This document contains research on the Arctic Monkeys band from multiple sources. It summarizes articles about a criticism of their live shows from the band Orwells, interviews with Alex Turner discussing their progression and albums, and a Wikipedia article providing background on the band members, albums, and awards. Research topics proposed include finding full interviews and analyzing fan and critic reactions to their albums. The document aims to understand different perspectives on the Arctic Monkeys' music and live performances.

1. Artist Research – Arctic Monkeys
Hayley Roberts

2. Secondary Research

3. Further Research
I could try and find the
source where Matt O’Keefe
from Orwells says his piece
about The Arctic Monkeys
and how he found the
experience. This would help
me broaden my research
for this article by finding
supporting articles/videos
of him saying everything
that was put into the article
as this then backs up the
research that I did.
Dallas Observer Blogs (Oct 30th 2014) -
http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2014/10/arctic_monkeys_verizon_theatre_review.php
Summery
This article is a summery from one of their gigs at
the Verizon Theatre as one of the guitarists from
the supporting act (Orwells) critisised their
performance and the band itself and wasn’t
impressed. The journalist H. Drew Blackburn goes
through the songs in the order they were sang
and gets a reaction from what Alex Turner
thought of the criticism. It also expresses what
the journalist thinks of The Arctic Monkeys and
the performance they put on at the gig by saying
they proved they are the best band on the planet
from the performance they had given.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys,
Verizon Theatre, gig,
Orwells, Matt O’Keefe,
criticism, best, band,
planet, AM, Alex Turner,
Thank, God, hip, Backstreet
Boys,
Quotes
“They should have been out trying to get laid instead of watching us every night”
Quote from Alex Turner. Article by H. Drew Blackburn (From the Dallas Observer Blogs on
30th Oct 2014)
“So what if every show was the same? The Arctic Monkeys are the best rock band on the
planet and they proved it last night at the Verizon Theatre”
Quote from H. Drew Blackburn (From the Dallas Observer Blogs on 30th Oct 2014)
“Guitarist Matt O'Keefe called the band a “hip Backstreet Boys” and claimed that if you saw
a show once, then that's fine, nothing ever changes. It's Groundhog Day up there.”
Quote from H. Drew Blackburn (From the Dallas Observer Blogs on 30th Oct 2014)

4. Further Research
For further research I could
look at videos from several
venues from one of their
tours so I could get a sense
of what Matt O’Keefe is
saying and see if it’s true. I
could also look at articles to
get Alex Turner’s side of the
story and how he feels the
shows go and how the band
mates feel the show is
going as well with the
production too.
Gigwise (Apr 16th 2014) –
http://www.gigwise.com/news/90254/the-orwells-on-repetitive-arctic-monkeys-live-shows
Summery
This article is to support my first article as it has
more of an interview between the journalist and
guitarist, Matt O’Keefe. He is explaining all the
good and bad points from supporting The Arctic
Monkeys but mainly goes into detail about how
the shows were exactly the same and had the
same production even in the bigger venues.
Compared to the last article, this one gives more
of Matt’s side to the story and there are a lot
more quotes to support the article rather than
the journalist explaining what had happened and
what was said and is a lot more unbiased.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys, Alex
Turner, gig, Orwells, Matt
O’Keefe, Mario, Cuomo,
band, production, unique,
Luke Nirvana, boring,
supporting act, venues

5. Quotes
"When you're playing arenas and everything, it's a huge production then the show has to become
synchronised to work. Because you have all these people relying on these songs and this you're goin to
do here.”
Quote from Matt O’Keefe. Article by Edward Keeble and Andrew Trendell (From Gigwise on 16th Apr
2014)
"So every night no matter how he was feeling he'd go into that opening riff . It was the exact same ad-libs
he was putting between the songs. So we were with them for about 50 dates, you saw them once
and you'd pretty much seen every date that they'd played.”
Quote from Matt O’Keefe. Article by Edward Keeble and Andrew Trendell (From Gigwise on 16th Apr
2014)
"You can reach that level without turning into that," he said. "Like Nirvana played bigger shit than that
and I'm sure it wasn't like that and it's probably a different show every night. You don't have to take
that route, you can get that level of success with those size venues, that sort of thing but still treat it as
a spontaneous show at a small club.”
Quote from Mario Cuomo. Article by Edward Keeble and Andrew Trendell (From Gigwise on 16th Apr
2014)
"So it all just depends on the band, what they're going for and what they feel comfortable with. Like I
would feel super uncomfortable if I knew what I was going to say in between songs.”
Quote from Mario Cuomo. Article by Edward Keeble and Andrew Trendell (From Gigwise on 16th Apr
2014)

