Alex Turner
Background information
Birth name	Alexander David Turner
Born	January 6, 1986 (1986-01-06) (age 21)
Origin	Sheffield, England
Genre(s)	Indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar Vocals Combo organ
Label(s)	Domino Records
Associated acts	Arctic Monkeys
Notable instrument(s)
Fender Stratocaster Fender Bronco

Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician and member of Sheffield band, Arctic Monkeys. He is the band's lead vocalist and plays guitar for the band, as well as being the songwriter.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Forming the band 3 New Project 4 Equipment 5 Private life 6 References 7 External links

Early life

The only-child of two teachers, Turner received his first guitar as a Christmas present in 2001 along with neighbour Jamie Cook. According to Turner, Oasis gave him the desire to play the guitar, while the antics of Craig Nicholls - lead singer of Australian rock band The Vines - left him thinking "That's what being a singer is all about". Turner suggests that his performances attempt to replicate those of Nicholls, saying "When we play, I'll do what Craig Nicholls does, be all spaced out." However, it has been the influence of his mother and father (through their teaching of German and Music respectively) has helped hone his interest in language and his attention to musical detail:

"Me mum, not only is she like a linguist or whatever, but she's always fascinated by words that mean summat. She's a big one for underlining things in books. For me birthday she gave me this book with all little things that she’d written down out of books. She's good like that. I’ll be like, 'What does this word mean?', and she can tell me."

Forming the band

See also: Arctic Monkeys members

Along with Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders, Turner attended at Stocksbridge High School , and formed Arctic Monkeys in 2003. Turner used to work at the bar in local concert venues, and stated "it really annoyed me when bands would come on and say 'We've got CDs at the back for sale - three pounds each'... you'd think 'Fuck off, who do you think you are?'" . On this basis, Arctic Monkeys gave away free demo CDs at their gigs.

Turner has always been the band's main songwriter, and his sharp and cutting observations of inner city England have drawn comparisons to The Streets' frontman Mike Skinner. However, Turner has admitted that during the early days of the band "nobody wanted to admit they wrote [the lyrics] so we kept trying other singers so they'd do it for us." Despite enjoying songwriting, Turner shyed away from acknowledgment because he "didn't want to have piss took out of [him]!" However, songwriting he has suggested that he has always enjoyed songwriting and that since getting his guitar, has spent most of his spare moments penning new lyrics, as "that’s what [he]'d feel comfortable doing. Describing the manner in which he constructs his lyrics, Turner says

"I'll think about something and I'll be writing, penning something down and I'll keep building on that. The best stuff comes when I’ve got a melody and a rhythm so I know how many syllables each line is going to have and then build it up from there, and make it a whole thing, and try and pay attention to every aspect."

New Project

Plans have been announced for Turner to record an album with friend Miles Kane and producer James Ford. Kane, formerly of reccurrent Arctic Monkeys support act The Little Flames, announced the project on August 2, 2007. The as-yet-untitled project will feature Turner and Kane sharing vocal, guitar and bass duties with Ford playing drums.

Equipment

Turner has almost always played an Arctic White Fender Stratocaster guitar as well as a black fender Bronco up to the release of the band's new single "Brianstorm" and the second album Favourite Worst Nightmare. Any relation between the band name and Turner's guitar colour is as of yet unconfirmed. Generally, during the recent performances, Alex would only play the Bronco but switch to a Gretsch Spectra Sonic when playing "If You Were There, Beware". He uses Orange AD30T amplifiers. He has also been using Bad Cat amps recently. Turner has been known to use an Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi stompbox for distortion on "whatever people say i am, thats what im not" and a proco rat stomp box on "Favourite Worst Nightmare"

Private life

Turner has maintained a very private life, and shunned media publicity when declared the Coolest Man On The Planet by NME magazine in December 2005. He has distanced himself from the celebrity lifestyle, he and the band are often spotted around Sheffield, supporting local bands, returning to clubs such as 'The Leadmill' and watching their football team Sheffield Wednesday. Like the other members, he rarely comments on his personal relationships. Blender magazine have described him as "the least talkative member of the group, chewing over his answers for so long that he ends up doubting his own words" .

The song Fluorescent Adolescent is the only song co-credited to Alex Turner's former girlfriend Johanna Bennett.

References

1. Index of Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales, 1984-2005.
2. "Brits go bananas", Hour.ca, 16 March 2006. 
3. "The Things They Say 4081", contactmusic.com, 2007-02-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-19. 
4. "Arctic donkey", The Sun, Retrieved 9 June 2006. 
5. Arctic Monkey plans side project
6. "Who the fuck are Arctic Monkeys?", Daily Vanguard, 2 June 2006. 
7. "I want to sound like...Arctic Monkeys", NME, 2006-02-15. Retrieved on 2007-05-17. 
8. "The Lads Are Alright", Blender, May 2006. 

External links

• Video interview with Alex Turner at 2007 NME Awards

v • d • e Arctic Monkeys
Alex Turner • Jamie Cook • Matthew Helders • Nick O'Malley
Andy Nicholson • Glyn Jones
Discography
Albums: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not • Favourite Worst Nightmare
EPs: Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys • Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys
Compilations: Beneath the Boardwalk
Singles: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" • "When the Sun Goes Down" • "Leave Before the Lights Come On" • "Fake Tales of San Francisco" • "Brianstorm"  • "Matador"  • "Fluorescent Adolescent"  • "Old Yellow Bricks
Related articles
Arctic Monkeys tour history • Scummy Man • Domino