Alex Turner’s Interview with Rockin’ On Magazine, October Issue 2022
Written by Shino Kokawa
‘The Car’, a new album with an immersive, slow-burn pleasure that makes you lose track of time when you listen to it. I think it’s tremendously well thought out in terms of both detail and spatial design, but it’s an album aimed at a more organic sound compared to ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’, which was probably equally well thought out, wasn’t it?
Every single thing you just said, every single thing you just said is great. Thank you very much (laughs). So, first of all, I think this one is definitely influenced by the previous one. I think every piece of work that you did before it plays some kind of rehearsal role for the next one. I think it's absolutely true that this work is more organic than the last one. For example, there is self-expression in the lyrics, and the sound is music that comes straight from my inner self. The first song, which is the introduction to the album, started with a melody that suddenly came to me at one point, and it influenced the whole vibe of the album and everything I wrote later on. So you can hear something melancholy from this first track, and I think you can hear it throughout the whole album, here and there. But it's not like we decided, ‘Okay, this time we’re going to make something melancholy’. It just came out of me, organically, by accident, and you can hear it on the album. It’s an emotional thing that came naturally from within. With this album, we had time to really focus on the details, and we were able to explore dynamics that we’d never done before as a band, paying more attention to detail than ever before.
You described this album as a ‘return to Earth’ from the lunar world of the previous album.
(Laughs). Yes, it is. But to be honest, it’s not actually that simple, I think there are still lyrics on this album that have a sci-fi element to them, and I think there are parts that overlap with the last album. I think we’re trying to move away from that and get closer to Earth, but we haven’t completely come back to Earth yet. (Laughs).
Can you tell us about the starting point for this album, as fragmentary information had come up that Arctic Monkeys were starting to work on a new album around the summer of 2021?
The starting point is 2019, when we went to South America before the end of the tour for the last album, we wrote a song. That song was the starting point for the whole album. It just didn’t make it on this album. We were going to record it until the very end, and we were also going to make it the last song on the album, but we didn’t get into it in the end. However, you can hear the influence of that song from all the songs, and it’s like the song that ties everything together. That song is definitely the starting point for this album, and we’re definitely going to release it at some point.
What kind of song was it? The one with you playing the piano by yourself?
Yeah, yeah. There are a few songs on this album that I wrote on guitar. For example, ‘The Car’, and ‘Mr. Schwartz’. But basically I wrote them on piano. I wrote it by myself first, recorded a demo, then everyone listened to it, and then we got together in the studio and made the finished version.
There were photos online of you recording at Butley Priory, a Suffolk monastery, in the summer of 2021.
Yes, we worked alone for a while in 2020, and then we recorded in earnest as a band at that place last summer.
Did you have a definite theme or concept for the album at that point?
Yes, we did. I think we finally had a pretty clear idea of what the album was going to be about at that point. I don’t know, working with the band in Suffolk was like making a film. It was like shooting a film and then waiting for the editing process. With a film, depending on the editing process, the finished version can be completely different, but with this album, depending on the editing process, it could have gone in a completely different direction that I hadn’t anticipated. So when we all got together to record it, it was a process of just hammering into that sound that was in front of us, and then in the editing process, we would change the direction of the songs to the final finished form.
Was it a process with new musicians joining in and fleshing out the songs as you moved from one studio to another between Suffolk, London and Paris?
First we did it in Suffolk, then we went to La Frette outside Paris to record the vocals. And finally, we did the mixing in London. We also recorded the strings in London. This album was recorded one at a time, rather than all of us getting together and recording live. The whole thing was built up from the individual pieces that each of us created piece by piece. It was the most meticulous work I've ever done. In other words, it was a way of replacing what I had pre-recorded with each of us. What we wanted to do was get the whole band together at Butley Priory and use the energy that you feel in that place and the energy that comes from the band to gather the materials. The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin had recorded at that place, and I thought it was similar to what we were working on.
As a long-time fan of yours, I’m pleased to see that this album features a lot of terrifyingly cool guitars. What motivated you to turn to guitars again on this album?
There were things that happened that I didn’t expect, like the distorted guitar sound at the end of ‘Body Paint’, which I didn’t expect at all. But when we got together and played it, that kind of energy, I mean the energy of being with the band again, it just suddenly sounded like that. When we got together as a band, suddenly I wanted to stand up with my guitar in my hand, and I thought, I shouldn’t be sitting at the piano and hiding. So the guitar sound on the album came from the excitement of being with my bandmates again. When I got back in the band, I think it just kind of dawned on me that I wanted to show people my guitar. That happened when we were recording at Butley Priory. As I said before, the recording there was done in the first place with the aim of collecting things that came from the energy of the band being together. So for me, it was that guitar sound.