6. Further Research
For further research I could
look at different video
reactions from some of the
fans to see what they think
of the album. I could then
look at different peoples
opinions who might not be
as enthusiastic about the
album just to get different
views of different people. I
could also look at more
statistics about the album
(to do with the awards it
has won).
Yankton Daily (Nov 3rd 2014) –
http://www.yankton.net/woksape/article_618f55fc-6396-11e4-ba95-9f76cdc4c861.html
Summery
This article is basically summing up the AM
album written by The Arctic Monkeys. The
journalist goes into detail about the song order
and what the journalist thinks is the best songs.
He also goes into detail about the messages from
a few of the bands songs (“Do I Wanna Know and
R U Mine) and what he thinks The Arctic
Monkeys are trying to get across. At first in the
article, the journalist starts talking about some of
the background of the AM album and when it
was released and some of the awards it has won
so that the audience reading the article get a
sense of ‘how good’ this album is as this is what
the journalist is trying to get across. It then ends
by the journalist promoting the album by saying
how “enjoyable” and “near perfect” the album is.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys, AM,
album, R U Mine, Do I
Wanna Know, enjoyable,
near perfect, best, awards,
statistics, beautiful
Quotes
“AM is a beautiful response to critics claiming that Arctic Monkeys were washed up.”
Quote from Jacob Selgestad. Article by Jacob Selgestad (From the Yankton Daily on 3rd
Nov 2014)
“There are no bad songs on the album. However, aside from “R U Mine” and “Do I Wanna
Know” the tracks “Arabella” and “Knee Socks” do stand out from the rest of the field.”
Quote from Jacob Selgestad. Article by Jacob Selgestad (From the Yankton Daily on 3rd
Nov 2014)
“AM is a near perfect album that has great listenability. It combines elements of pop and
rock perfectly to make the album enjoyable for everyone.”
Quote from Jacob Selgestad. Article by Jacob Selgestad (From the Yankton Daily on 3rd
Nov 2014)

7. Further Research
For some further research, I
could try and find the full
interview if there is one as
this article only has one
quote from Alex Turner and
the whole article is based
on an interview that he did.
This would then give me
more of an understanding
as to what they were
interviewing him on and
what his answers were. I
could also look into more
statistics on the albums
that they have released.
GRAMMY.com (Aug 19th 2014) –
http://www.grammy.com/news/arctic-monkeys-stormy-progression
Summery
This article is part of an interview that the
journalist had with Alex Turner from The Arctic
Monkeys. He expresses how the band felt before
the AM album was released and he also
explained why they felt that way. The journalist
gives some background knowledge on where the
band was formed and how they got to where
they are today. It also lists the albums they have
released and the year they were released and the
GRAMMY nominations they were up for. It also
goes into detail about how far the album AM
went when it was released and explains that the
band are in the middle of an international tour.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys,
AM, Suck It And See,
Humbug, alternative,
music, Jamie Cook,
Matt Helders, Alex
Turner, Nick
O’Malley, Yorkshire,
international tour,
GRAMMY, No. 1,
Favourite Worst
Nightmare,
nominations, 2003,
Do I Wanna Know

8. Quotes
“We were definitely jumping for joy before we put [AM] out"
Quote from Alex Turner. (From GRAMMY.com on 19th Aug 2014)
"Not because we thought we were about to sell a s***load of records, but because it felt like we'd
made a genuine progression from where we started out and to what I think is a more interesting
musical landscape that we're occupying now."
Quote from Alex Turner. (From GRAMMY.com on 19th Aug 2014)
“Formed in 2003 in Yorkshire, England, Arctic Monkeys feature Jamie Cook (guitar), Matt Helders
(drums), Nick O'Malley (bass), and Turner.”
Quote from GRAMMY.com. (From GRAMMY.com on 19th Aug 2014)
“After attracting a sizeable fan base by distributing their demos on the Internet, the band signed with
indie label Domino Records.”
Quote from GRAMMY.com. (From GRAMMY.com on 19th Aug 2014)
“In 2006 Arctic Monkeys released their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,
which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and became the fastest-selling debut album by a band
in UK history.”
Quote from GRAMMY.com. (From GRAMMY.com on 19th Aug 2014)
“With the release of AM, Arctic Monkeys made history as the first independent group to score five
consecutive UK No. 1 albums. AM peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, marking their highest-charting
album in the U.S. to date.”
Quote from GRAMMY.com. (From GRAMMY.com on 19th Aug 2014)

