The overnight success of the band and the gritty, realistic nature of the lyrics of songs such as "When The Sun Goes Down" has led to the band being described as the "yardstick for all that is current and cool"."Monkey business", BBC News, 2006-09-26. Despite such recognition, the band remains notoriously media shy; they declined to appear on either Top of the Pops or CD:UK after "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" reached number one, while journalists described their behaviour during a press conference following winning the Mercury Prize as "petulant" and "argumentative"."The Arctic Monkeys' stellar rise", BBC News, 2006-09-06.
The Arctic Monkeys playing at the Newcastle Academy on the NME Tour.
At concerts, the band are better known for their sing-along nature and fan participation than for excessive lighting effects, pyrotechnics or other effects. Fans frequently join in, with the entire intro to "When The Sun Goes Down" typically sung by the crowd."Arctic Monkeys review: Reading Festival", NME, 2 September2006. However, their somewhat frugal shows have sometimes been criticised by reviewers. NME compared their performance at the 2006 Reading Festival unfavourably to that of Muse, who followed immediately after, using a multitude of fireworks and lighting effects, claiming that "in contrast to Muse's all-flashing, all-smoke-spewing, all-fire-raining slot, [Arctic Monkeys] simply stroll on without even the common courtesy of shoving up a backdrop", adding that band were too "self-conscious" and failed to be "the rock stars they've actually earned the right to be".
In 2001, neighbours Alex Turner and Jamie Cook asked for instruments as a Christmas present and both received electric guitars.Siberok, Martin. "Brits go bananas", Hour.ca, 2006-03-16. Retrieved on 2006-06-09. After teaching themselves to play, the pair formed a band with Turner's school friends Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders in 2002. Nicholson already played bass, so Matt Helders ended up on drums — "that was all that were left...they all had guitars so I bought a drum kit after a bit." Although reports suggested they named themselves after Helders' uncle's (or even father's) band, Helders later admitted that these reports were untrue, claiming "we made that up ‘cause we got so many people asking us that in the UK, so we just started making stories up",Park, Dave (2005-11-21). Arctic Monkeys aren't fooling around (Part I) (HTML). Prefix Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-06-12. and that he just didn't have the heart to tell the original reporter he'd been lying. Jamie Cook came up with the name at school before the band existed. According to Helders "He just always wanted to be in a band called Arctic Monkeys. Which is a cool name."
They began rehearsing at Yellow Arch Studios in Neepsend,Aizlewood, John. "Monkeys are top of the tree", Evening Standard, 2006-01-27. Retrieved on 2006-01-27. and their first gig came on 13 June2003 at The Grapes in Sheffield city-centre.Artist Profile — Arctic Monkeys (HTML). EMI. Retrieved on 2006-06-07. After a few performances, they began to record demos and burn them onto CDs to give away at gigs. With a limited number of CDs available, fans began to rip the music back onto their computers and share it amongst themselves. The group did not mind, saying "we never made those demos to make money or anything. We were giving them away free anyway — that was a better way for people to hear them. And it made the gigs better, because people knew the words and came and sang along." They themselves took no responsibility for their music, admitting that they did not even know how to get their songs onto the Internet. When asked about the popularity of the band's MySpace site in an interview with Prefix Magazine, the band pointed out that they did not even know what MySpace was, and that the site had originally been created by their fans. "[When we went number one in England] we were on the news and radio about how MySpace has helped us. But that's just the perfect example of someone who doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. We actually had no idea what it was."
In late 2004, they began to grow in popularity across the north of England,Brandle, Lars. "Fever rises for Arctic Monkeys", Monsters & Critics, 2006-01-30. Retrieved on 2006-06-08. receiving attention from BBC Radio 1 and the British tabloid press. Mark Bull, a local amateur photographer, filmed the band's performances and made the music video to "Fake Tales of San Francisco", releasing it on his web-site, alongside the contents of Beneath the Boardwalk — a collection of the band's songs which he named after a local music venue.
In May 2005, Arctic Monkeys released their first EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, featuring the songs "Fake Tales of San Francisco" and "From the Ritz to the Rubble". This release was limited to 1500 CDs and 2000 7" records, but was also available to download from the iTunes Music Store. Soon after, the band played at the Carling Stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals, reserved for less known or unsigned bands. Their appearance was hyped by much of the music press and the band was received by an unusually large crowd for the billing they played. The critically acclaimedDyson, Matt (2005-08-30). Review: Arctic Monkeys (HTML). BBC. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. performance included spontaneous singalongs of tracks that were only available as demos on the Internet.