The arpeggio on ‘Mr. Schwartz’ is really beautiful.
As for the arpeggios, I don’t think I’ve ever played a guitar like that before. I did a bit of picking when I did the music for the film Submarine, but then I thought, it’s time for me to pluck the strings with my fingers on an Arctic Monkeys record. So the arpeggio was an idea that came from that. Actually, when we all started working on it in 2019, I already had the idea of making it a guitar album, and I thought it would be a good idea. But I just couldn’t get to a place where we could get the same guitar sound that we used to play. However, I think there are moments in this record where the guitars sound like what we used to play in the past. It’s not like it’s ringing all the time, but at certain moments it shines.
What kind of challenges did Arctic Monkeys set for themselves with this album, as a guitar band, as opposed to the guitars of the past?
What I thought was important here was the dynamics. I wanted the guitars to feel like they were moving around in the whole piece. There’s quite a lot of guitar usage on this album, but it’s much more subdued than ever before, and I also wanted to experiment with some effects on this album that I hadn’t really used in the past. For example, this time I brought out a wah pedal and blew the dust off it (laughs). The thought of having that kind of sound again itself was very exciting.
By the way, who were your guitar guru artists on this album?
‘Body Paint’ was definitely aimed at a Mick Ronson-esque guitar. I think that’s pretty obvious. And then, hmm, when it comes to influences, I'm thinking of other things (long pause), but, um, that’s about all I can think of right now. More influences were, as I said before, finding the effects again this time, and the wah-wah sound seemed to be very funny (laughs). That alone made me smile. I think those things had an effect.
On the other hand, the cinematic sound from the previous album is still present. From Scott Walker and Burt Bacharach-esque orchestral pop to Morricone and Nino Rota.
Yes.
Even something reminiscent of John Barry again. In your last album, you cited Dion’s Born To Be With You as an inspiration.
Yes. I was actually listening to that album again this morning. I’ve been listening to the film composers you just mentioned for a really long time, and I still enjoy listening to them so much that I think I’ve already absorbed so much of it that it’s almost become part of my DNA to the point where I can’t really draw a line as an objective influence. So when I write songs, I think it comes out naturally. But the difference is that in the end, what we do is just pop music. So in other words, it’s completed through that filter. The composers that you just mentioned don’t make pop music, and that’s what makes me think they are very different.
What is exciting about this album is that the ‘layers’ created by the minimal band sound and the ‘layers’ created by the extravagant orchestra are suddenly swapped up and down, and their strengths and weaknesses are reversed at the drop of a hat. These two layers are reminiscent of the relationship between dialogue and voice-over in film, for example.
I like the idea of voice-overs, I’ll use that next time when I'm a journalist (laughs). Yeah, but what you just said was definitely the intention and I thought it was the only way the album could work. So when a wave comes, we embrace it, and like a wave, each part comes and goes, each part has its place. I wasn’t interested in the typical rock band with strings (laughs). In a way, I think that's even a little bit unrealistic. But I thought the idea of a “rock band” appearing and disappearing was possible. That’s why I sometimes look at rock bands from a bird’s eye view. I think this album is only possible with that kind of agreement, and it actually took me a long time to figure out how to make it work. In other words, at the mixing stage, depending on the ...... time, I tried not to show myself. Sometimes I pulled myself back, sometimes I turned myself off, sometimes I let go and tried not to hold on to what I was thinking or what ideas I had when I was recording. If you hold on to what you were thinking at the time, you might think that you absolutely have to keep this part. In other words, this time, I decided that if I thought something didn't fit into the overall picture, I would delete it, no matter what thoughts were put into it, and I think I was able to do that well. Not only the rock band elements, but also the string section, we recorded something so epic that normally I would have wanted to leave it as it was, but I deleted everything that I didn’t think would fit. So the most important thing about this album was that the overall balance was paramount above all else.
Earlier, you mentioned that there are still sci-fi elements in the lyrics. Nevertheless, the lyrics of this album have come down to earth. For example, “Lunching with an English tourist” and “Opening a mini champagne bottle” described a holiday at a seaside resort somewhere, or scenes from a journey.
“The Car” is certainly like that. And “I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am” has an island in it. So I think you could say that there’s a European feel to it, but what I'm trying to say there is that I know where I am. I know where I am. And I think that's what you see in a lot of parts on this album. I think one of the things that the lyrics on this album talk about is the passage of a tremendous amount of time. And that leads to a feeling of “So where am I now?”, which led to the description of places. I just performed at Reading Festival a few weeks ago, and it reminded me of the first time I performed in Reading. I think I was 19 or 20 or something. I felt really nostalgic and I was extremely excited when I actually got on stage. And when I did the maths, it had been 17 years since the moment I first performed. It was very hard to accept that fact. I thought, “No way, that can't be true, that can't be true” (laughs). Yeah, I think the lyrics on this album express that feeling in some ways.
