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Post by garyuk on Oct 19, 2019 9:35:53 GMT
put the two parts in the media section
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 19, 2019 10:02:11 GMT
Editors will be on the Sunday Brunch on Channel 4 tomorrow. Can anyone record that? (Lemming is on holiday btw) I'll try to find a working stream for the non-Brits
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Post by garyuk on Oct 19, 2019 12:04:41 GMT
Used to always rip such stuff, should still be able to either live or from the catch up
Captain Crieff likes this
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 19, 2019 12:54:51 GMT
'Things change. There will be a change again' - Editors frontman Tom Smith on the shift away from guitar bands Editors frontman Tom Smith on the shift in appetite away from guitar bands, being conflicted about the ‘Spotify Effect’ and being more choosy on where they go on tour
Editors released their debut album, The Back Room, in 2005. It does not seem like that long ago and yet when one thinks of how we listen to music and how the record industry itself has changed, it might as well have been the dark ages.
"Twitter wasn't even around then," says frontman Tom Smith, with a chuckle. "And, get this: we got our very first review on Teletext." For younger readers, Teletext was a text-based information service you could access on your television - ask your parents.
Smith is 38 - so a long way off collecting his pension - but, as his band release a best-of, he feels a great measure of contentment that they have enjoyed such longevity.
"I'm really proud of that," he says, speaking to Review from his home in London. "When we were starting off, I really admired bands like REM and Radiohead - bands that would take you on a journey. And I hope we've done something similar.
"We haven't wanted to repeat ourselves. And I hope the younger me would have appreciated the older me."
Over the course of seven albums, including last year's Violence, Editors certainly have taken their fans on a journey and if they are not part of the zeitgeist in the way they and other British guitar bands were in the mid-2000s, the quality of their music hasn't dipped. If anything, their more recent albums have been less derivative and more rewarding than what they were doing in the early days.
"Over the years, we've become more and more at home and comfortable in the studio," Smith says. "We met doing a music production course and having learnt to spend time in studios and being more excited with experimenting with keyboards and computers. We all have little stations in studios now. I think we've more in common with a band like Massive Attack now than the band we were when we started."
It's an assessment that's not wildly wide of the mark. Editors 2019 sound very different to the group that emerged blinking and kicking from Birmingham while barely in their twenties.
"We came out at the time when young guitar bands were very much in the mainstream," he says. "There were a lot of bands exploding on the scene at that time, but we never felt that connected to everything. There were always bands getting better reviews and more headlines than us. We have never been particularly good at playing the press game. So we sat somewhere in the shadows and that suited us, but as our career has gone on, we've made music for ourselves. But we've never lost that passion."
The mid-2000s was a period of post-punk revivalist bands on both sides of the Atlantic. Both Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party were in at the ascendancy in Britain, and Editors weren't too far off either.
"Things change - and that's cool. It's a different appetite now. I'm not the guy moaning about how things were better in my day. It was a help for us to come out during that period when there was such an appetite for bands of that ilk, so it gave us an audience to listen to. And there will be a change again. It would be boring otherwise.
"The way people make music has shifted, too - there are so many amazing things you can do now in terms of making music in your bedroom," he says, adding that the new Bon Iver album demonstrates how contemporary and nimble production can create magic. "Some of it is absolutely extraordinary, and some of the production techniques on it are very modern, but the songwriting and textures are from a different age."
As one might have gleaned from the fact that their first review came out on Teletext, streaming was but a glimmer in the eye of Spotify's founders when Editors started off. Smith is well placed to appraise how streaming has changed the game for artists, especially as Spotify celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. "It's interesting how streaming has shaped the way people listen to music," he says. "Think of playlist culture. The effect it's had on new records getting released, on the length of albums, on the length of songs."
The so-called Spotify Effect - in which bands and producers aim to make the first 10 to 20 seconds of a new song as engaging as possible in an environment of unlimited choice - may have an impact on how others make music, he says, but it's not relevant to his band. "I've always, always thought of Editors as an alternative band. We like melody - I like to write songs that are accessible.
"But I am conflicted about [the Spotify Effect] because I do love pop music and there are some modern pop songs that are astounding, like the new Billie Eilish single."
While streaming may provide rich pickings for the music fan - roughly a tenner a month gets you tens of millions of songs on your phone, a fact we've become so accustomed to, we forget how incredible it is - it's not so great when it comes to the coffers of musicians. "To be honest with you," he says, "our band only makes money from playing live - and it's always been like that."
When Editors first emerged, they spent the first few years on the road, circumnavigating the globe. Now, they don't tour nearly as much. And part of that has to do with parenthood. Smith has two sons, Rudy and Spike, with his wife, the BBC broadcaster Edith Bowman.
"For us, at the stage we're at now, we don't say yes to everything anymore," he says. "And when we do tour, we won't go away for more than two or three weeks and we'll come home for a week.
"In those early days before children, for the first couple of records, we'd go to America twice for six weeks on each of those albums, and we'd go to Australia.
"We don't do those places anymore. The market for us is northern Europe and it all feels quite contained. When we're at home with our family, that time is precious."
