About Editors
The band was formed in 2002 and has gone through a series of names before being called Editors! The band has had the names Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield. Tom Smith does lead vocals, rhythm guitar as well as piano, Ed Lay on drums and percussion, Chris Urbanowicz on lead guitar and synth. and finally Russell Leetch on Bass Guitar.

The band has cited Joy Division, R.E.M, The Strokes, The Walkmen and Echo & The Bunnymen as some of their musical influences. Their sound is a dark indie rock with a personal twist.

The band members met while studying music technology at Staffordshire University; they did their first show under the name Pilot in 2002. Before Ed Lay came along and joined the band as drummer, Geriant Owen was on drums in the band but decided to go on to focus on his Welsh band The Heights.

During this time, Editors’ played at several gigs in the midlands, including in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Stafford, all under the name The Pride. Eventually, the band gained a significant fan following. The band had turned into quite a popular unsigned act and several record companies were interested in signing them with their respective labels.

The band finally signed with Kitchenware Records; a Newcastle based indie label. It is after signing with the label in late 2004, that the band decided to change their name to Editors, this time for keeps!

The Editors’ debut album titled The Back Room was released in July 2005. This was critically very well received and eventually reached number two on UK charts in January the next year. It was also nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in 2006. Bullets, the first single to be released from the album, the second single, Munich became the band’s first top 25 hit on the UK charts.

Editors were extremely popular by the time the second album was released in November 2006. Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors preceded this album and was the band’s biggest chart buster, making it to number 7. In This Light and On This Evening was released on the 12th of October 2009, and, predictably, opened with a chart smashing number 1 on the UK Albums chart.

The Editors have always been touring widely and also have a huge following for their live performances. They have toured North America twice over and have also appeared on popular American shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live.