Alex Turner wouldn’t go solo because he enjoys the "company" of his Arctic Monkeys band mates.
The 32-year-old musician has been a member of the Sheffield rock band since they formed in 2002, and whilst it was previously speculated that their most recent record, sixth album ‘Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino’, was originally meant to be Alex’s solo material, he has now said the idea doesn’t appeal to him because he needs the "encouragement" of his band mates.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Alex said: "I enjoy their company," Turner said in reference to his bandmates. "So, for instance, on this project I was really unsure about what I was doing and lost with it completely. Then, when Jamie [Cook, guitarist] came out to LA to join me and we worked on stuff together, through his encouragement suddenly I felt completely different.
"[Cook] getting excited about it, like the way I remember him getting excited about some idea in his bedroom in his mum’s house when we were 16 … I still get that buzz out of his reaction."
Alex has technically gone solo once before when he released the ‘Submarine’ EP, although the tracks were written as the soundtrack to the 2011 movie of the same name, rather than as a standalone album.
This isn’t the first time the ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ hitmaker has dismissed rumours of a solo project either, as he previously said he was "never interested" in leaving Arctic Monkeys – completed by Matt Helders and Nick O’Malley – behind.
He said: "I was never interested in making a solo album. I am a part of this band and one would disrespect the other. Nevertheless, I wanted to make this music, it was in me. When you compose on the piano, you automatically get different results than on the guitar. And it was important to me to say goodbye to the realism of most of the Arctic Monkeys stuff.
"Overall, it developed in a direction that soon made me realise she had absolutely nothing to do with what people would expect from a Monkeys record."
Alex Turner enjoys the ‘company’ of band mates