Does it mean melancholy about the past? Or is it about looking at it objectively?
There may be lyrics about the past, but the music doesn’t look back. The music as a whole feels like it’s about moving forward. So it’s a contradictory relationship, and it’s kind of balanced in that way.
Nevertheless, the vocal excellence of this album is impressive. You said in the press release that you “channeled the expression of emotions so deep that sometimes the words almost seem to get in the way” - does that mean that the lyrical content of this album is not that relevant to the vocalisation?
Oh ...... it’s ...... (long pause), I think it all has to work together to become something that strikes a chord with ...... people. It’s not just the vocals, it’s the song. Not just the vocals, but the song, the melody, the chords, the lyrics. Singers often talk about how their voice comes from their soul, from their instincts. In other words, you don’t sing from your head, you want to sing from here (pointing to the belly). But actually, it’s sometimes difficult to reach my instinctive voice. ...... I used to remember Leon Russell’s wonderful song “A Song for You”, where he sings, “If my words don’t come together / Listen to the melody / Cause my love is in there hiding.” That's the lyric I thought about. That alone is a very clever expression (laughs), and it sums up all I wanted to say. I mean, what I’m trying to express here is in something that goes beyond words.
How do you think your vocals on this album were able to embody such deep emotion, even beyond words?
I just have to trust my instincts. And maybe accepting how I’m feeling in this moment. I tried to connect to that. I think that’s something that gradually increases over time, and then, physically, growing up [laughs]. I’ve been thinking about that over time. In fact, compared to when I was 18, my voice is definitely a bit lower. I really feel that now. I didn’t realize that my voice had changed over time, but now when I get on stage and try to sing my first songs or my old songs, I feel like my voice back then was so high that I would really get out of breath (laughs).
What is the album title ‘The Car’ a metaphor for? I heard that it was inspired by a photograph that Matt Helders took. When I saw that picture, I had the feeling that something was about to start, like the first scene in the film.
Yeah, that's exactly right. When I saw that photo, I was really excited too. It was taken by Matt, our drummer, and it was taken long before the new songs were written, and as soon as I saw it, I thought, ‘Something's about to start’ (laughs). Then I also thought that the photo definitely had to be named as ‘The Car’. That was the beginning of everything. Of course, I wanted to shorten the title of this album after the previous one (laughs). So it was perfect. But I just thought it would be nice because the title doesn’t symbolize anything about the whole record, it's not really connected to it, it’s rather uncluttered.
Arctic Monkeys celebrates their 20th anniversary this year. What do you think, is the 20-year history of Arctic Monkeys something that is a natural projection of your lives?
No, seriously, it’s really been 20 years since we all got together in the summer of 2002 in a garage and met everybody. So I think there’s definitely a sense of looking back on that somewhere on the album, but it’s not directly about ‘we’ve been together 20 years now’ (laughs), but there are some musical elements where we kind of come to terms with that.
Is the last 20 years a personal story of the four of you growing up? Or did you feel like you were running a huge project called Arctic Monkeys?
Probably a bit of both, I suppose. Yeah, but it's interesting. I know what you mean. The relationship between the four of us is something that goes back to our childhood, before the band started, before the name Arctic Monkeys, before the concept of a band. Our growth story is definitely part of the band’s growth story, but at a certain point we had to separate the two. At some point, I had to separate the concept of the band “Arctic Monkeys” and the relationship between me and my friends. By the time we get here, we’re already a family, so it’s not just Arctic Monkeys. I may not have explained it well.
The band has a series of upcoming tours, but the Japanese fans have been waiting for the show in Japan for a long time!
I definitely want to go, because I feel like I haven’t been to Japan for a very long time. When was the last time I went there? I can’t even remember. But I definitely want to go this time. I'm planning for that now.
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1765
Thank you so much for asking!
It was an interesting time. Not necessarily this year in particular but a few following decades for sure. Not a good time but interesting. Like in this Chinese curse.
However, 1765 was not just your ordinary year in this dying country either. Just a year before the Polish and Lithuanian aristocracy (and Ukrainian I guess, even though the country at the time was called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the territory of now Ukraine was included and aristocrats living there also had the right to vote) elected the new king (yeah, since 1573 this country had elective kings, it was a bit of a mess tbh). His name was Stanisław August Poniatowski and for once he was not a foreigner (it's like 5 foreign/6 local or 7/4 ratio depending on how to count Władysław IV Waza (Vasaätten in Swedish) and his brother Jan Kazimierz who were from foreign dynasty but from what I know were actually raised in Warsaw. Add one to local if we count Anna Jagielonka but she wasn't actually ruling I think)(Jeez, I get sidetracked a lot, am I not?). Anyway, long live the king! At least this one tried to do something about all of the shit that was going on! He failed miserably, yeah, but at least he tried. It's much more than can be said about at least a few of his predecessors.
