I think “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” ended up in a different place than when it first started too. 1 Party Anthem” had a few versions, each with different tempos and styles, knocking around before we locked down the album version and nailed it. Well, for some of them, there were a few versions of the songs bouncing around before we landed on the final product. What song took the longest to perfect for this record? Even when we were finished, we had the mindset of “if we had another week, we could have done this or that.” That mindset can get quite dangerous and out of hand really quickly, so who knows what will happen on the next record?
This was the first time for us in that mindset, trying to perfect every detail. I never understood how that could happen for the longest time. It wasn’t bad doing it in the studio, but it was definitely the first time I saw how people could end up taking years to make records. It was great for this album, but who knows? We might go back to the live take format for the next album. It’s the longest we’ve ever spent making an album. Even up to Suck It And See, we recorded that as live takes mostly. Well, this time is the first time we’ve ever written that much in the studio. How would you compare the two processes: writing in the studio versus live takes? I suppose we’ve come a long, long way so it just makes it hard to compare record to record. For this last record, a lot of it was written in the studio and it was a much longer process than the others. We were more doing live performances for the record. When we recorded the first one, we’d never been in a studio, really. That might be why it’s hard to stack the records up against each other. Totally different band really, I suppose. The whole process of how we made this past record to that first one is just totally different. It’s just hard to compare record to record. I kind of have a soft spot for all of them, you know? But this one really seems to have resonated with people in a big way, so that’s great. So AM has been out for a while now how do you think it stacks up to your other records? Before the band started their North American tour at the end of January, guitarist Jamie Cook was able to chat with us about AM in detail, as well as where the band goes from here. On Tuesday, February 4th, Arctic Monkeys made their debut at The National. With a new side to their sound, the band shows that they have just as much to offer going forward as they did when they first hit the scene in 2006. What was surprising was the introduction of a R&B and hip hop sound to their trademark garage-meets-indie style. We here at RVA Magazine even listed it as Number 15 on our Best Records Of 2013 list. It should be no surprise that their fifth record, last year’s AM, received widespread acclaim from critics. Click here to read the digital version of this issue. This article is taken from the brand new print issue of RVA Magazine. Each record since then has done just as strongly with critics and only strengthened their case for being one of the most consistently great bands around. Some publications would go a step further and say one of the best records of all time. Their 2006 debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, is widely believed to be one of the best records of the 2000s. Arctic Monkeys are no strangers to praise.