Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner says playing some of the bands older songs is like telling a joke for the 600th time

Arctic Monkeys had a huge year in 2013, and they are being recognized with eight nominations at the NME Awards. With a successful hit like the recent album AM, it's harder to go back to some of the early songs in the band's repertoire, according to frontman Alex Turner.

He told the Daily Star, "Sometimes it's tough to get through one of the old ones live. You know, you don't feel like that any more." Turner added: "When you tell the same joke 600 times, you won't hear what it is any more, but then sometimes, like, the 601st time you might see something in it you didn't before."

Luckily the band's well-received new material allows them to drop some of the older songs from setlists and stick to what they are really feeling right now. Turner credits Laurence Bell from their record label Domino for allowing the band to have some freedom.

"Laurence Bell was who came to sign us in the first place," Turner said. "He allowed us to try different things. It's not a situation like you hear about with a label guy in the studio saying: 'I was looking for this or that'."

At the 2014 NME awards, Arctic Monkeys are up for Best British Band, Best Live Band, Best Album, Music Moment Of The Year, Best Track, Hero Of The Year, Best Video and Best Fan Community. The awards will take place on Feb. 26 at London's O2 Academy Brixton. People can vote in 20 different categories up until Feb. 21.

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Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner