Jamie Robert Cook (born 8 July 1985) is an English guitarist and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist and a founding member of the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of Alex Turner (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Jamie Cook (guitar, keyboards), Nick O'Malley (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Matt Helders (drums, back ...

, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums.

Arctic Monkeys

Jamie Cook attended Ecclesfield Secondary School in Chapeltown,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. Originally a next door neighbour of fellow band member

Alex Turner Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is well known as the frontman and principal songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has released seven albums. He ...

, Cook and the other band members picked up their respective instruments and formed the Arctic Monkeys in 2002. He is the son of an engineer. At the start of the band's career, Cook would join

Matt Helders Matthew Helders (born 7 May 1986) is an English drummer, vocalist and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the indie rock band Arctic Monkeys, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums. In 2015, Helders collaborated with Ig ...

and

Andy Nicholson Andy Nicholson (born 13 February 1986) is an English musician, DJ, record producer, and photographer, best known as the original bass guitarist of the Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys, which he left in 2006. In 2008, he founded Mongrel with Jon M ...

in backing vocals for songs such as " Fake Tales of San Francisco", but has gradually shied away from singing duties, leaving them to the other three members of the group. Cook is considered to be the "indie music fanatic" of the group, enjoying

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, and

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

. Cook was also instrumental in the minimal exposure of the band's sixth album,

Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino ''Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 11 May 2018 by Domino Recording Company. It was written by band frontman Alex Turner in 2016 on a Steinway Vertegrand piano in his ...

, prior to its release. He was also the first band member to help Turner develop the somewhat autobiographical album from a potential solo record into a bona-fide Arctic Monkeys one, further indicating his behind-the-scenes importance to the band.

Personal life

Cook began dating model Katie Downes in 2006. They became engaged in 2012 and were married on 31 May 2014. They have a son, Forrest (b. 2015), and a daughter, Bonnie (b. 2019).

Equipment

Guitars

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful Les Paul had built a prototype solid bo ...

(2002–2006) *

Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor ful ...

(2006–present) *

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

(2007–2009, 2018–present) * Gretsch Spectra Sonic Baritone (2009–2010, 2014) *

Fender Starcaster The Fender Starcaster is a series of semi-hollowbody electric guitars made by the Fender company. The Starcaster was part of Fender's attempt to enter the semi-hollowbody market, which was dominated by Gibson's ES-335 and similar designs. His ...

(2009–2014, 2022–present) *

Fender Telecaster Deluxe The Fender Telecaster Deluxe is a solid-body electric guitar originally produced from 1972 to 1981, and re-issued by Fender multiple times starting in 2004. History The popularity of heavy rock in the late 1960s led Fender to re-think its str ...

(2011–2012) *

Gibson SG The Gibson SG is a solid-body electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1961 as the Gibson Les Paul SG. It remains in production today in many variations of the initial design. The SG (where "SG" refers to Solid-Body Guitar) Standard is Gib ...

(2013–2014) When touring to promote their 2006 debut, Cook's setup was fairly simple. His main guitar was a

62 reissue. His pedals were an MXR Distortion +,

Electro-Harmonix Electro-Harmonix (also commonly referred to as EHX) is a New York City-based company that makes electronic audio processors and sells rebranded vacuum tubes. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. It is best known for a series of gu ...

Big Muff The Big Muff Pi (π), often known simply as the Big Muff, is a fuzzbox produced in New York City by the Electro-Harmonix company, along with their Russian sister company Sovtek, primarily for use with the electric guitar. It is used by bassists a ...

, Electro-Harmonix Pulsar and, at least for a while, he could be seen using a T-Rex Dr. Swamp twin

distortion pedal Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

. He also had a Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner. His

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...

was a

Hiwatt Hiwatt is a British company that manufactures amplifiers for electric guitars and electric basses. Starting in the late 1960s, together with Marshall and Vox, Hiwatt contributed to the sonic image popularly termed "British sound". History O ...

Custom 50-Watt 2×12 Combo. From 2007's ''

Favourite Worst Nightmare ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' is the second studio album by English rock band Arctic Monkeys, released on 23 April 2007 by Domino Recording Company. Recorded in east London's Miloco Studios with producers James Ford and Mike Crossey, the album ...

'' onwards, he has had quite an elaborate pedalboard. The pedals used have almost changed altogether—he stuck to his MXR Distortion +, and has added an Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff, Electro-Harmonix HOG, Electro-Harmonix Pulsar

Tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single Musical note, note, particularly used on String instrument#Bowing, bowed string instrument ...

, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, a Boss LS-2 Line Selector, a

Guyatone Guyatone (Japanese: or ) is a Japanese guitar brand and its manufacturing company making electric guitars, guitar amplifiers, and effect pedals. In the 1930s, the predecessor company was founded as the earliest electric guitar manufacturer in J ...

distortion and an expression pedal for the HOG all this was changed to an Ernie Ball volume pedal, which can be seen used when playing the

song "Nettles" live. His main guitar is now a 1975

TD. He has been seen using several different Bad Cat amplifiers, including a Bad Cat Hot Cat 30 R, in addition to his

amplifiers. For the '' Suck It and See'' tour,
Rosewell
Bluesman 30 and an Audio Kitchen Big Chopper was used. On the Australia and New Zealand tour of ''

Humbug A humbug is a person or object that behaves in a deceptive or dishonest way, often as a hoax or in jest. The term was first described in 1751 as student slang, and recorded in 1840 as a "nautical phrase". It is now also often used as an exclama ...

'', Cook was seen using a

. His Gibson 335TD has been changed from a Frequensator tailpiece to a Bigsby. His pedalboard has changed quite considerably since the ''Favourite Worst Nightmare'' tour. It now consists of an Electro-Harmonix Pulsar (without stereo), Electro-Harmonix Memory Man, Boss RE-20, Boss TU-2,

Death By Audio Death By Audio was a warehouse space on the first floor of an industrial building in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. The warehouse took its name from the boutique effects pedal company, Death By Audio, based in the space. Th ...

Fuzz Gun, Z.Vex Super Duper, Fulltone OCD, Demeter Fuzzullator, Boss LS-2, Ernie Ball VP Junior. He was also seen using a

standard on stage live at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

in June 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Jamie 1985 births Living people English rock guitarists Musicians from Sheffield Arctic Monkeys members