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THE fairytale success of the Arctic Monkeys has been gradually turning the music industry spotlight onto Sheffield – now it is positively glaring.
So who else could be in line to follow the Sheffield band's vapour trail to stardom?
There's rarely been any shortage of talent in the steel city or surrounding area. And there's nothing like your mates doing well to polarise aspirations.
The city has long-boasted a proud heritage of music from the electronic pioneers Cabaret Voltaire and Heaven 17 to the globe-trotting rock of Def Leppard and northern wisdom of Jarvis Cocker with Pulp.
But that is all being eclipsed by this quartet's two number one singles and their album becoming the fastest-selling UK debut ever.
What the Arctics have proven is that fanpower can be more powerful than any marketing campaign and, with the muscle of the internet, many younger, more savvy acts are taking destiny into their own hands.
So promising newcomers such as Little Man Tate and Fury Of The Headteachers – daft names, but that never prevented four lads from north Sheffield becoming the most talked about band on the planet – have got their music into the global forum by placing tracks and a profile on the myspace.com website.
Both have singles coming out and have been building a fanbase via the internet as well as by winning fans playing live.
Fans of the Arctic Monkeys did the same with early CDs handed out at gigs, placing the songs on the net – it lit a fire which turned into an inferno and has been making record companies rethink their costly strategies for breaking new acts.
Instrumental band 65daysofstatic released their second album this year late in 2005 – recorded at the same 2Fly Studio as Arctic Monkeys made their now famous demos – and continued to play sold- out gigs without much radio support.
And boy/girl band The Long Blondes – also championed by the NME alongside those Monkey men – are cited by many as a big prospect for 2006.
Smokers Die Younger, The Yell, acoustic act Monkey Swallows The Universe, who release their debut album next month, Harrisons, Stoney, Bromheads Jacket, The Dodgems, and Arctics touring buddies Milburn – all are figuring on the radar for talent scouts, scene watchers and gig-goers.
Not since the chart-conquering heyday of Pulp and BabyBird, and Human League and Heaven 17 before them, has there been such a focus on Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
Local promoter Barney Vernon, of Music First, says it is no surprise as he has seen the audiences get bigger at shows he staged for the Arctic Monkeys across the country.
He said: "It is amazing what they are doing but the talent has always been here.
"The ones going out there and working hard are benefiting and the area is in the spotlight now whereas last year or the year before it was Leeds."
Barney recalled once putting Arctics singer Alex Turner on during an acoustic night called Laid Back Sunday at The Boardwalk. Barney said: "That's when he told us about the band."
As well as returning with his band Alex, 19, from High Green, briefly worked behind the bar of the Snig Hill venue along with bass player Andy Nicholson. As late as last May Alex was even handing out flyers to people plugging other nights at the venue.
Whatever happens to the Arctic Monkeys here on in – their diary already features sold-out shows in Europe, America and Japan with Australia and New Zealand also planned – there are plenty of other bands waiting to follow in their footsteps.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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