What happened to the original Arctic Monkeys bassist?
Britain has a select few bands that are an undeniable part of the cultural fabric, and Arctic Monkeys are one of them. Their 2006 debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, was a landmark moment, a best-seller that rapt the youth and bottled the era’s essence.
Utilising Myspace and the internet to spread the word about their music, with their debut, Arctic Monkeys became the band of a generation. While many thought the record was a flash in the pan, they swiftly confirmed it wasn’t with 2007’s Favourite Worst Nightmare.
Since that darker, more mature moment, the band have evolved their sound with every release, embarking upon a clear arc that most recently produced the art rock and baroque pop fusion of The Car. Things changed after the release of their debut. This wasn’t just musical, either, and is perhaps why they did shift sonically. Shortly after it arrived, co-founder and bassist Andy Nicholson left the band.
It’s a moment shrouded in mystery. In May 2006, the band announced that Nicholson would miss their upcoming North American tour as he was stricken with “fatigue following an intensive period of touring”. His temporary replacement was Nick O’Malley of fellow Sheffield group The Dodgems. Things then took a strange turn on June 20th, 2006, when it was announced Nicholson was no longer in the band.
In 2011, when speaking to Drum Magazine, drummer Matt Helders claimed, “We still don’t really know why” Nicholson left. He suggested that the travelling wasn’t for everyone, and that the former bassist got “a bit homesick and stuff.” He said the decision caught them off guard and after a successful jaunt with O’Malley in America, they could not return to how it was before.
In 2019, Nicholson appeared on The Michael Anthony Show and gave his version of events. “It was probably one of the few soul-destroying moments of my life,” he said on the podcast. “I remember being in that room once they said [he’d been replaced], and I remember thinking, ‘Just try and be solid about this’. I remember I shook all three of their hands and said, ‘Good luck’. I still, to this day, don’t really know the full reason of what happened to me or why it happened.”
The bassist said he contemplated suicide in the following three years and went down a “dark path” as his old outfit became world-beaters. Watching them headline Glastonbury in 2007 was a particularly tough moment that led him to tears. However, he managed to move through the darkness, saying, “Time heals everything”. He’s now on good terms with the rest of the band.
So, what happened to the original Arctic Monkeys bassist?
Following his departure, Nicholson DJ’d around Sheffield. In 2008, he formed the supergroup Mongrel with Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers, Babyshambles bassist Drew McConnell, London rapper Lowkey, and Helders. Their debut album, Better Than Heavy, arrived in 2009.
Elsewhere, he joined Lords of the Flatbush with Steve Edwards and former Milburn member Louis Carnall but eventually left to concentrate on Mongrel. In 2009, Nicholson joined ex-Milburn frontman Joe Carnall’s band, The Book Club, and later that year became an official member of Reverend and the Makers and stayed with them until their 2010 hiatus.
He’s also in the hip-hop group Clubs & Spades with Reverend Soundsystem member Maticmouth and released an EP under the Goldteeth moniker in 2019.