9. Further Research
To look further into this, I could watch other videos that have been
based on interviewing the Arctic Monkeys. In this interview Matt
Schichter quoted from another interview that they were in so I
could have a look at that video interview so I could get a better
understanding of what Matt Schichter is trying to get that.
Quotes
“The Beatles stuff is simple too but it’s just what works”
Quote from Matt Schichter. (From YouTube – Jul 21st 2014)
“It’s harder to do that sometimes… keep it simple”
Quote from Matt Helders. (From YouTube – Jul 21st 2014)
“At first it was a bit lumpy, but yeah, a year later it’s all, er, what has
it done… it’s all melted into one goo”
Quote from Alex Turner. (From YouTube – Jul 21st 2014)
“I suppose that’s essentially what the approach is from that lyric”
Quote from Alex Turner. (From YouTube – Jul 21st 2014)
“If someone comes up to you and doesn’t know who you are,
where would you want them to start?”
Quote from Matt Schichter. (From YouTube – Jul 21st 2014)
“Humbug if your American”
Quote from Matt Helders. (From YouTube – Jul 21st 2014)
YouTube (Jul 21st
2014) –
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=APk4I0s
Nsn8
Summery
This video is an interview in Toronto with Matt Schichter from MSN Entertainment about the band itself and how they
create music. The interview involves talking about how hard it is to keep music simple and they talk about the single
‘Do I Wanna Know’ a lot and the lyrics in the song. They also talk about if new people want to start listening to the
Arctic Monkeys then where should they start (what album they should listen to first) and they also talk about the
album Humbug and how it was a turning point for the Arctic Monkeys. The whole interview is really relaxed as there is
members of the public on the river who don’t know who they are and so they are just talking to them as if they were
just normal people so it becomes really relaxed and the journalist has a laugh with Alex Turner too. A lot of the public
are shouting for Alex and there is a lot of fans gathering around the river and it shows how popular they have got over
the years. It becomes a really laid back interview and is informal as well and besides talking about the Arctic Monkeys
themselves and their success they talk about things that they do generally (e.g. acting out romance novels and reads
them out too). They then discuss about the song ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ and they discuss the lyrics for the song and how
they came up with them and they discuss who taught Alex to start writing lyrics. At the end of the interview they do 5
quick questions which is about where they prefer to play and it just rounds the interview off in a simple way.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys,
Matt Schichter, Do I
Wanna Know, MSN
Entertainment,
funny, relaxed, lyrics,
interview, Humbug,
jet ski, Toronto

10. Wikipedia (Last Modified) Nov 11th 2014 –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Monkeys
Summery
This whole web page is about the background of
the Arctic Monkeys and goes through all the
events and albums they have done up to the year
2014. It goes into detail about who is in the band
and when Andy Nicholson left the band early on
and where they have progressed since then. It
goes through the history of the band and how
they started out and it talks about the early
record deals and the early years of the Arctic
Monkeys. It then goes through every album they
have released and gone through the statistics on
the albums and how well they have done. It goes
into the band personnel, the awards they have
won over the time and it goes into detail about
their tours. It’s the source of all information
about the Arctic Monkeys and explains
everything.
Further Research
I could look at the
references at the bottom of
the web page and this
would then let me look at
where the information
came from and look more
into the band itself and the
facts of the band as this
would help me explore it
more.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys, Alex
Turner, Jamie Cook, Matt
Helders, Nick O’Malley,
Sheffield, 2002, Indie Rock,
Wikipedia, Humbug, AM,
Suck It And See, Favourite
Worst Nightmare
Quotes
“Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of
Sheffield. The band consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Jamie Cook (lead
guitar, backing vocals in the early days), Nick O’Malley (bass, backing vocals), and Matt
Helders (drums, backing vocals).”
Quote from Wikipedia. About the Arctic Monkeys (Nov 11th 2014)
“The band's music is known to fall under the umbrella of indie rock although they have
changed their style of rock on each album, which is one of the band's key features. Musically
the band have expanded and altered their sound with each of their five albums making it
difficult to pin a description to their style.”
Quote from Wikipedia. About the Arctic Monkeys (Nov 11th 2014)
“Perhaps the key part of their sound and one that translates across their whole discography
is lead singer and front man 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.”
Quote from Wikipedia. About the Arctic Monkeys (Nov 11th 2014)