Record deals: Mid 2005
The band resisted signing to a record label, refusing to change their songs to suit the industry — "Before the hysteria started, the labels would say, 'I like you, but I'm not sure about this bit, and that song could do with this changing...' We never listened." Their cynicism with the industry was such that record company scouts were refused guaranteed guest list entry for their gigs, a move described by MTV Australia as "We've got this far without them — why should we let them in?".Arctic Monkeys (HTML). MTV Australia. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. The success of the strategy was illustrated with a series of sell-out gigs across the UK. October 2005 saw them sell out the historic London Astoria, and Turner saw this as proof that they were justified to ignore the record companies, saying "Once it all kicked off, we didn't care anymore. In London, the kids were watching the band, and the record company were at the back watching the kids watching the band."
Eventually, they signed to Domino Records in June 2005. The band almost signed to an undisclosed "other label", but were attracted to the "DIY ethic" of Domino owner Laurence Bell, who ran the label from his flat and only signed bands that he liked personally.McKay, Alastair. "Record labels: The Domino effect", The Independent, 2006-02-03. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. 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.Colothan, Scott. "Arctic Monkeys Sign £1million Publishing Deal", Gigwise, 2005-10-07. Retrieved on 2005-10-19. Arctic Monkeys denied this on their website, dubbing the newspaper "The Daily Stir". However, Domino have licensed the Australian and New Zealand publishing rights to EMI and the Japanese rights to independent label Hostess.
Initial releases: October 2005 — January 2006
Arctic Monkeys appear on the cover of October 2005's NME magazine following their debut Number One single.
They finished recording their debut album at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire during September 2005. Its name was confirmed as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not in early December, with release originally intended for 30 January 2006. Although early versions of many tracks were already freely available to download from the band's pre-label demo CDs, it was widely expected to be one of the biggest releases of 2006 with thousands of copies pre-ordered. On 5 January 2006, Domino announced the album's release would be brought forward one week to the 23 January claiming that this was "due to high demand". While the same thing was done with the release of Franz Ferdinand, there has been continued speculation that the move came as a result of the album's leak and the impact of file sharing — a controversial suggestion given the part file-sharing played in establishing the band's fanbase.
Nicholson departure; Mercury Prize: April — September 2006
In a similar fashion to bands such as Oasis and The Smiths, Arctic Monkeys wasted no time in recording new material, and released a 5-track EP on 24 April 2006, entitled Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys, and was seen by critics as a swipe back at the snowballing hype surrounding the band. Due to its length, the EP was ineligible to chart as a UK single or album. Furthermore, the record's bad language has resulted in significantly less radio airplay than previous records, although this was not a reported concern — "since they made their name on the internet — and that got them a No.1 single and album — they don't care if they don't get radio play".Kilkelly, Daniel. "Arctic Monkeys plan foul-mouthed EP", Digital Spy, 2006-03-25. Retrieved on 2006-03-25.
However, soon after the release of the EP in the UK, the band announced that bassist Andy Nicholson would not take part in the band's forthcoming North America tour due to "fatigue following an intensive period of touring"."Arctic Monkeys lose a member", NME, 2006-05-26. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. Upon their return to the UK, it was confirmed on the band's official website that Nicholson had indeed left the band. The statement, "We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with the band", also confirmed that Nick O'Malley — former bassist with Arctic Monkeys' fellow Sheffield band, The Dodgems, who had drafted in as temporary bassist for the tour — would continue as bassist for the rest of their summer tour schedule.Alex Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt Helders. "Andy Nicholson", www.arcticmonkeys.com, 2006-06-19. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. Shortly after, Nick O'Malley was confirmed as a full-time member and bassist of the band.
The band have revealed that they are well on their way to recording their second full album, having already penned at least 10 tracks."Arctic Monkeys talk new material", NME, 2006-03-29. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. They have been writing new material since May 2005, and have stated their reluctance to "live off old records" for a long period of time. Jamie Cook suggested that their new album was to be recorded in August 2006, adding "I couldn’t see us being like Coldplay... You tour your album for three years and play the same fucking gig night after night... Some people might enjoy doing that, but we couldn’t."Gottlieb, Jed. "Young Brains", San Diego CityBeat, 2006-05-31. Retrieved on 2006-05-31.
The band have received criticism, based largely around the media circus that has surrounded their rise.Hanley, Lynsey. "Monkeymania", New Statesman, 2006-01-30. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. Critics described them as one in a long line of largely overhyped "NME bands", while the release of the EP Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys just three months after their record-breaking debut album has been criticised by some, who have seen it as "money-grabbing" and "cashing in on their success"."Arctic Monkeys defend EP release", NME, 2006-04-18. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. However, the band countered that they regularly release new music not to make money, but to avoid the "boredom" of "spending three years touring on one album".
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