By Josh Homme
British bands sometimes arrive in America with huge expectations attached to them. We saw it a little bit with Oasis. But with the Arctic Monkeys I got it from the very first time I heard I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. It was cheeky, punky and not very London. I could tell they were not cosmopolitan. They were bored and snotty, but the music and the standard of Alex Turner's writing somehow turned that into something kinda poetic. More importantly, even though it was music very much of its place and time it made sense anywhere.
Laurence Bell, the head of their label, Domino, contacted me about working with them. Preliminary discussions were about anything other than music. Alex called me to ask what he should wear for an evening out with his girlfriend and we took it from there. Even when we talked about music we didn't decide to make an album. The rationale was: we are recording. It will be in the desert. The food will be spicy. Everything else TBC.
Upon their arrival, I was immediately taken by the fact that they didn't moan or perspire. From Sheffield to the desert is a lot to ask your perspiration glands to deal with. The guys just got on with it. Also, I was impressed that given they had experienced huge and sudden fame they didn't have any ego. Believe me, in the desert community you will get found out if you think you are more special than a cactus.
You can never tell how a band is going to respond to having to record their album in a shower. At Rancho de la Luna, that's how it works. It's basically a house with a mixing desk in it so Alex would sing in the kitchen or in the bathroom. The drums might be set up in the hallway or wherever. Jamie Cook's guitar amp was in the shower. They didn't flinch hough. Some bits of the recording we did at the Integratron, which was built by an aircraft engineer, George Van Tassel, in the'50s after he was contacted by aliens from the planet Venus who gave him the blueprint for the structure. The Monkeys are pretty grounded guys from a steel town. I figured they might be thrown by recording in a studio designed by aliens, but it didn't phase them.
In fact I began to think that Alex might be in touch with them in some way, the way he works on his lyrics. If there was a line to hone or edit he'd step outside without paper or a pen, stare at the horizon for a few seconds, then walk right back in and deliver some majestic new couplet. Seeing him conjure these lines from nothing I wonder if he's not at least part extraterrestrial himself.
The first two albums are very fast, laddish and social in their outlook. They are about the streets of the UK. But a lot of Humbug is like a quiet moment between two people. The songs are far more intimate and I reckon that shows an amazing growth and maturity from the last album.
I think that says something important about Alex. Especially in the UK, people want him to be the voice of his generation. That's a heavy mantle for anyone to bear. Who would want to take something like that on? I think he's doing a great job right now. For a guy who's so great with words in song he doesn't say very much in conversation. You never really know what he's thinking and that's a necessary part of his armoury. It's an unreal world the world of the "rock star" and sometimes the less you give to it the better.
If I was going to give advice about what he and the Monkeys do next I'd be a professor in Rock School. And Rock School would teach the wrong things and be staffed by dickheads because the only lesson is: hold on to your love of the art and trust it. The one thing I'd say is I think we'll see more collaborations. Collaborations are the only way to find out what you can really do as a musician: be a scientist. Collect data. Take it back to your band and work on it. Recall who you were. Become who you are.
I think Alex is going to wake up in some strange alleys these next few years and anyone who loves music is going to benefit.
saw them in Aberdeen a couple of years ago, their superb one of the best live acts arounds, and oooomph so hot 
got to meet the band (minus alex) before the show. 505,pretty visitors,potion approaching were really amazing! now i really really can't stop listening to them
