Alex Turner: A Defence.

His accent, his famous Brits speech, that hair; there appear to be many assets of Alex Turner’s 2014 persona that have caused upset among Arctic Monkeys fans on a global scale. Gone is the recognisably humble, Yorkshire-bred Alex who was proud of his Sheffield roots and instead, all that remains is an Americanised, Elvis-accented silhouette of the man once loved by all.

Or so they say.

A quick search of Turner’s name on social media site Twitter is all it takes to bring up a cargo of anger-fuelled tweets regurgitating the same complaints; his accents changed, his attitude’s not the same, he’s developed an ego, he was clearly drunk/high at the Brits... Are these people looking at the same man as me?

I've been a fan of Alex Turner since the age of 13 when I first put Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not into my stereo for its first spin and 11 years later, I still adore him. As Turner has forever remained my number one #MCM, I've been accused of being biased when this discussion arises. At this point, I have to describe a little scenario to those people. Last year in November, I travelled all the way from Sheffield to Birmingham to see Arctics and the show got cancelled last minute. At first I was really annoyed, like how dare they cancel when they'd been out on the town the night before, but then I breathed and the fan in me actually felt sorry for Alex with his laryngitis: after all, he had been performing non-stop for most of the year. It's at this point that I stopped being selfish and looked at them for who they are, which is four normal human beings.

You see, people can sit and type whatever they like about Turner. If they want to judge him from an interview or a TV appearance or a live performance, then that’s their right. But do any of these so called ‘fans’ ever consider Turner as anything BUT a musician? Or Helders, or Cook, or O’Malley for that matter? For 3 years I lived in Sheffield; I’ve walked the same roads, frequented the same places and experienced first-hand the atmosphere famously sung about on the first album. I’ve spoken to people who have personally met them and on so many occasions, missed my own chance to meet the one guy who continues to inspire me to write. As someone who, like Alex, struggles to say what I want without the aid of a pen and paper, I feel for the guy.

Since when did a well-groomed quiff and an American twang equate to an inflated ego, or a move to a different country lead to someone being branded a traitor to their roots? I mean if that’s the case the Yorkshire twang that’s imposed itself onto my Midlands accent makes Turner look like a saint. Does anyone ever acknowledge that things such as an accent change are factors beyond our control? And people, pleaaaaase stop with the comparisons to Kasabian! Like does that comparison really exist?

If Turner’s ego was as big as people make out, how would he fit his head through the tiny doors of Sheffield clubs? If he and the other members were so above their own home town, why would they plaster their bass drum with the Sheffield telephone code ‘0114’, continuously introduce themselves as the ‘Arctic Monkeys from High Green, Sheffield’, or even return to it as frequently as they do?

This is the side that no-one sees or ever considers; the side that me and other Sheffield inhabitants frequently witness and appreciate. These guys haven’t forgotten their roots and they definitely don’t think they’re something better; if anything it’s the absolute opposite! Someone buy them a drink for performing endlessly whilst managing to maintain their own lives.

As a music lover it is possible to separate the man from the musician, it’s just a shame that no-one ever does.

Natalie x