11. Arctic Monkeys Official Website –
http://www.arcticmonkeys.com
Summery
This is the Arctic Monkeys official website. It features all
the news from the band (including upcoming tours and
images from gigs). There is uploads of images from the
year 2013 of the band itself and then they have the
different places they have performed and the images from
that gig. They have a members section so when people
sign up for the website they can receive information about
the band and they can also post comments on different
topics linking to the Arctic Monkeys. You can buy tops,
jumpers, singles, albums and DVDs from the website as
well which are all to do with the Arctic Monkeys. It also
displays all the albums and singles they have released and
goes through everything they have released since they first
started out. There is also a fans forum section so all the
fans can get together and discuss topics to do with the
Arctic Monkeys and this then lets fans get together.
Further Research
I could look at articles that are based on the
shows and gigs they have done and what
people thought of them. I could look into the
videos that they have of the different gigs that
they have preformed at as well as this would
then give me an insight as to where they have
performed and what people have thought of it.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys, website, news, gigs,
singles, albums, LPs, news, fans, forum,
members, store, videos, photos, tours, AM,
Twitter, Facebook, songs
Quotes
“Arctic Monkeys are included in War Child’s On:OFF photo project – a collection of music
portraits capturing artists before they go on stage and immediately after they leave the
stage.”
Quote from Arctic Monkeys Website. About the photo project (Oct 24th 2014)
“We would like to respond to some of the misleading comments concerning our financial
affairs that have circulated in the press over the past few weeks. Several years ago we were
advised to make an investment that offered legitimate tax savings. However, we have
received no tax saving from that investment, avoided no tax and we will receive no future
tax benefit. We have always paid our taxes when due and on time and are therefore not
required to repay any tax.”
Quote from Arctic Monkeys Website. About the tax scandal (Aug 2nd 2014)
“Arctic Monkeys collected 2 awards at last nights Brit Awards 2014. The band won Best
British Group & Best Album for ‘AM’.”
Quote from Arctic Monkeys Website. About the Brit Awards 2014 (Feb 20th 2014)
“Arctic Monkeys are pleased to announce that The Kills will support on the band’s two Italian
dates in July 2014.”
Quote from Arctic Monkeys Website. About Italy support act (Mar 13th 2014)

12. Summery
This is the music video for the song ‘Why’d You Only Call
Me When You’re High?’. The music video is really easy to
understand and isn’t really complex as it links to the song
really well. Alex is in a pub with all his mates and is high off
drugs and is drinking excessively and ‘Do I Wanna Know’ is
playing in the background. He is then seen texting a girl
called Stephanie and then goes to the toilet and he then
starts to hallucinate by seeing double of himself in the
mirror and the clock ‘melting’. The song then starts to play
after he has taken multiple shots. He then stumbles
outside to go somewhere but all the way home he is
hallucinating and thinking he is seeing the girl Stephanie
having sex with other men who are just normal men
walking down the street. He then stumbles all the way
through the song to end up knocking at a house and
texting Stephanie to say he is outside her house. We then
find out he is at the wrong house as hers is opposite and at
the end of the video she is seen reading his texts and
slamming her phone down and walking away.
Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? Music Video (Aug 10th 2013) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6366dxFf-Os
Further Research
For further research I could look into more
articles that look into the song itself. I could
look at articles as to what people think about
the song to see different opinions and I could
also look to see what people think of the music
video and if they think they have done it well
and kept it linked to the song. I could also see if
there is an interview that someone has done
with them about the song itself to get an idea
as to what was behind the song and if it was
due to personal experience to them.
Tags
The Arctic Monkeys, Why’d You Only Call Me
When You’re High?, music video, YouTube,
hallucinate, Stephanie, Alex Turner, Do I
Wanna Know, texting, drugs, alcohol
Quotes
“Now it's three in the morning and I'm trying to change your mind. Left you multiple missed
calls and to my message you reply, Why'd you only call me when you're high?” Hi, why'd you
only call me when you're high?"
Quote from A-Z Lyrics. Lyrics from the song itself by Alex Turner.
“And I can't see you here wonder where I might? Sort of feels like I'm running out of time. I
haven't found what I was hoping to find. You said, "You gotta be up in the morning, gonna
have an early night. And you're starting to bore me, baby. Why'd you only call me when
you're high?”
Quote from A-Z Lyrics. Lyrics from the song itself by Alex Turner.
“The mirror's image, tells me it's home time. But I'm not finished, cause you're not by my
side. And as I arrived I thought I saw you leaving. Carrying your shoes. Decided that once
again I was just dreaming. Of bumping into you”
Quote from A-Z Lyrics. Lyrics from the song itself by Alex Turner.

13. Primary Research

14. Primary Research Questions:
• What is your name?
• What country are you from?
• What is your age?
• What is your favourite album and why?
• Who is your favourite band member and why?
• Out of all the songs from the AM album, what song stands out to you the most and why is this?
• What is your opinion on the ‘Snap Out Of It’ music video? Do you think they could have explored it better?
• What do you find most interesting about the band and why?
• When did you discover their music and why did you become to like it so much?
• Who would you like them to collaborate with and why?
• What do you like about their style and do you feel they are a style icon?
• What is your favourite song and why?
• What is your favourite music video and why?
• Do you think that you could critisise them in any way and if so, what would it be?
• Why do you like them?
• What attracts you to their music?
• Do you find them inspirational?
• What do you think was their most experimental song/music video?