Alex Turner

Alex Turner
Alex Turner Performing with Arctic Monkeys at Madison Square Garden on 22 March 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Alexander David Turner
Born	(1986-01-06) 6 January 1986 (age 26) High Green, Sheffield, England
Genres	Indie rock,[1][2][3] post-punk revival, psychedelic rock, garage rock, experimental rock, art rock, baroque pop, spoken word, film score
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Domino
Associated acts	Arctic Monkeys, The Last Shadow Puppets, Miles Kane, Reverend and The Makers
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster Fender Bronco Fender Jazzmaster Ovation Viper Gibson Les Paul

Alex Turner with Arctic Monkeys at Lollapalooza, 2011.

Alexander David Turner^[4] (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist, Guitarist and main songwriter of the English rock band Arctic Monkeys. He has also recorded with a side-project called The Last Shadow Puppets and as a solo artist. Turner has a baritone vocal range.^[5]

Early life

Alex Turner is the only child of Penny and David Turner, who taught German and Music respectively at Sheffield secondary schools.^[6] He was raised in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield.

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".

He 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's parents bought him his first guitar for Christmas 2001.^[6]

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 Sheffield venue, The Boardwalk. Turner has since said that, had Arctic Monkeys not become successful, he would have studied English at Manchester University.

Career

Arctic Monkeys

The band signed to independent label Domino Records after a bidding war in 2005. Their debut 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.^[7] The band have since released three more albums: Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009) and Suck It and See (2011) all reaching No.1 in the UK album charts.^[8]

Turner's initial songwriting with Arctic Monkeys was based around specific concepts, particularly on their debut 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.^[9] He later progressed to more varied themes, especially noticeable on Humbug and Suck It and See.

He recently revealed that he had been writing songs for the band's next album while touring the US with The Black Keys.^[10]

The Last Shadow Puppets

In August 2007, plans were announced for Turner to record an album with Miles Kane, James Ford^[11] and Owen Pallett.

The album, The Age of the Understatement, was released on 21 April 2008 and reached the number one spot 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 2008.^[12]

Solo work

Turner wrote and performed all six tracks for the soundtrack for Submarine, the debut feature film of 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.^[13]

According to Matt Helders speaking to NME Magazine, Turner recorded a new solo track after the R U Mine?/Electricity sessions.^[14]

Collaborations

In October 2008, Turner made his debut as a short story writer, performing 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 Monkey's Brianstorm EP and "Temptation" from Dizzee Rascal's album Maths and English. Turner also features in the Reverend and the Makers song "The Machine" from their debut album The State Of Things. In 2011, Turner also contributed by writing and co-writing 6 songs on Miles Kane's debut album "Colour of the Trap", a role that will be taken by Paul Weller for Kane's second album.

Personal life

Turner had a two-year relationship with then-university student Johanna Bennett and they co-wrote the Arctic Monkeys' "Fluorescent Adolescent".^[15] Turner was in a relationship with television presenter and model Alexa Chung from April 2007 to July 2011.^[16] Turner began dating model and actress Arielle Vandenberg in August 2011.^[17]

In November 2011, it was reported that Turner is worth in excess of £9million.^[18]

Equipment

Alex uses Dunlop 0.5mm picks to play guitar.

Instruments

• Fender Stratocaster
• Fender Jazzmaster
• Fender Bronco
• Fender Telecaster
• Ovation Viper
• Gibson J-45
• Gibson LG-2
• Gretsch Spectra Sonic baritone
• Martin GT-75
• Gibson Les Paul Custom
• Custom Warmoth "Frankenmaster"
• Gretsch Duo Jet

Sound Equipment

• Selmer Zodiac 30
• Fender Blackface Twin Reverb
• Magnatone Custom 410
• Electro-Harmonix POG
• Fulltone Mini Dejavibe
• Danelectro Reel Echo
• Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere
• Boss CE-1
• Boss DM-1
• Cornell First Fuzz
• Morley Footswitch ABY
• MXR Micro Amp
• Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-808
• Coopersonic Valveslapper
• Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Plus
• Electro-Harmonix Hum Debugger
• Fender Blender
• Morley Pro Series Wah
• Pro Co RAT 2
• Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
• Orange AD30T
• Vox AC30 CC2X amplifiers.^[19]
• Boss LS-2 Line Selector
• Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man

Discography

Arctic Monkeys

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

The Last Shadow Puppets

• 2008 - The Age Of The Understatement

Solo work

• 2011 - Submarine

Collaborations

• 2007 - Reverend and The Makers - The State of Things ("The Machine")
• 2007 - Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English ("Temptation")
• 2008 - The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement
• 2009 - Matt Helders - Late Night Tales: Matt Helders ("A Choice of Three")
• 2011 - Miles Kane - Colour of the Trap (As the writer of Rearrange and Colour of the Trap and co-writer of Counting Down the Days, Happenstance, Telepathy and Better Left Invisible.)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Arctic Monkeys

• arcticmonkeys.com
• thelastshadowpuppets.com