Alex Turner Arctic Monkeys in mid-2002. In the early days of the band, Helders has recalled that Turner "wasn’t necessarily going to be the singer" but was the obvious candidate for lyricist: "I knew he had a thing for words." Before playing a live show, the band rehearsed for a year in both Turner and Helders' garages and, later, at an unused warehouse in Wath. Turner gradually began to share lyrics with his bandmates. According to Helders' mother, who drove the teenagers to and from their rehearsal space three times a week: "If they knew you were there, they would just stop
Matt Helders featured on Toddla T's album "Skanky Skanky". He remixed "Again & Again" for Roots Manuva, which gained airplay from Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1. In August 2008, it was announced that Helders would compile the latest release in the LateNightTales DJ mix CD series. The set, entitled "", was released on 27 October 2008 and included a spoken work track performed and written by bandmate Alex Turner. Helders recorded the drum tracks on "Post Pop Depression", written by Iggy Pop and Josh Homme, which was released on 18 March 2016. Helders will tour with them to support the album.