The Kooks formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in 2005, where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard and bassist Max Rafferty formed the base of the band for a college project, and subsequently incorporated lead guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred. They chose a band name from the song Kooks of the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory.

The Kooks released a debut EP and played at Brighton’s Free Butt festival, after which they were immediately signed to Virgin Records. Their debut album, Inside In / Inside Out, spent more than half of 2006 in the UK Top 20, attained triple platinum status, and has sold more than a million copies. Pritchard has claimed he wrote the hit song Naive when he was only sixteen years old. The group went on their first US tour in October 2006, selling out shows both in New York and Los Angeles. They also played at the Reading/Leeds festivals in the NME/Radio 1 Tent to a huge crowd. Among the band’s honours are a nomination for Best New Act at the 2006 Q Awards and the award for Best UK and Ireland Act at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards and had one nomination at The BRIT Awards and a shortlist nomination.

Eddie Vedder is an American singer, songwriter, composer, and guitarist. He is the lead singer and one of three guitarists for the American rock band Pearl Jam. He is notable for his “golden baritone” vocal style, and is considered a cultural icon of alternative rock. Into the Wild is the first solo album by Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder based on his contributions to the soundtrack for the film Into the Wild (2007).

Arctic Monkeys are a British Indie band from High Green, a suburb of Sheffield. Formed in 2002, the band currently consists of Alex Turner on lead vocals and guitar, Jamie Cook on guitar, Matt Helders on drums and backing vocals and Nick O’Malley on bass guitar and backing vocals, who replaced Andy Nicholson. Their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, released in January 2006, was at the time the fastest-selling debut album in British music history. Arctic Monkeys achieved their success through fan-made demo tapes and online file sharing. They were heralded as one of the first acts to come to the public attention via the Internet, with commentators suggesting they represented the possibility of a change in the way in which new bands are promoted and marketed.

Coldplay are an alternative rock band formed in London, England in 1998. The group comprises vocalist/pianist/guitarist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Will Champion. Coldplay have sold 40 million albums, and are also known for their hit singles, such as “Yellow”, “The Scientist”, “Speed of Sound”, “Fix You”, “Viva la Vida” and the Grammy Award-winning “Clocks”.
Coldplay achieved worldwide fame with the release of their single “Yellow”, followed by their debut album, Parachutes (2000), which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Coldplay’s early material was compared to acts such as Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, U2, and Travis. Since the release of Parachutes, Coldplay have drawn influence from other sources, including Echo and the Bunnymen, Kate Bush and George Harrison on A Rush of Blood to the Head, Johnny Cash and Kraftwerk for X&Y and Blur, Arcade Fire and My Bloody Valentine on Viva la Vida. Coldplay have been an active supporter of various social and political causes, such as Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. The group have also performed at various charity projects such as Band Aid 20, Live 8, and the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. While the group has gone through several lineup changes, The Smashing Pumpkins consisted of Billy Corgan (vocals/guitar), James Iha(guitar/backing vocals), D’arcy Wretzky (bass guitar/backing vocals), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums/percussion) for most of the band’s recording career. Disavowing the punk rock roots shared by many of their alt-rock contemporaries the Pumpkins have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, arena rock, shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. Frontman Billy Corgan is the group’s primary songwriter—his grand musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band’s albums and songs, which have been described as “anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan’s nightmare-land”.