VIDEO: Alex Turner Talks The Strokes' Impact On Him As A Teen
25 July 2018, 14:50 | Updated: 24 January 2023, 12:44
The Arctic Monkeys frontman spoke to Radio X's John Kennedy about how the New York band changed him.
Arctic Monkeys covered The Strokes' Is This It at their New York gig last month, playing the track during their encore at Forest Hills Stadium.
But it's not the first time Alex Turner and co have paid tribute to the indie icons, who released their 2001 debut album when he was just 15.
Star Treatment, the opening track on Arctic Monkeys' Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino album, begins: "I just wanted to be one of the Strokes".
Speaking to Radio X's John Kennedy earlier this year about the namecheck, Turner explained: “The arrival of The Strokes changed what music I was listening to, what shoes I was wearing. I grew my hair out and borrowed my mum’s blazer."
The Four out of Five frontman added: "I was a huge fan. That line seemed to encapsulate this idea that a period of time went by in a flash.”
Listen to Alex Turner talk about Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino in our video above.
Find out the story behind Arctic Monkeys' Star Treatment track
Arctic Monkeys also paid homage to The White Stripes in the duo's hometown of Detroit.
Watch them play The Union Forever, which appears on their 2001 White Blood Cells album.
Turner shocked fans recently when he debuted his newly shaved head on the Late Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The band also took the opportunity to debut their live performance of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino album track, The Ultracheese.
Watch it here:
It's not the first time the Four out of Five singer has shocked fans, growing a goatee beard back in 2017, to very mixed reviews.
So strong was the reaction to his facial foliage, that some fans even decided to start a petition urging the rocker to shave it off.
He then went clean shaven as the band started kicked off their first run of live shows of the year, playing Los Angeles.
The change of look came a day after the band shared the visuals for their sixth album's title track Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino.
Watch it here:
Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (Official Video)
