Alex Turner

Alex Turner
Turner performing at Lollapalooza, 2011
Background information
Birth name	Alexander David Turner
Born	(1986-01-06) 6 January 1986 High Green, Sheffield, England
Genres	Indie rock, psychedelic rock, garage rock, post-punk revival, baroque pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, organ, tambourine, bass guitar, xylophone, drums
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Domino
Partner(s)	Arielle vandenberg

Alexander David "Alex" Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and principal songwriter of the English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. Turner has also recorded with a side-project called The Last Shadow Puppets and as a solo artist.

Turner has a baritone vocal range.

Early life

Alexander David Turner is the only child of Penny and David Turner, who taught German and music respectively at Sheffield secondary schools. He was raised in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. As a child, Turner took piano lessons. He attended Stocksbridge High School in Sheffield (1997–2002) and was later remembered by his English teacher, Steve Baker, as "someone unconventional, a little bit different, with a brightness and a cleverness that would serve him well. He had a very original sense of humour. Alex was never particularly vocal, but you could sense when some pieces of poetry moved him."

Turner spent most of his teenage years listening to rap artists such as Roots Manuva. His attentions later turned to guitar music following the breakthrough of The Strokes and The Libertines. Turner also admired The Beatles and aspired to be like them. Turner's parents bought him his first guitar for Christmas 2001. Following sixth form college, where he studied at Barnsley, his parents reluctantly agreed to let him defer university for one year to pursue his musical ambitions. During this time he worked as a barman at the Sheffield venue, The Boardwalk. Turner has since said that, had Arctic Monkeys not become successful, he would have studied English at Manchester University. Though he had a love for guitar, he commented that he spends more time on words to the songs and he tended to listen to them more than to the music in the background.

Career

Arctic Monkeys

Main article: Arctic Monkeys

The band signed to the independent label Domino Records after a bidding war in 2005. Its first album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, released in early 2006, became the fastest-selling debut album in British music history. The band has since released four more albums: Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011), and AM (2013) all reaching No.1 in the UK album charts.

Turner's initial songwriting with Arctic Monkeys was based around specific concepts, particularly on their first album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, which is often considered to be a concept album centered around nightlife in the UK. He later progressed to more varied themes, especially noticeable on Humbug and Suck It and See.

In July 2012, Turner revealed that he had been writing songs for the band's fifth album (later titled AM) while touring the US with The Black Keys.

The Arctic Monkeys' new album AM has been very successful. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics; the album received an average score of 81, based on 34 reviews. Simon Harper of Clash magazine states, "Welding inspiration from hip-hop greats with rock's titans, 'AM' is built upon portentous beats that are dark and intimidating, yet wickedly thrilling." Time Out said of the album, "One of Britain’s greatest bands just got greater in an unexpected but hugely welcome way. Single men, I urge you: put down FHM and pick up AM." In their 10/10 review, NME wrote that AM is "absolutely and unarguably the greatest record of their career." Tim Jonze of The Guardian noted that the album "manages to connect those different directions – the muscular riffs of Humbug and the wistful pop of Suck It and See – with the bristling energy and sense of fun that propelled their initial recordings."

The Last Shadow Puppets

Main article: The Last Shadow Puppets

In August 2007, plans were announced for Turner to record an album with Miles Kane, James Ford, and Owen Pallett.

The album, The Age of the Understatement, was released on 21 April 2008 and reached number one in its first week. Towards the end of 2008 they completed a small tour, backed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, starting at Portsmouth Guildhall on 19 August.

Solo work

Turner wrote and performed all six tracks for the soundtrack for Submarine, the first feature film by Richard Ayoade, a friend and director of various Arctic Monkeys music videos. The soundtrack was released on 18 March 2011 in the UK and US.

Collaborations

In October 2008, Turner made his debut as a short story writer, performing a spoken word track "A Choice of Three" on his bandmate's compilation Late Night Tales: Matt Helders. Turner worked with Dizzee Rascal on the song "Temptation Greets You Like Your Naughty Friend" from Arctic Monkeys' Brianstorm EP and "Temptation" from Rascal's album Maths and English. Turner also appears in the Reverend and the Makers song "The Machine" from their first album The State Of Things. In 2011, Turner also contributed by writing and co-writing six songs on Miles Kane's first album Colour of the Trap, a role that will be taken by Paul Weller for Kane's second album. He also co-wrote the song "First of My Kind" with Kane and Eugene McGuinness for Record Store Day 2012 and played bass guitar on "Get Right," a B-side to Kane's single, "Don't Forget Who You Are." Turner has also collaborated with Queens of the Stone Age on their sixth studio album ...Like Clockwork, which was released on 4 June 2013. In this album, Turner's vocals are featured in track four, "If I Had a Tail", and he helped Josh Homme, lead singer of Queens of the Stone Age, write the lyrics for track six, "Kalopsia."

Equipment

Electric guitars

• Gibson Les Paul (2009-present)
• Fender Jazzmaster (2008-present)
• Gretsch Duo Jet (2012-present)
• Vox Starstream XII (2013-present)
• Gretsch Country Gentleman 12-String (2013)
• Fender Stratocaster (2005-2008)
• Ovation Viper (2009-2010)
• Fender Bronco (2005-2011)
• Gretsch Spectra Sonic Baritone (2007-2012)
• Warmoth Custom Jazzmaster (2009-2012)
• Martin GT-75 (2007-present)

Acoustic guitars

• Gibson J-45 (2008-present)
• Epiphone J-45 (2013)
• Gibson J-200 (2005)

Keyboards

• Vox Super Continental Organ (2007-2009)

Personal life

Turner had a two-year relationship with then-Goldsmiths College student Johanna Bennett from 2005 to 2007. He had a four-year relationship with television presenter Alexa Chung from mid-2007 to mid-2011; they divided their time between London and New York City. Turner has been dating Arielle Vandenberg since August 2011; the two live in Los Angeles together.

Discography

Solo

Extended plays

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		UK	FRA	IRL
Submarine	Released: 18 March 2011 Label: Domino	35	97	56

Other

Arctic Monkeys

Main article: Arctic Monkeys discography

• 2006 – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
• 2007 – Favourite Worst Nightmare
• 2009 – Humbug
• 2011 – Suck It and See
• 2013 – AM

The Last Shadow Puppets

Main article: The Last Shadow Puppets discography

• 2008 – The Age Of The Understatement

Collaborations

• 2007 – Reverend and The Makers – The State of Things (writer and vocalist on "The Machine", co-writer of "He Said He Loved Me" and "Armchair Detective")
• 2007 – Dizzee Rascal – Maths + English ("Temptation")
• 2009 – Matt Helders – Late Night Tales: Matt Helders ("A Choice of Three")
• 2011 – Miles Kane – Colour of the Trap (co-writer of "Rearrange", "Counting Down the Days", "Happenstance", "Telepathy", "Better Left Invisible" and "Colour of the Trap")
• 2012 – Miles Kane – First of My Kind EP (co-writer of "First of My Kind")
• 2013 – Miles Kane – Don't Forget Who You Are (co-writer and bassist on B-side "Get Right")
• 2013 – Queens of the Stone Age – ...Like Clockwork (co-writer of "Kalopsia" and guest vocalist on "If I Had a Tail")

External links

• arcticmonkeys.com
• thelastshadowpuppets.com