The Arctic Monkeys, the Sheffield rock band, made it to number one with their first single, 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', after building up a fan base on the internet.

The band used the net to get a massive underground fan base by putting over 20 songs on their website then letting them be swapped for free. Tours of Northern venues encouraged a dedicated following that soon got them noticed.

The Arctic Monkeys were eventually signed by indie label Domino Records and went on a sell out tour including the Astoria Theatre in London where 2,000 fans packed in – some having paid £100 for tickets via eBay. The audience knew all the words and danced to every song.

The success of the Arctic Monkeys is one example of a growing number of young fans who use the internet to exchange tracks and pass on messages about new bands, their music and surprise performances known as ‘guerilla gigs’.

Guitars as Christmas presents started it all off: two of them, given to Alex Turner (lead singer/guitar) and Jamie Cook (guitar) as presents only three years ago. The pair began practising as much as possible before Andy Nicholson (bass) and Matt Helders (drums) joined the group.

The boys may share a love of The Smiths, The Clash and The Jam but in no way were The Monkeys ready to simply regurgitate the well-trodden Brit-rock path. Rather, they spent their school days listening to Roots Manuva, Braintax and other stuff on UK hip hop label Low-Life, not to mention Lyricist Lounge compilations and Rawkus Records cuts like Pharaoh Monch. Another unique influence was Mancunian poet John Cooper Clarke, who Alex is a huge recent fan of.

They played their first gig at The Grapes in Sheffield where people went berserk and the band walked offstage thinking they might just be onto something. A few gigs later and they found themselves playing Sheffield Forum, in front of a crowd who knew words that Alex hadn’t learnt properly yet! In the space of a few months, word-of-mouth buzz had spread and the Arctic Monkeys were the next big thing.