Editors
Editors at the Eurockéennes 2007
Background information
Origin	Birmingham, England
Genre(s)	Indie rock Post-punk revival
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	Kitchenware Records FADER Label
Website	http://www.editorsofficial.com
Members
Tom Smith Chris Urbanowicz Russell Leetch Edward Lay

See also: Editor

Editors are an indie rock band from Birmingham, England, consisting of Tom Smith (lead songwriting, lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano), Chris Urbanowicz (lead guitar and synth), Russell Leetch (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Ed Lay (drums, percussion and live backing vocals). In 2006, Editors were nominated for the Mercury Prize.

Band history

The band met studying Music Technology at Staffordshire University. Their brand of sweeping indie rock is frequently compared to the sound of bands such as Interpol, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, Franz Ferdinand, Kitchens of Distinction, The Chameleons, Big Country and U2. The band were not always known by their current name, but were known as (The) Pride, before they changed the line-up and became known as Snowfield (Ed Lay replaced Geraint Owen on drums as he began to focus on his Welsh band The Heights), they played their debut gig at the request of Fused Magazine before becoming a popular unsigned band. They remained with this name until they signed with Kitchenware Records in September 2004.

Editors' debut single "Bullets" was released as a limited edition of 500 on Kitchenware Records on 24 January 2005; and was produced by Gavin Monaghan, also known for his work with The Twang and Scott Matthews. It quickly gained support from radio stations such as Xfm and 6music. As other singles were released their popularity and fanbase grew larger. Their debut album The Back Room was released 25 July 2005, to critical acclaim, and broke sales records. After the re-issue of their single "Munich" "The Back Room" rose up the charts peaking at number 2, going platinum in the process. The Back Room was released in the United States on 21 March 2006 on FADER Label and sold 35,000 albums after 20 weeks, also breaking sales records there. The lead single in the US, "Munich" received radio airplay from a number of American stations supporting indie music, including L.A.'s Indie 103.1. As evidence of the buzz the band has created across the pond, they were slated to play influential American festivals in 2006 such as Coachella and Lollapalooza. Editors performed "Munich" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Thursday March 30, 2006.

Following a brief string of dates in the United States in late July and early August, Editors departed for shows in Europe and Japan before returning to the UK to record their next album, An End Has A Start, with producer Jacknife Lee. The new album was recorded in Grouse Lodge, Ireland. Some of the new songs are from when they first began to perform live during 2006: 'Bones' and 'Weight of the World', which is a version of a song which was formerly known as 'Every Little Piece of Your Life', a Snowfield demo. Other new songs on the album include 'Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors', 'The Racing Rats', 'An End Has a Start', 'When Anger Shows', 'Push Your Head Towards the Air', 'A Thousand Pieces' and 'Spiders'. Stripped down acoustic versions of some of these tracks, and some exclusive new songs were recorded with producer Gavin Monaghan at The Magic Garden studio in Wolverhampton.

Editors' second album was named An End Has a Start and was released on June 25, 2007. It was preceded by the single "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" on the 18th. Tom Smith also mentioned "We’ve definitely moved on, it's definitely not the same record again. It's much more ambitious. We never felt like we were going through any kind of difficult second album nonsense. We never hit any wall of 'we don't have enough singles' or 'that sounds shit'. It was all very natural and easy-going." On June 23, 2007, Editors played at the Glastonbury Festival. Their set included: "Bones", "All Sparks", "Bullets", "Blood", "Escape the Nest", "An End Has a Start", "Munich", "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" and "Fingers in the Factories".

Samples