Editors

Editors (formed 2002)

Editors are a British alternative rock band, from the Birmingham area. The lineup of the band consists of Tom Smith on vocals, piano and guitar, Chris Urbanowicz on guitar and synths, Russell Leetch on bass guitar and Ed Lay on drums.

Editors: Formation

The members of Editors met at Staffordshire University, where they were studying Music Technology. They started a band, deciding that a future of being sound engineers wasn't really what they wanted. They started out playing gigs in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Stafford, with Geraint Owen on drums.

Originally, the band was named Pilot. They played their first show in 2002 and changed their name to The Pride, after realizing that their first choice had already been taken by a 1970's Scottish group.

Owen was replaced by Ed Lay and the band changed its name again to Snowfield. The final name-change came when Newcastle-based Kitchenware Records released a single for them

Editors: Music Career

Editors started out supporting the likes of Puressence and Oceansize, before releasing the 'Bullets' single. The track was 'Single of the Week' on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show and sold out on the day it was released, with journalists comparing their sound so bands such as Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen as well as their contemporaries Interpol.

'Munich' was also released as a single, in April 2005 and became Editors' first Top 25 hit, earning them a slot on MTV's Spanking New Music Show in Manchester. Editors and Kitchenware Records then sealed a distribution deal with Sony BMG. The single 'Blood' was released two months later and reached number 18 in the charts.

Editors' debut album The Back Room was released in July 2005, to great critical acclaim, as well as high sales. 'Bullets' was re-released and the band landed a support slot with Franz Ferdinand. 'Munich' was also re-released and earned the band a place on Top of the Pops. This boosted sales for the album, which was certified Platinum. Editors embarked on a joint US tour with Stellastarr*. Their growing popularity in the US led to festival appearances at Coachella and Lollapalooza. They also performed 'Munich' on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

The Back Room eventually sold over a million copies and was also nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2006, along with Guillemots, Hot Chip and Richard Hawley but lost out to Arctic Monkeys.

Editors' second album was entitled An End Has a Start and was released in 2007. The album was produced by Jacknife Lee, who has previously worked with U2, R.E.M, Weezer and Bloc Party. The album went straight to number one in the UK album charts and was quickly followed by the release of the single 'Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors', which went Top 10.

That year, Editors played the 'Other Stage' at Glastonbury festival and also released the album's title track as a singe in September to help promote their North American tour. Whilst in the States, they played live on TV shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! And The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. When they came back to the UK, they recorded a cover of The Cure's 'Lullaby', for Radio 1's 'Established 1967' compilation.

The band then appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, playing their track 'The Racing Rats'. The fourth single released from the album was 'Push Your Head Towards the Air'.

In October 2009, Editors' third album was released, entitled In This Light and On This Evening. It was produced by Mark Ellis, aka 'Flood', who has previously worked with U2, Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Killers. Editors became the first band to play at the O2 Academy in Birmingham. Their track 'No Sound But The Wind' was selected to appear on the soundtrack to New Moon, the second film in the Twilight series, starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.