Smith believes the best-of marks "a full stop for this era of the band". He says he needs to take time to recalibrate, but insists there will be future Editors albums and he says he may write new songs for the band next year.
There will be a best-of tour, which calls to Dublin's Vicar Street next year - "after years playing the Olympia, we were in Vicar Street on the Violence tour last year and it was fucking fantastic" - but much of his focus for 2020 will be on a new album he's made with his friend, Razorlight guitarist Andy Burrows.
The pair released a well-received Christmas album, Funny Looking Angels, in 2011 and despite promises to each other, failed to make another album until a frenzy of recording in Nashville last summer.
"The Christmas song is a tricky one to navigate," he says. "When it's done right, it can be really good. The problem is, so many festive songs are terrible.
"What Andy and I tried to do was wrap our songs in a sort of pub sadness - an alcohol-soaked melancholy. And I'm really proud of some of those songs, like 'When the Thames Froze'. The album wasn't a massive success, but the people who liked it, really loved it."
The new Smith & Burrows album will not be Christmas-themed and he is excited about what they have achieved together. "It's a collaboration that seems to bring out the best in both of us," he says. "For me, the key is to keep busy. To try new things. Not to get stale."
www.independent.ie/entertainment/music/things-change-there-will-be-a-change-again-editors-frontman-tom-smith-on-the-shift-away-from-guitar-bands-38606294.html#So Editors have 7 albums and Andy Burrows is the guitarist of Razorlight according to this journalist who did his research very well
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Post by bugman13 on Oct 19, 2019 15:51:17 GMT
but if u count violence alt sessions, so yes they have 7 albums (inc best of 8 )
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 19, 2019 15:58:17 GMT
Interview with Tom in this weekend's De Morgen. If anyone wants a translation I can give it a go but for now I'll just translate this quote: okay yes I'm sold bring it on. Full interview in Dutch: Tom Smith over 15 jaar Editors: ‘Bijna per toeval zijn we even de mainstream ingeglipt’
Editors bestaat vijftien jaar. De Morgen blaast evenveel gitzwarte kaarsjes uit met frontman Tom Smith, die voor de gelegenheid een aantal lyrics opnieuw onder de loep neemt.
door GUNTER VAN ASSCHE18 oktober 2019, 19:00
“Bijna per toeval zijn we even de mainstream ingeglipt”, zegt Tom Smith van Editors. “Een hitsingle-collectie uitbrengen leek me daarom belachelijk. Maar deze plaat is eigenlijk best wel een fijne trip down memory lane. Ik gunde mezelf eindelijk de tijd om eens terug te blikken en te beseffen wat we hebben uitgevreten. De vorige keer dat we elkaar zagen, was ik absoluut geen voorstander van de gedachte om een jubileumtour op te hangen aan ons debuut The Back Room. Daar zie ik nog steeds het nut niet van in. Maar na zes platen en vijftien jaar werd het misschien weleens tijd om de balans op te maken. En mezelf in de spiegel aan te kijken.” De Morgen mocht een week voor de release meekijken naar zijn reflectie.
“BLOOD RUNS THROUGH YOUR VEINS, THAT’S WHERE OUR SIMILARITY ENDS.”
(Uit: ‘Blood’)
Deze song verschijnt op Black Gold niet in de hyperkinetische postpunkversie die u al vijftien jaar kent. Wél als een elegie op gitaar en cello. Daardoor lijkt Tom Smith plots alle haat naar zijn spiegelbeeld te spuwen. “Zo had ik het zelf nog niet bekeken”, glimlacht de frontman. “Maar het klinkt wel logisch: door het opgenaaide tempo terug te schroeven, klinkt de song intriest en contemplatief. Alsof ik de schuld bij mezelf leg. Dezelfde doffe ellende, maar nu kun je inderdaad stellen dat ik de pijlen niet op de andere richt, maar op mezélf.” (lacht)
Zo was het evenwel niet bedoeld: “Hoe ouder ik word, des te minder egocentrisch ik word. Misschien heeft het vaderschap daar inderdaad iets mee te zien (Smith is vader van twee kinderen, 11 en 6; GVA). Op mijn 24ste was ik ook al redelijk vroegrijp, maar helaas overdreven emotioneel. Niet getormenteerd, maar een eenzaat. In mezelf gekeerd. Een binnenvetter, ook. Dat laatste ben ik misschien wel nog steeds: een introverte binnenvetter. (lacht) Ik ventileer mijn woede te weinig, hoor ik al eens. Ik praat zelden over wat me frustreert en daardoor raak ik nog zwaarder opgenaaid. Misschien is dat net een van de redenen waarom Editors na vijftien jaar nog steeds bestaat: alle emotie die ik in het dagelijkse leven niet makkelijk kwijt kan, verdwijnt in mijn muziek. Ik werk mijn frustraties zelden uit binnen de groep: van conflicten loop ik meestal heel snel weg. En in het openbaar zal je me ook niet gauw betrappen op Grote Gevoelens. In mijn donkere schrijfkamertje daarentegen... Daar is waar alle magie – of miserie – begint.” (lacht)
“IF THERE REALLY WAS A GOD HERE / HE’D HAVE RAISED A HAND BY NOW.”
