Editors

We met up with Editors’ frontman Tom Smith to talk about big and small cities, remixes and the last album “In dream”.

You’ve been in Russia before and have visited different cities. What do you think about the country and its people?

We enjoyed it a lot the shows were super intense and the crowd reception was amazing. Very passionate, I’m very much looking forward to coming back and exploring a bit more of Moscow.

In 2013 you visited Nizhny Novgorod and two biggest Russian cities – Moscow and Saint Petersburg. There’s a big difference between capital and regional cities in Russia. Is it the same in England?

Yea its very much the same here too, in fact every country I’ve ever been. The big cities are lots fun and very exciting but also slightly sanitised to the point where a lot do feel the same. When you get out into the regions you really begin to see and feel the heart and history of a country.

And where do you prefer to live: in a small town or huge city?

At the moment I live just outside Manchester and I really enjoy it. I feel I have the best of both worlds, some peace and greenery but also 15 minutes till I’m in the heart of the city. At the moment I’m probably more of a city boy but that could change.

I’d like to ask a trivial question about naming. The group has changed three different names before present one. How did you get to “Editors”, is this name filled with special meaning for you?

Well I wasn’t in the band when it was named, but there isn’t a big explanation behind it. It looks and sounds good doesn’t it? I think it suits the band very well.

Going back to music. Now you’re coming on Maxidrom. Once you’ve told that music festivals are amazing but club concerts have their own atmosphere. What do you think now?

Still the same view, festivals are really good fun and it’s great to play to people who potentially don’t know your band. A club concert just has a different atmosphere its more intense as you know people are just there to see you play. The people there are your people, your fans and they know what to expect.

Your last album “In dream” differs from previous works: more synthesizer, vocals of Rachel Goswell. Some say this album is much closer to synthpop, for example in “Life is a fear”. Some say it’s “new Editors”. What do you feel yourself? Is it a new stage, some new style?

I think every album the band has made has been a departure. There are direct currents through each record but sonically they’ve all been quite different. This record shares a lot of similarities to “In This Light And On This Evening” in my opinion. It’s hard to say if it’s a new style as I’m not sure what we will do on the next record yet haha.

I wonder, do you read reviews of the albums after their release?

I try not too! Occasionally I might see one crop up in a magazine I’m reading, or on the internet and it’s like a roadside accident you can’t help but have a little look. Generally I don’t really care what journalists make of our music, i don’t really trust anyone else’s opinion on music other than my own. So if I’m happy with what we’ve done, I’m happy. No one’s going to change that so it becomes pointless to sit and read them.

I’ve heard Henri PFR’s remix on Ocean of Night and it’s so different from original song. What’s your opinion on remixes and electronic music in general?

I think remixes are good, generally speaking the idea is to collaborate with someone who is going to do something completely different with parts of your song and almost reframe and recontextualise it. From a fans perspective i think it can be quite frustrating when you think someone has ruined your favourite song. But the point is that version might become someone else’s favourite song, art should be shared and that’s what remixing is all about.