<P> Turner was educated at Stocksbridge High School (1997--2002). His form teacher, Mark Coleman, remembers him as a well - liked student who excelled at sports, particularly basketball . His English teacher, Steve Baker, described him as "quite reserved...a little bit different, with a brightness and a cleverness that would serve him well ." Baker noted that Turner had an "incredibly laid - back", "lackadaisical" approach to school work, which worried his mother . While Turner did not write poetry in school, his English teacher was "encouraging" and he was first introduced to John Cooper Clarke's poetry in Baker's class . Turner then spent two years at Barnsley College (2002--2004), where he studied English, psychology (for the first year), music technology and media . After college, Turner's parents reluctantly agreed to let him defer university for one year to pursue his musical ambitions . During this time, he worked as a barman at the Sheffield venue The Boardwalk . Before Arctic Monkeys signed a record deal, Turner was "half - heartedly" filling out university application forms and hoped to study in Manchester . </P> <P> Turner and Matt Helders became friends at the age of seven; they were neighbours and attended the same primary school . They performed Oasis's "Morning Glory" together in their final primary school assembly . They met Andy Nicholson at secondary school and, for most of their teenage years, the three friends listened to rap artists such as Dr. Dre, Wu - Tang Clan, Outkast, Cypress Hill and Roots Manuva . They spent their weekends "making crap hip - hop" beats using Turner's father's Cubase system . Following the breakthrough of The Strokes, Turner was drawn to guitar bands including The Hives and The White Stripes . Jamie Cook, a neighbour, introduced him to Queens of the Stone Age and The Coral and he first listened to The Libertines on Nick O'Malley's Walkman during a bus ride from High Green to Barnsley College . Turner attended his first gig in 2002, watching The Vines in Manchester . In 2003, at the age of sixteen, he travelled to London with Helders and Nicholson to watch The Strokes play at Alexandra Palace; they met Pete Doherty in the audience . </P> <P> Turner's parents bought him a guitar for Christmas 2001 . In a 2013 interview, Turner states that it was during this time that he first began writing songs, using a bass guitar and an assortment of microphones . In mid-2002, Turner, Cook, Nicholson and Helders decided to form a band, having watched friends including Milburn play at local pubs . The name Arctic Monkeys was conceived by Cook . Turner initially did not want to be the singer; a number of schoolmates including Glyn Jones tried out before he became the frontman . All four were beginners on their instruments; they practiced in both Turner and Helders' garages and, later, at an unused warehouse in Wath . According to Helders' mother, who drove the teenagers to and from their rehearsal space three times a week: "If they knew you were there, they would just stop so we had to sneak in...Half the time, though, they were playing table tennis ." At first, the band's original songs featured nonsense words but Turner eventually began to share his own lyrics with his bandmates: "I had this sense of dread that the others would laugh me out of the room . Mickey - taking is a useful quality control ." They practised for a year before playing a live show: "A lot of people have an idea of the music they wanna make and then they go make it, but we started the band to have something to do and then figured all that stuff out ." "I'm quite easily influenced . I could have ended up anywhere with a little push from whoever . So it was important that it was us four ." Their first gig was on Friday, 13 June 2003, supporting The Sound at a local pub called The Grapes . Their eight - song set comprised three covers and five self - composed songs . </P> <P> Also in the summer of 2003, Turner played seven gigs in York and Liverpool as a rhythm guitarist for the funk band Judan Suki, after meeting the lead singer Jon McClure on a bus . The experience made him "more confident . Jon is a very confident character ." In August 2003, Turner recorded a demo with Judan Suki at Sheffield's 2fly Studios and asked Alan Smyth if he would produce his other band . Smyth obliged: "They were giddy . They weren't the tightest of bands by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought they definitely had something special going on . I told Alex off for singing in an American voice at that first session ." Smyth introduced the band to Geoff Barradale, with whom he had once played in a band called Seafruit . Barradale became their manager after their third gig (at The Boardwalk) and paid for them to record four more three - song demos from late August 2003 to November 2004 . Barradale drove the band around venues in the north of England to establish their reputation, handing out copies of the demo CDs after each show . Fans began sharing the unofficial Beneath the Boardwalk demo compilation online and, by the end of 2004, audiences knew the words to the songs . </P>

Where did the arctic monkeys get their name