(Uit: ‘Papillon’)
“Deze week zong ik dat nummer nog in België, op daytime radio. Plots vond ik die zin enorm grappig klinken. Alsof ik zelf op het preekgestoelte zat en mijn grote waarheid uitdroeg voor alle brave burgers.
“Weet je, mijn beide ouders waren leraars wetenschappen. Je kan je dus wel voorstellen dat er bij ons thuis geen plaats was voor godsdienst, laat staan bijgeloof. Als iets niet bewezen kon worden, dan bestond het gewoonweg niet: punt uit. Mijn moeder was weliswaar nederig katholiek opgevoed. Op die manier zijn er vast wel wat restanten van dat geloof in mijn opvoeding geslopen. De morele zaken, vooral. Zorgen voor de gemeenschap, fatsoenlijk proberen te zijn, niet alleen jezelf voorop stellen… Met die gedachten kan ik nog steeds door een deur. Maar ik heb altijd een probleem gehad met godsdienstwaanzin, die tot niets leidt. Hooguit tot blind geweld. Die frustratie wilde ik toen waarschijnlijk van me af zingen. Maar nu die song zo’n hoge vlucht heeft genomen, hoort die zin gewoon bij de song. Ik wilde niemand affronteren, of zelfs maar aangeven dat ik in een god geloof.”
“PEOPLE ARE FRAGILE THINGS, YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW / BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUT THEM THROUGH.”
(Uit: ‘Munich’)
“Ik schreef die song toen ik 22 jaar oud was. Als ik heel eerlijk mag zijn: ik schreef de tekst na een uitputtend lange en verpletterend zware avond. Nee, daar hoeven we niet veel dieper op in te gaan. Let bygones be bygones. Laten we het erop houden dat ik een jonge, klungelige en weinig zelfzekere kerel was die uit dun papier opgetrokken leek. Letterlijk alles kon mij in twee scheuren. Toen we die song steeds vaker live speelden, merkte ik evenwel dat net die zin vonken sloeg. Een connectie maakte. Alsof het affirmatieve gedachte betrof: je moet voorzichtig omgaan met anderen, omdat je zelf zo kwetsbaar bent.”
“Ik word weleens afgeserveerd als een miserabele droeftoeter, vooral door internationale collega’s van jou. (lacht) Dat raakt me af en toe nog steeds, maar op het einde van de dag kan ik die opmerkingen van me laten afglijden: zelfs mijn donkerste zinnen dragen warmte en licht in zich mee. Bij de eerste tour zag ik bonkige, lichtjes dronken mannen van veertig allemaal “People are fragile things” meebrullen – arm in arm, alsof het een voetbalhymne betrof. Dan wéét je dat je diep onder iemands vel bent gekropen. Ik moet er nu wel verheugd bij vertellen dat de balans zich heeft hersteld in ons publiek: tegenwoordig zingen vooral vrouwen die zin mee.” (lacht)
“PUT YOUR HAND UP IF YOU’RE RUNNING SCARED /CHOKE MY ENGINE, IT CANNOT BE REPAIRED / OUR SUPERHEROES, WELL, WHERE ARE THEY NOW?”
(Uit: ‘Black Gold’)
Net als de andere twee nieuwe songs op de plaat schreef Editors dit nummer na de opnames van hun laatste langspeler Violence. “Die liedjes voelen een beetje aan als het verlengde van die plaat, maar dan alsof ze op een kuur van steroïden gezet zijn. ‘Black Gold’ is de meest dramatische, donkerste song van de drie. Het nummer gaat over een explosieve, destructieve relatie tussen twee mensen die een te grote persoonlijkheid hebben.” Zoals hij en zijn vrouw, de Schotse radio-en-tv-persoonlijkheid Edith Bowman? “Allerminst. Ik heb een rijke verbeeldingswereld. Geloof jij dat een artiest in kwellende pijn opgekruld moet liggen om een triestig liedje over vernietigend liefdesverdriet te schrijven? Néé toch. Ik schreef de treurigste songs terwijl ik dolverliefd was.
“Of ik mezelf soms een superheld voel op het podium? Nooit. Nee, echt niet. Ik ben een kruising tussen John Cleese en Nosferatu: een naargeestige marionet die als een ongeleid projectiel over het podium struint. Die vergelijking pluk ik ook niet zomaar uit de lucht. Ik heb echt mooie jeugdherinneringen aan de ‘funny walks’ van John Cleese, waar ik als kind vaak samen met mijn ouders naar keek. Dat heeft zonder twijfel enige sporen nagelaten. (lacht) En als ik aan Nosferatu denk, zie ik meteen die enorme handen en vingers van hem: ik heb ook van die dunne vingers.”
“I KNOW WHAT YOU’LL SAY, YOU NEED THE CREATION, NOT THE CREATOR.”
(Uit: ‘Frankenstein’)
“Je haalt nu toevallig net die ene zin uit deze plaat die eens niet over mij gaat. (lacht) Ik heb het hier over het Monster dat altijd verward wordt met de naam van de waanzinnige wetenschapper. Maar ik volg je wel. Als er al een gelijkenis zou bestaan met mijn leven, is dat ik doorheen de jaren ook één ben geworden wat ik gecreëerd heb. Editors bestond ooit uit vier overdreven serieuze jongens, die intense en zelfs nogal overspannen muziek maakten. Intussen stond ik al zo vaak op een podium dat ik alles wat meer relaxed bekijk... Of toch een klein beetje meer op mijn gemak. Soms geniet ik zelfs van dat podium. (grinnikt) Doorheen de jaren ben ik meer dan ooit gaan streven naar het theatrale, het dramatische. I don’t even shy away from the ridiculous anymore! ‘Frankenstein’ is een song vol plezier en escapisme: een cartooneske song voor de freaks, de jongens en meisjes die anders en weird zijn. Leg die song naast een oud nummer als ‘Bullets’ en je weet meteen hoezeer ik veranderd ben in vijftien jaar. Het gaat me niet eens over evolutie, maar over beweging: voor hetzelfde geld evolueer ik straks als een spookrijder in de omgekeerde richting, terug naar ons verleden. Maar dat is niet erg. Zo lang het maar beweegt. Als ik het gevoel krijg dat ik niet op een onafgebroken reis ben, mag je me in een kist opsluiten en de nagels zelf in het deksel slaan.”
“THIS ROAD WON’T GO ON FOREVER.”
(Uit: ‘No Sound but the Wind’)
“Fraai opstapje naar het Onvermijdelijke Eind. (lacht) Het einde van Editors. Daar denk ik soms aan. Maar zonder angst. We zijn nooit het soort groep geweest dat als de bliksem wilde inslaan en daarna weer wilde verdwijnen. Ik streefde altijd naar een langdurige indruk. Nog steeds, en in alles wat ik doe.
“We zijn trouwens al eens uit de dood herrezen. Artistiek gezien. In de maanden voor het vertrek van Chris (Urbanowicz, medecomponist en gitarist, GVA) zaten we op een dood spoor. Werchter heeft in 2012 véél voor ons betekend. Een paar weken voordien besliste Chris om op te stappen. Een ramp, zo net voor het festivalseizoen. We beseften plots dat Editors misschien een eindig verhaal was. Maar Werchter betekende onze wedergeboorte. We stonden met twee nieuwe leden op het podium en de onwaarschijnlijke publieksreactie die we kregen, gaf ons een nieuw infuus. Editors is daar een andere band geworden. De band die nu voor jullie staat.
“Sindsdien ben ik niet meer bang om in het diepe te duiken, wanneer de tijd rijp lijkt. De drie nieuwe songs op deze plaat klinken voor mij als het einde van hoofdstuk twee. Wat dat derde kapittel wordt? Dat weet ik niet. Ik sluit niet uit dat we minimalistischer zullen klinken of misschien zelfs zoals The Blue Nile of R.E.M. ten tijde van Out of Time en Automatic for the People. Maar ik maak me er niet meer druk om. Of ik een plan B heb? Tuinieren misschien? Klinkt geweldig, maar ik heb helaas de minst groene vingers in Engeland.”
www.demorgen.be/tv-cultuur/tom-smith-over-15-jaar-editors-bijna-per-toeval-zijn-we-even-de-mainstream-ingeglipt~b6364d52/
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 21, 2019 15:21:17 GMT
Editors on “Black Gold”Lucky Enough
Oct 21, 2019 By Dom Gourlay WEB EXCLUSIVE Editors are releasing a new best of compilation this Friday in the shape of Black Gold. Containing 13 songs from the band's extensive back catalogue alongside three previously unreleased new compositions, it's the first time Editors have put out a collection of this kind. Editors are now six albums into their illustrious career after 2018's excellent Violence, which many critics and fans labelled a highpoint of the band's canon to date. The tracklisting on Black Gold encompasses their entire career to date and will no doubt be the subject of healthy debate between those same fans and critics over its inclusions and omissions. The band formed in Birmingham in 2002 and released their Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, The Back Room, in 2005, drawing favorable comparisons to Interpol, Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, and early U2. The Back Room landed at #2 on the British album charts, an auspicious placement for a debut album by a new indie band. Editors' next two albums, 2007's An End Has a Start and 2009's In This Light and on This Evening, both debuted at #1 and the following three albums all hit the Top 6 in the British charts. The band is also quite big in some other countries, such as Belgium, where their last three albums have debuted at #1, and The Netherlands, where they have had two #1 albums and two #2 albums.
The band will be embarking on a mammoth tour throughout the UK and Europe starting at the end of January 2020, and with rehearsals set to start soon. Under the Radar caught up with founder member and vocalist Tom Smith and multi-instrumentalist Elliott Williams to discuss Black Gold. The band's current line-up also features Russell Leetch (bass, synths), Ed Lay (drums, percussion), and Justin Lockey (guitar).