Back to the 1765 because I'm spoiling, back then it was believed there were some chances of healing. New King just opened a new school in Warsaw but it was not your ordinary Sunday school. Szkoła Rycerska (Knightly School I guess) was a special school for aristocratic youth in the spirit of Enlightenment and raised a bunch of much-needed wise patriots instead of drunk short-sighted idiots who were governing back then. Kinda late for the party with Enlightenment, I know but anyway, it was really needed back then. Unfortunately, they were still deep in this whole "aristocracy is a pupil of an eye of the country" mindset (though this aristocracy was a bit different than what it means in the West, we have separate word for it but aristoracy is best translation I could get, because you could be dirt poor and aristocrat, just born into the right family and supposedly they were all equal. supposedly. They made up about 10% of the population though. There were three or four "classes" of them, based on the amount of money they had, I can talk about it more if someone is interested), so only blue-blooded deserved to go there. But, you know it was a step in the right direction and between the fact that the king had very little influence on anything, lots of conservatives in parliament, fucking liberum veto (this shit deserves its own, separate rant, the stupidest idea in the history of Polish law and I have a vague memory of chimney tax being a thing), and the way foreign powers were messing up, it probably was almost as good as he could get. As the name suggests, its main focus was the military and civil servant type of service. Each year supposedly 200 boys from poorer (still aristocratic though) families got stipends from the state budget to attend it. During almost 30 years of working, it was finished by 950 people. IDK what happened with these 200 stipends/year. Probably didn't work because this country was quite literally dying, burning, okay, maybe I'm overexaggerating but t'was bad.
Anyway, like any school, Szkoła Rycerska had its share of famous graduates. The most famous one definitely is Tadeusz Kościuszko. Idk if Americans tried to translate his name in any way, so here you go, certified Polish spelling (he himself translated his first name as Thaddeus). Anyway, yeah, he is The Guy who fortified Philadelphia and a bunch of other places like Saratoga, West Point, etc. during the American Revolution (I'm not all that knowledgeable when it comes to his success in this war tbh). He also used money he got from Congress as a payment/thank-you gift to free as many black slaves as he could, while having enough to give each of them a decent start in free life (education and stuff like that). His last will too was like that but it was never executed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Unfortunately, he wasn't as successful in Poland.
Btw, the highest mountain in Australia is named after him. No, to my knowledge he had never been in Australia.
Other graduates of Szkoła Rycerska also did some amazing things but their more of the local heroes, so tell me if you're interested in me telling you more about them.
Yo, I just made quite a long post about the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth near the end of the 18th century and hadn't outright mentioned that it disappeared as a country in 1795. Not in a "got separated into two countries like Czechoslovakia in 1990's" but in a "not a sign on a map it ever existed"
That's an achievement.
I can and will elaborate on anything that spiked your interest, I hope it's coherent enough to be readable
I was well into answering this when my god damn ancient laptop decided to freeze and delete it all, I swear just getting angry with this thing is shortening my life more than stress of finishing high school ever could
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Again a hope ? (PROLOGUE)
(Your/name) Point Of View
(Y/n) : Wait, WHAT ?!
(Your/mother) : Yes... I am sorry but we'll have to move...
(Y/n) : F*CK, I WAS SURE ABOUT THAT ! You told me that even if there was a firm we wouldn't move... I said with a tear about to sink.
(Y/m) : I am sorry but I can't do anything about it ! It was your father who decided that way. And then, anyway, we're moving, right ? she says with a firm tone.
But who does she want to impress ?
(Y/n) : Pff, move if you want but I'm not going with ya.
(Y/m) : Hm ? And how would you like to live in that house ? We're gonna sell it. And out of question that you stays at people's, she says with sarcasm.
Oh, sh*t ! I haven't even thought about the living, am I dumb or anything ? That's the most important stuff !
(Y/n) : And where are we going to live, huh ?
(Y/m) : Your father has pretty much contacts at Seoul, so we talked.. she was going to say with a shy tone before I interrupted her.
(Y/n) : WAIT WAIT, DON'T TELL ME WE'RE MOVING TO KOREA ?!
(Y/m) : YES WE ARE ! It's a relief that you take it well !
(Y/n) : HELL NO ! WHAT THE HELL, FIRST WE'RE MOVING, IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, AND THE WORST IN ALL OF THIS IT'S IN KOREA ! ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME ?!
As your mother was about to say something, you cut her out of her momentum when you left the room.
CREDITS : "Encore un espoir??", by 3assia3 on Wattpad.
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