The Next In Line

The astonishing debut album from the Arctic Monkeys, 2006's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, was a soundtrack to mid-00s England – fast-paced, rebellious, yet with just the right amount of cheek to get away with any ill behaviour. However, recent years have seen the quartet edge further and further from that winning Brit-rock formula, but rather than being chastised for such a move, fans around the world have embraced this new direction with vigour.

With five studio albums in a seven-year stretch, the band are about as prolific as an arena-filling, festival-headlining act can be in this day and age. If they emerged in the '60s or '70s, they'd probably have a back catalogue as littered as The Rolling Stones. And like the Stones, the longer the quartet have held the limelight, the more they've found inspiration in the beating heart of America, a land forever romanticised about, especially by British rock bands. According to Matt Helders, the lengthy stints recently enjoyed stateside have really taken the band's popularity to the next level. “Just in terms of shows, we've noticed that our fanbase has grown here more than anywhere else; it's more noticeable, and the fans here are really passionate about us.

“We recorded these last three albums in America, in California, and we definitely fell for the place a little bit,” Helders continues. “When we first went to Joshua Tree it was pretty life-changing in a way; it certainly changed us as a band, musically as well. [And] I think [Los Angeles has] got a lot to offer. There's the basic things about recording here: the availability of things. There's plenty of studios and every piece of equipment you could ever imagine is available like that afternoon, so the logistics of it make a lot of sense. But [also], the enjoyment and how fun it is to be in a city like that; the journey to the studio and back is completely different to what it would be back in Sheffield.”

Since 2009's brooding turn, Humbug, the band have embarked on this American lean to great success. The pay-off for us fans is a live show that's more bombastic and diverse than ever. There's a real sense of freedom right now in the Arctic Monkeys camp, and it's clear that for the four lads – Helders, bassist Nick O'Malley, guitarist Jamie Cook and frontman Alex Turner – anything is possible.

“Between all the shows we've done this year we've played every song from the new album; it's probably the first time we've done that really, got every song ready to play, so we can switch it around depending on how we feel that day,” admits the drummer, phoning in before a show in Seattle, Washington. “And it is a good sense of freedom because people are open to it now as well, like the new album went down that well that we can pick and choose from it.”

Helders is quick to add that for the Arctic Monkeys, making records has always equated to a good time – “We always come out saying that's the best one we've made” – but with AM things felt different for the quartet. From the creation process – the band more playful in the studio with additional instrumentation like keys and drum machine – to the vibe immediately after, Arctic Monkeys' fifth full-length was and is a celebration of what they're now capable of. More than ten years since forming in Sheffield's north, Helders is pleasantly surprised the band are still moving forwards in such a positive way.

“We never took it for granted in that way, [because] you never know what the next record is going to go down like,” he reasons. “Our ambitions have always been modest, or one step at a time: to make a record, to put a record out, to tour the world – it's all happened in steps. I remember getting asked when we first started where do you see yourselves in five years and just not having a clue, saying I'll be happy if I'm still doing this and still having fun, and here we are. We're ambitious obviously, but we don't expect any of this; we're not like, 'Yeah, obviously we should be here', we never think like that. It definitely helps us appreciate what we got.”

After touring the US extensively with The Black Keys in early 2012, Arctic Monkeys were quick to begin work on a follow-up to 2011's Suck It And See, but were in no rush to complete the record. With Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford in the production chair once more, the men spent almost a year putting AM together, confident they were onto a winning formula following the response given to R U Mine? upon its release in February '12. In many ways it was the track that set the tone for AM.

“We didn't expect it [to do so well],” remarks Helders. “It was a single that we put out on its own, just for that tour we did in America with The Black Keys, we wanted something new to play, and for Record Store Day, so we decided to do that. But it's like a highlight at the moment on the live show – we play it last and it seems to be the one people are waiting for which is strange, considering the other songs we've had out – it even goes down better than I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor or anything like that, which is amazing, because we love playing that song as well – but it's a lot of fun to play R U Mine?.

“And the next thing we did after that was Do I Wanna Know?,” he continues, referencing the second single dropped from AM in June '13, “and we were kinda like, let's keep doing falsetto R'n'B backing vocals and then the rest of the track can be a bit dirtier. It didn't have to be all the same pace or heaviness of R U Mine?, but there was certain aspects that we wanted to keep from it. I don't think we could have got away with it without that [balance], or it would have just been an R'n'B record.”

With Helders only 27 years of age, and his bandmates on roughly the same page in that regard, a little bit of burnout – some cracks around the edges – could be expected by now. But five albums in and no Arctic Monkeys release sounds stale, though Helders has no idea why.

“It's not even like we listen to different inspirations every time,” he ponders. “This time we were listening to music we kinda always listen to, like '70s rock and hip hop came through a bit more this time. But we do definitely go into the studio with an aim to make a different [record] to the last one, but it's gotta still make sense, like hoping the last one led to this, or R U Mine? led to this. It is a conscious decision for us but it seems like an obvious thing to do, just to move on a bit and do something different – it's quite natural.”

It's hard to comment objectively when you're part of the pack, but it's clear for us outsiders what the secret to Arctic Monkeys success is. Music is a solid glue to bring people together, but friendships are a far more stable platform to build greatness from. And for these working class heroes from the former steel heartland of England, nothing's held more dearly.

“It's been important for us and how we've gone about things,” confirms Helders. “Our relationship as people was very much established before the band started, so even day-to-day things, we've got a lot more in common and to talk about than just the band. Our lives and our friendships don't revolve around the band, which helps because we can easily switch off. When it comes to working and making music then we're ready to go, and if we don't wanna we can just sit on the bus and talk about nonsense, and I think that's quite important. Obviously it can work the other way as well, like people get together just because they're musicians and still make amazing music, but for us we're kinda on the same page a lot of the time, steering the ship in the same direction as it were.”