were signed by Domino Records in June 2005. The UK's Daily Star tabloid newspaper reported that this was followed in October 2005 by a £1m publishing deal with EMI and a £725,000 contract with Epic for the United States [2]. This was strenously denied, however, on the band's offical website, which dubbed the paper "The Daily Stir".

Their first single since signing to Domino, "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor", was released on 17 October 2005 and went straight to #1 on the UK Singles Chart, selling 38,962 copies and beating McFly and Robbie Williams in the process. Three days later, the band made their first appearance on the cover of NME. Their second single, "When The Sun Goes Down", will be released on 16 January 2006, having been renamed from its orignal guise as "Scummy".

The band finished recording their debut album at a studio in Lincolnshire in September 2005. Its name was confirmed as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in early December, before its release date of 23 January 2006. The album has been hailed by the press as the most anticipated debut album since Definitely Maybe. It is widely expected to be one of the biggest releases of 2006, with thousands of copies already pre-ordered. However, many tracks were already freely available to download from the band's earlier demos. On the 5th of January 2006 it was announced that the release date for the album was to be brought forward a week to the 23rd of January due to high demand (though there has been speculation that it was actually due to the album's leak and the impact of file sharing).

Discography

Television appearances

October 2005 saw the group appear on Popworld (15 October 2005), E4 Music and Later with Jools Holland (28 October 2005). On 12 November 2005, the Monkeys' Liverpool gig was featured on MTV2's Gonzo on Tour; in fact, the channel rushed the footage onto the channel two weeks prior to the rest of the Gonzo On Tour, the week they hit number one, and proceeded to repeat the footage several times a day.

Tours

Debut World Tour

The Monkeys' debut world tour began in Liverpool on 2 October 2005. Beginning with performances across Britain, the tour included gigs in The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Canada and the USA. Although originally scheduled to finish in Tokyo, Japan, on 23 November, further dates were subsequently added in Spain, Sweden and Denmark for December 2005.

The UK leg of the tour saw every show selling out and some venues having to be upgraded to handle the demand. Tickets with a face value of £7 were being resold on eBay for over £100 a pair. The band's home gig in Sheffield had a second night added due to floor space being required for a film crews.

NME Awards Tour

January and February 2006 will see the band playing alongside Maxïmo Park, We Are Scientists and Mystery Jets on the NME Awards tour. The tour consists of a series of gigs in the UK and Ireland, including London, Manchester, Dublin and Edinburgh.

External links

Official Links

Other Links