Arctic Monkeys

The Artic Monkeys formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Matt Helders (drums, vocals), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), and Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals). Former band member Andy Nicholson (bass guitar, backing vocals) left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released.

There is always that one band that comes along when you are 14 or 15 years old that manages to hit you in just the right way and changes your whole perception of things.

It was 2002, we all got guitars for Christmas and started playing in my garage that summer, rehearsed there and in a warehouse for a bit for about a year. We did our first gig in June 2003 and we played a few gigs in and around Sheffield for a bit then started doing gigs outside of Sheffield - recording demos while all this was going on.

They have released six studio albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006), Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011), AM (2013) and Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018), in addition to as the live album, At the Apollo (2008). 

Someone asked me what the key to being a good frontman was, and I think having a sense of humor about it is pretty near the top of that list. It's a very strange place to be in, and I don't take that role too seriously.

Their debut album is the fastest-selling debut album by a band in UK chart history, and in 2013, Rolling Stone ranked it the 30th-greatest debut album.

There's something about a Gucci loafer kicking on a fuzz pedal.

A key part of their sound, and one that translates across their whole discography, is lead singer and frontman Alex Turner's intricate and often rapidly delivered lyrics, sung in a distinctive strong Sheffield accent that their music became famed for in their early years. A large part of their iconic British sound is credited to the punk poet John Cooper Clarke.

Every time you write a song, you're looking for some sort of perfection, and you never quite reach it. You're always looking for that extra missing piece.

Sometimes writing songs is like waiting for deliveries.

I know my lyrics might be weird to some, but they're not like that to me because I know where they come from - I know the secret.

I think I'm alright as a lyricist, you know? But then what will happen every couple of months or so is that I'll hear a song I've never heard before and feel I've gone right back to square one.

The band has won seven Brit Awards – winning both Best British Group and Best British Album three times, and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards.

They also won the Mercury Prize in 2006 for their debut album, in addition to receiving nominations in 2007, 2013 and 2018. The band have headlined at the Glastonbury Festival twice, in 2007 and again in 2013.

Rock'n'roll will never go away completely because it's so fundamentally attractive.

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