Thursday, February 21, 2008
Arctic Monkeys
(For fans of The Strokes and Bloc Party)
It’s a bit ironic that a band comprised wholly of technologically dense lads would owe most of their success to the unstoppable march of technological progress. For the upbeat, fast-paced and lyrically clever post-punk pop-rock Arctic Monkeys, though, the success is more than merely ironic—it is wholly unexpected. While many in the music industry would consider the group’s continued refusal to put record label scouts on their guest lists to be an act of self-sabotage, it has, in fact, allowed the tenacity and devotion of the group’s fans to really propel the group to greatness. The Arctic Monkeys’ fans have shown that, in an age when RIAA lawyers sue their own customers while lowering artists’ compensation, true talent can still provide a pathway to stardom and success.
After the group of four friends formed in 2002, they started playing some small local venues while handing out free demos to anyone who would take them. Now, so far this is a pretty normal way to achieve success (a lot of successful bands start out like this), but then the group veered sharply down the road less traveled… After garnering a fervent fan-base around Sheffield (UK), the labels and agents came knocking—but the band refused to guarantee them guest list space or VIP treatment at their shows, eschewing the normal route in favor of doing what they loved. Simultaneously, the fans began their work by uploading and sharing the music on sites such as MySpace, where the Monkeys quickly became one of the most popular artists. When asked in a 2005 interview with Prefix magazine (a music magazine in New York) if they even knew how to upload their music to the web, the band replied with a succinct “no, no.”
Next, a fan who just so happened to be a photographer went to a few shows with video cameras and eventually had enough film to slap together a music video for what he thought was their best song at the time, “Fake Tales of San Fransisco,” and uploaded it to his Web site (keep in mind this was before advent of YouTube). After a few weeks, the video became so popular that it was placed in constant rotation on MTV UK. The song was finally released in studio recording form on the band’s first album, which subsequently became the fastest-selling debut album of any British band ever—including the Beatles. Go back and read that again. The Arctic Monkeys’ debut album sold more copies in its first week than did the Beatles’ debut—and the Monkey’s didn’t even have a major label backing them—just a lot of devoted fans spreading the gospel. The album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, was finally named TIME magazine’s album of the year in 2006.
BONUS: There may be an awesome mash-up of Kaiser Chiefs’ “I Predict A Riot” and the Arctic Monkeys’ “I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor” cleverly titled “I Predict That You Look Good On The Dancefloor” floating around somewhere on the intertubes… And when I say “There may be” I mean “There is and go listen to it ASAP.”
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