{"id":179013,"date":"2025-12-11T05:04:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T05:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/179013\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T05:04:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T05:04:11","slug":"original-arctic-monkeys-bassist-reveals-the-moment-he-was-kicked-out-of-the-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/179013\/","title":{"rendered":"Original Arctic Monkeys bassist reveals the moment he was kicked out of the band"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 2006, the Arctic Monkeys<\/a> parted ways with Andy Nicholson. Up until 2019, it was implied that the split was mutual \u2013 now, however, the former bassist has began sharing how getting fired by his \u201cthree best friends\u201d left him feeling betrayed, devastated and even suicidal.<\/p>\n

In a new interview with Mojo<\/a>, the founding Arctic Monkeys member recalls the day that he discovered his bandmates had replaced him. Originally, the band\u2019s current bassist, Nick O\u2019Malley, was only intended as a temporary stand-in for Nicholson. \u201cTowards the end of a European tour, I had some family stuff that I needed to be at home for,\u201d Nicholson explains. \u201cSo we were like, \u2018Why don\u2019t we get Nick to fill in?\u201d<\/p>\n

It felt like an obvious choice \u2013 the band \u201cgrew up\u201d with O\u2019Malley, and he \u201cwasn\u2019t some stranger\u201d. However, as Nicholson soon found out, he was also the perfect candidate to replace him. \u201cWe had a meeting in the manager\u2019s office in Sheffield, and they said, \u2018Oh, yeah, we\u2019re gonna keep Nick now,\u2019\u201d he remembers. \u201cMy world came crumbling down right in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d gone from having the next year scheduled to not even knowing what I\u2019m doing tomorrow, and my three best friends had done this to me,\u201d he continues. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine it was easy for them either. I remember saying, \u2018Best of luck with everything\u2019. I shook all their hands, and I walked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Nicholson tried to keep things amicable, there were legalities to finalise. After all, the band had come a long way from the amateurs practising together in Alex Turner\u2019s \u201cdad\u2019s garage\u201d. \u201cThat same day, the other manager was like, \u2018You\u2019re gonna need a solicitor,\u2019\u201d Nicholson says. \u201cMy head was spinning\u2026 I would have died for that band, but, unfortunately, that band wouldn\u2019t have died for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Nicholson played on the band\u2019s debut record, 2006\u2019s Whatever People Say I Am, That\u2019s What I\u2019m Not, he was thrown out before he could experience the skyrocket of stardom the debut would beckon in. \u201cThe band headlined Glastonbury the year after, and I\u2019m sat on my own at home in floods of tears watching it [on TV],\u201d he says. \u201cI was thinking \u2018That [was meant] to be me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an experience that left him in an incredibly dark place, even leading to him contemplating ending his own life. \u201cIt\u2019s testament to my really close friends and family that I\u2019m still here, to be honest,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt probably took 15 years for me to finally digest it all, and to be at the point I\u2019m at now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicholson first revealed that he had been fired from the Arctic Monkeys back in 2019. Speaking on The Michael Anthony Show, Nicholson described the experience as \u201cone of the few soul-destroying moments of my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

To this day, Nicholson insists that he has \u201cno idea\u201d why his bandmates replaced him. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had that chat and it feels like it doesn\u2019t matter any more,\u201d he tells Mojo. \u201cBut we had some distance and time between us, and we\u2019ve got our relationship back now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that his relationship with his ex-bandmates has healed, it has allowed him to feel proud of his role in the Arctic Monkeys. \u201cAt first, the photos [in new book I Bet This Looks Good On Your Coffee Table] were really painful to look at, but now that time is something that I\u2019m really proud to have been a part of and to celebrate,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n

In a 2019 interview with NME<\/a>, Nicholson also showed signs that there isn\u2019t much bad blood nowadays. \u201cWhen [the band are] back in Sheffield we go out for some food or if I happen to be in the same country as them then we try to meet up when we can and text,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things when you grow up; they\u2019re busy doing their thing and I\u2019m busy doing mine,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s usually Christmases and birthdays when we exchange texts but we see each other when we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaving the band also led to Nicholson being free to explore his passion for hip-hop, infusing it into indie rock project Mongrel as well as his latest work both producing and performing as GOLDTEETH.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back in 2006, the Arctic Monkeys parted ways with Andy Nicholson. Up until 2019, it was implied that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[3257,146,85,46,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-179013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-artist","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}