Dom Gourlay (Under the Radar): With such a revered back catalogue to choose from, how did you arrive at the tracklisting for Black Gold?
Tom Smith: It was a bit of a head scratcher. Once we decided to make it one CD, then we really had to be streamlined with it. I think we knew straight away there were going to be some songs missing that people might expect to be on the album. But we wanted to make sure every album was represented. Its not a straightforward task because it's not a best of just for the UK or Belgium. Different records have resonated differently in different parts of the world. The first two albums are probably when we were at our most relevant in the UK but we've been making a lot of music since then so we wanted it all to be represented. Songs like "All Sparks" and "Blood" had to make way for some newer ones so it was a bit tricky if I'm honest.
Elliott Williams: It was pretty tough to be fair. We just wanted to get an overall picture of the band. I was quite a strange thing for us to do a best of anyway. Especially in the days of Spotify and playlists, whether it even has any value. The main reason behind it was to try and introduce a new audience to the band. We've made six records now. Three with the first line up, then three with this line up since myself and Justin [Lockey] joined. We've tried to paint an overall picture of how it all came together, and show that journey from the start to where we are now.
Was it a democratic process choosing the tracklisting?
Elliott: Definitely. It does get hard especially when you consider some of the songs off the first two records that haven't made it. But we just wanted it to be a flagship for what we've done up to now, as well as an overall picture of the band. It's a hard thing to get right, but I'm happy with the tracklisting. I think we all are.
There are three brand new songs on the compilation—"Frankenstein," "Upside Down," and the title track "Black Gold"—which for me highlights how confident the band must be in their current output.
Tom: We are as passionate about the music we make now as we have ever been. We're very proud of every record we've released and still throw everything we have into it. We get the buzz making new music as we did when we made The Back Room. If that feeling wasn't there we wouldn't still be doing it. So I think that might be reflected when people hear us debut new material, whether that be "Frankenstein" at Bearded Theory festival this summer or more recently stuff from Violence. The band definitely feels completely at ease with itself in the line up that it is now. Going through the change and having made three records in this—I won't call it new any more—in the current line up as we are now. Just existing and touring and writing together in the studio more gives you a lot of confidence and I think that's reflected in when we perform songs on stage. "Frankenstein" in particular is a very poppy, melodic moment so in that environment we were always prepared to throw that song in and see how it goes because as soon as people heard that hook for the first time, we knew it would go down well.
Were those songs written during the sessions for Violence or after and are they precursors for the next full-length Editors record?
Tom: They were written after Violence. They weren't around when we were recording that album. They were written quite quickly. We weren't looking to jump in and make another album. We were pretty excited about the tunes. In some ways they felt like extensions from the songs on Violence but to go and do them with Jacknife Lee gave them a bit of a different edge, which was really exciting. So this idea of a best of had been floating around for a while and up to that point, I felt slightly uncomfortable with being nostalgic or having a best of. It took me a while to come to terms with and come round to the idea. I'm enjoying the moment to reflect and just acknowledging what we've achieved before we move onto whatever we do next. I don't know yet whether these three new songs are the end of this chapter or beginning of the next one. Time will tell.
Elliott: We had these songs, so we were gearing up towards maybe making a new record but the label had been talking to us about doing a best of. So we thought if we're going to do this, let's do it properly and put the three new songs on the compilation. It's not necessarily a precursor even though I think the new songs show where we might be heading in the future. Once we'd done them we decided to draw a line under it. So it's more about what we do next which is anyone's guess at this moment. We're trying to live in the present right now, then eventually get around to thinking about doing something new. Whatever we do next, I don't think it will be as up front as the three new songs here. I think "Frankenstein," "Upside Down," and "Black Gold" are probably the poppiest songs we've ever recorded, so while it's hard to say right now what we'll do next, I think we'd all agree it will be very moody. That's another reason why we wanted to release these songs then draw a line underneath them.
I agree that Editors have never looked backwards in a nostalgic sense; something, which was again recently highlighted with the Blanck Mass mixes of Violence. Are you often looking for collaborations such as that one, almost as a way of constantly reinventing yourselves?
Tom: We're always looking for new ways to keep it fresh and keep it different. The music making experience, whether that be finding people or locations to make it feel like we're not repeating things we've done before. Violence was really interesting in that regard. Not only with Blanck Mass but also with Leo Abrahams as well. Bringing the whole thing together out of these different recordings we'd made was a brand new process from what we'd done before. I think we just get a kick out of that. Collaborations come along but you can't really force them. We're definitely open to working with different people but its often down to how the songs progress or what opportunities present themselves to us. It was really cool to be able to share the Blanck Mass versions of those songs because it was a really good process.
Elliott: We don't think about it too much. We struggled initially as a band with the idea of a best of or greatest hits compilation. Just because we've never really had that moment of reflection to look back where we've played an anniversary of an album. It's always been about pushing forwards. I got into New Order through Substance and we saw this as being more of a gateway for maybe a younger generation whose parents are fans of the band. An entry point to discover all these other albums. That's what appealed to us the most about doing it. We've never been retrospective. We've always tried to keep pushing forward, and with this drawing a line under what we've done it leaves things wide open to go anywhere again which is exciting for all of us.
