Five Things You Might Not Know About Alex Turner

Sheffield-born, now LA-based, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner is the cover star of the spring/summer 2013 issue of Another Man. Alongisde images from Willy Vanderperre and Alister Mackie's striking shoot, here we present five things you might not know about the rock 'n' roll star...

1. He moved to Los Angeles because…
“It’s built on rock’n’roll so the best studios and equipment are here. Well, that and the fact that the sun always shines and you can ride your motorcycle in December.”

2. He is baffled by his fanbase…
“It’s always the maddest people that come up to me. The other day an old bloke in the queue for the coffee shop said, “I just flew in from Indiana the other day. Are you from the Arctic Monkeys? We love your music, great to see you.” It blows my mind what the Arctic Monkeys' demographic is – it’s a mystery.”

3. He likes playing to tough crowds…
“When we first arrived in America we’d play a small venue in Florida and some hick would be shouting, ‘Come on, man! What is this?’ But I love those sorts of shows where you have to try and convince people. You have to become ten times more animated and really rattle everyone’s cage.”

4. The story behind his Death Ramps ring…
“We used to ride our BMXs on these little hills in the woods where we grew up in Sheffield. As six-year-olds they looked like death ramps to us – I always thought that’d be a cool name for a band. When we started using guest singers like Richard Hawley and Miles Kane on the B-side of our seven-inches we called ourselves the Death Ramps and my mate Reino Lehtonen-Riley, who owns The Great Frog, knocked up some rings. We’ve all got one.”

5. Why he’s had enough of David Bowie’s Time…
“I’ve been trying to fix a humming in my home stereo – it’s in the right speaker. David Bowie’s album Aladdin Sane has been sitting on the turntable so I’ve been playing Time – the first song on the second side – whenever I’ve tried to solve the problem. I must have heard that song thousands of times this week… I’ll never be able to listen to it again.”

Another Man S/S13 is on sale now. Discover what's inside the issue here.

Credits
Hair: Jimmy Paul for Bumble and Bumble
Make-Up: Sydney Zibrak at The Wall Group
Digital Tech: Henri Coutant at D'Touch Paris
Photographic Assistants: Romain Dubus, Eric Hobbs, Brin Morris
Styling Assistants: John Pashalidis, Sara Medd
Local Production: Wes Olsen, Meghan Gallagher at Connect The Dots Inc
Production Assistants: Olivia Jaffe, Aaron Paustian