There's also a second disc of recordings on the deluxe edition of Black Gold entitled Distance: The Acoustic Recordings, which features acoustic versions of eight songs from the band's back catalogue. How did that come about and how did you decide which songs to record?
Tom: If we had more time we could have done a lot more! It was lovely to revisit some of those songs, especially ones like "Let Your Good Heart Lead You Home" or "Distance." The really earlier ones that we haven't played for a while. It really stirred some memories for me in playing those songs again. It's a long time since I've sung them. Over the years, Editors have been asked to perform acoustically quite a lot. It's something we've always enjoyed and people generally tend to respond quite well to it. Essentially, we're boiling the songs down to how they are when I first write them and it's worked quite well. I know this is a best of but it's nice to touch on personal favorites like "Walk the Fleet Road" even though they aren't singles.
Elliott: It's something that's been up in the air for a long time now. When you do promotional stuff you often end up having to do things acoustically, and people seem to love it when we do it. We've been tossing and turning about whether to do an acoustic record or tour, and these are just songs we haven't done acoustically before or for a very long time. I think it's nice to highlight some of the songs that don't normally get played out and show them in a different light as well. Acoustically, it can give them a different shade and they almost take on another lease of life on their own.
Will there be an acoustic segment on the forthcoming tour next year?
Elliott: It's always up for discussion and we talk about it quite a lot. It's just working out the logistics of it really.
Tom: I've done acoustic moments on quite a few tours but never with that next step of having a cellist with me or some strings. Biffy Clyro just went out on an acoustic tour, which I heard great things about, so I think it's something we will do at some point. Maybe a whole show in that way. I'll be surprised if we don't because I think our songs work well in that space so it's nice to give the audience a different take on the things that they know.
Elliott: We're just working up to do promo now where Tom, Justin, and myself will be doing a lot of acoustic stuff. Which I can't really reveal the details of just yet but there will be some small, mainly acoustic shows. We'd love to do a full, proper acoustic show at some point and I think we should. It would be nice to do something with proper strings and do it justice; so hopefully one day we'll do that.
Having toured and sold out academy sized venues across the UK for a number of years, you're playing arena sized venues on the Black Gold tour, which I guess seems the logical next step up?
Tom: We'll see! We do like playing the bigger rooms and are lucky enough to have experienced that a fair bit over the years in different parts of Europe. We played Birmingham Arena on the second record so we're particularly looking forward to going back there again. We've made six albums and even though the first two did better in the UK than the ones that followed, it feels appropriate to be able to remind people what we've been up to and celebrate that so we're really buzzing about the tour. Obviously we'll be playing songs from our back catalogue bar the new ones on Black Gold. We're not promoting a new album as such so it will be slightly more celebrational in its feel. As scared as I am of nostalgia I'm actually quite looking forward to those evenings. Mainly because we're proud to still be doing it. Our longevity is something I don't take for granted. It's cool to be up there again.
Elliott: We're currently working on what the shows will look like, but as Tom said, we really want the shows to be like a celebration. We also want to try and get through a lot of material, and hopefully give fans an experience of what Editors are about throughout the course of our career. It won't be too heavily focused on one album, as it tends to be when you're on a tour cycle for a new record. So it's quite exciting for us too, because playing in a bigger room gives us more scope to play with. Whenever we play smaller venues you tend to be set by the limitations of what they can hold or just logistical things, so it will be fun to play around with the rooms a bit. See what we can do and try to make things different in whatever way we can.
Will there be any songs in the set that you haven't played live for a long time?
Tom: We were talking about it quite recently. A song like "Bones" off the second album, which we haven't played live for years, is one we'll probably revisit, and all our singles really. Playing live is such a big part of who we are so we try to make the experience as uplifting and celebratory as we can. Even though we're making music that comes from a darker place.
Elliott: It's a bit early to say until we get to rehearsals but I think we'll definitely be looking to play some of the rarer tracks, and also changing the setlist from night to night. I think if you're a hardcore fan there will be a lot of treats and Easter eggs!
Moving onto the future, will there be a seventh Editors album?
Tom: Yes, of course. I think this marks the end of a chapter so I'm just buzzing about what we do next. Next year we'll throw ourselves into making record number seven.
Elliott: We're all quite enjoying not having a clue what we're doing so we haven't started planning for the next record yet. Because we've always looked ahead to the next record this is new territory for us, which is what makes it even more exciting. You can have a tendency to over think things sometimes, which we try hard not to do as a band. We'd rather go on our gut instincts then ride with it. If we'd have thought about every move we ever made I don't think we'd still be here. We'd be driving ourselves insane. So after we've finished touring we'll probably work out what's going to happen next but until that time, who knows?
www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/editors_on_black_gold/YES PLEASE!!!! and You Are Fading too please. and Two Hearted Spider. also highlighting this, if anyone needed this confirmation which I feel might be the case
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 25, 2019 13:07:12 GMT
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 25, 2019 13:26:56 GMT
(no offence to the person who typed this interview out but punctuation exists... also there's no morning in the title of the 3rd record. I've tried to fix it in the full text in the spoiler tags.) Far Out Meets: Editors reflect on their evolution as a band and why they rebel against the comfort zone Today is a day of fifteen years in the making for Editors, a band who reach the milestone that very few acts achieve and are releasing their greatest hits album, Black Gold, which hits the shelves today. The career-spanning 24-track compilation showcases and celebrates the number of uncompromising and left-turns the group have taken since they released their debut in 2005.
The title track for the compilation is a shining example of the evolution of Editors: the band that sit in front of us today are that of a completely different beast to the one from all those years ago. Frontman Tom Smith’s unique voice still creates the chilling sense of darkness that their debut set out but now, with the experience behind it, reaches that destination using a different mode of transport.
Editors’ 2.0 cycle began with their third record, 2009’s In This Light and On This Morning Evening which saw the band change up their style by swapping the guitar for the synthesizer. The album was a critical and commercial success which topped the album charts in the U.K. However, guitarist Chris Urbanowicz would later leave the band citing musical differences following this change in direction.
The Midlanders then made the decision to carry on and, while the band were a man down, the agreement was reached to bring in two extra members with Elliott Williams joining on keys and Justin Lockey replacing Urbanowicz as lead guitarist. As I prepared to interview the band, my research highlighted just how many obstacles Editors have been forced to overcome. While their breakthrough was one which instantly propelled them to high exposure, it’s their longevity and ability to stay relevant which seemed almost more impressive. Luckily, I was able to meet up with Justin Lockey who talked us through his journey with the group, the key to their durability and why they continue to re-invent themselves with every record.
Joining a band who are already well established and with three albums under their belt can be a strange position, but Editors with this new look line-up were approaching the shake-up as if they were making a debut all over again: “I think going into their fourth record, they wanted to expand even further and make this jump from indie guitar band into this kind of expansive synth kind of world and got the bug for experimenting and moving forward,” Lockey explained. “Bands do get really bored after a while of just playing the same shit all the time.”
Editors’ fourth record and first for Lockey, 2013’s The Weight Of Your Love, was necessary for this new era of the band to get into full swing and “imprint their new sound” as Lockey tells me, stating: “In some ways the fourth record is just a band in a room playing together to gel the new members and imprint a new kind of sound. It was when we went into In Dream in 2015, which spiritually picked up where their third record left off, which adds experimentation into the dark. By that point we had toured the world a couple of times and were very much a band, then last year’s ‘Violence’ record was a further departure from that.”
In Dream saw the band take their experimentation to new ambitious levels and, when I mention this to Lockey about how tracks such as the almost spoken word ‘No Harm’ show the band at their boldest, the guitarist then revealed that he was given extra production responsibilities despite his new arrival: “That kind of sound comes from a place of trust. It was obviously the right time for us to dig deep into that production world again. We are more of a studio-based thing anyway because we love being in the studio so it’s nice to be able to have the time to just dig in and do whatever the fuck you want to do, really.”
While Lockey talks up the trust factor that the current line-up seem to have in abundance with each other, it becomes perfectly clear by the passion in which the guitarist talks about his bandmates that a major factor in their success is the collective devotion and intensity for their shared creative vision, while their individual egos are firmly left at the door. “With the evolution of the band, we are all not precious with what we play or do,” Lockey said. “This band started out all those years ago with four guys in a room making a lot of noise with all that excitement of being young and making your first record but that excitement leaves.
“That post-teen guys in a room thing, you can’t re-create that and if you try, everyone can tell. So six records in, I couldn’t give a shit if I play the guitar on any of the tracks, to be honest. I am a guitarist but it’s just one of the things I do and that’s the same with all of us. We are way past that precious stage. It’s about pushing ourselves personally and as a band.”
Despite the band being a constantly evolving shape, which has undoubtedly played a massive part in them being as relevant as ever with a headline date at Wembley Arena on the horizon, it goes without saying some drawbacks will arise from such development—a factor which may have resulted in some of their fans struggling to adapt to their evolution.
Lockey opened up to me about some of the criticism he has personally faced from some of their older fans, saying: “You do get fans saying ‘I fucking hate this record, it doesn’t sound like the first record’ and I’ve even had fans come up to me saying ‘I prefer Chris’s playing’, I say ‘Great, well I’m not Chris’. That band was 15 years ago, you can go back and listen to your record because that’s always going to be there. But the band personally couldn’t give a fuck, cos it’s just going to keep moving on.”
He does, however, understand the objections of the vocal minority, saying: “People like their bands because bands mean something to them in a certain moment of their lives. Say you get a mad Morrissey and Smiths fan, and no matter what The Smiths do since, they’re just like: ‘It’s not This Charming Man’ but the band aren’t in the same place, Morrissey is this weird right-wing dude now. They are different people now.”
“To be a truthful artist and move forward, your tastes develop because you physically aren’t the same person you were 15 years ago.”
I mention to the guitarist about when I saw their emphatic headline set at Belgium’s Pukkelpop Festival in 2017, which was a special night for the band that Lockey can vividly recall, saying: “It was mad, I remember that night because the promoter came back and told us there was 55,000 people stood in a field watching us, which pecks your head. We don’t assume or expect, we just go out and do our best show, so when you get figures like that thrown at you, it just goes over your head like, how’s that happening five records in? We shouldn’t be getting bigger. But when your taste changes, and the fans you lose along the way because they can’t get past the fact they’re not playing their first record anymore, you pick up new fans who find you on record four, five or six. It’s such an evolving bizarre existence.”
He continued: “Wembley Arena on album six, like what’s going on here? To still be growing is a bizarre feeling, especially for a British band as there’s such a high turnover of bands in Britain. Out of all the bands that came up with Editors at the beginning there’s probably like three left, and they’re all just playing their classic album or something, which I get but we like to move forward.”
Being six albums in, headlining festivals around Europe is a rare position that the band have found themselves in, and while Lockey knows how fortunate they are, the secret to their success isn’t really a secret as he sheds some light on. “It’s a work ethic thing, they went out to Europe early and saw past Britain. I remember they were lumped in with the theme of the time which was Bloc Party, Rakes, Editors and Maximo Park. They were all talked up by NME as being this scene blah blah. Then you had bands like The Bravery and shit like that from America, which was all post-punk basically.”
Adding: “But you can hear on Editors’ first record that what they were trying to strive for was way beyond that scene and box allowed them to do, so they just fucked off and kept going back to Europe since day one and just worked harder than everyone else. They were always playing and saw the rest of the world as important as the UK. Whereas a lot of bands think because they’ve played Brixton Academy that they have made it, but you take that attitude to France and they’ll tell you to fuck off. In terms of France, there’s an attitude towards English bands were they think they are going to be well respected everywhere they go, but a lot of people couldn’t give a fuck and these are massive countries. It took until ‘Ocean of Night’ on record five to get decent radio play in France.”
This immense work ethic and lack of an ego-centric ideas has been another huge contributing factor to why they are where they are. Lockey recalls the surreal nature of his first European adventure with the band saying: “Fucking hell, the first European tour I went on with Editors, we were doing stadiums in Belgium and then would go to Norway and play to 400 people in a club. It’s a very old school way of growing a career as a band, and not something that a lot of bands grew up with. Especially the current crop, who grew up watching X Factor where someone comes out a megastar, but there’s no longevity in that.”
Lockey then gave his advice to younger bands, adding: “The emotional connection is always that live feeling. That emotional attachment of seeing your favourite band loud in a club is always going to beat the record. For a band, if you keep going out and out at some point, if you’re good enough it’ll grow in a very organic way and that’s what Editors did from the start. Now we can do Wembley and Sportpaleis in Belgium on album six, or our own outdoor shows in Italy, Germany and Holland.”
Editors feel somewhat underappreciated in the U.K. because they don’t play the same festivals every single summer, but they more than make up for that across the continent, a touring scene where it feels like they are truly treasured for the talent they are. Black Gold is a great excuse to delve back deep into their expansive repertoire of a band not scared of doing it their own way.
faroutmagazine.co.uk/editors-band-interview-justin-lockey/
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 25, 2019 13:38:33 GMT
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 26, 2019 16:04:10 GMT
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 26, 2019 16:46:27 GMT
The Daily fucking Star... Editors say they're overgrown kids like Peter Pan despite gloomy image The indie veterans insist their miserable image is a myth
Editors insist their miserable image is a myth – because they’re actually a bunch of overgrown kids much like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.
The indie veterans released their Best Of compilation Black Gold yesterday, admitting they’re lucky to avoid having a proper job.
Singer Tom Smith told me: “We’ve avoided the real world in so many ways. We’re a gang of mates who, when we’re backstage or in the studio, talk about football, complain about politics or just chat s**t. We take our music very seriously but in some ways we’re The Lost Boys, searching for eternal youth.
“We’ve managed to navigate a way around the grind most of what most people have to do to pay the rent.”
The title track of Black Gold is one of three new songs on the compilation – and it mocks the band’s gloomy image
Tom said: “Much is made of the darkness of our band and how morbid we must be.
“It’s a brush we’re tarred with for the casual listener, but it’s not the case.”
After Editors’ arena tour in February, Tom will release the second album as Smith And Burrows with singer Andy Burrows , following 2011’s Funny Looking Angels.
Tom is also making an album with Italian composer Luca D’Alberto .
Tom said: “Luca’s music sounds enormous, but he does it all in his bedroom.”
Tom has ideas for Editors’ next album, which is likely to be “sparse and moody”.
He said: “I’m proud of our band’s longevity.
“We’ve never been fashionable but I’m happy to be in the shadows.”
www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/editors-say-theyre-overgrown-kids-20725509
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 26, 2019 16:57:38 GMT
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 29, 2019 14:54:22 GMT
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Post by Captain Crieff on Oct 30, 2019 20:18:30 GMT
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