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Tom Smith (Editors musician)

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This article is about the musician in the band 'Editors'. For the filk singer, see Tom Smith (filker).
Tom Smith
Tom Smith at Taubertal Festival 2013
Tom Smith at Taubertal Festival 2013
Background information
Birth nameThomas Michael Henry Smith
Born (1981-04-29) 29 April 1981 (age 43)
Northampton, England
GenresRock, pop
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards
Years active2002–present
LabelsKitchenware
Spouse
​
(m. invalid year)​

Thomas Michael Henry "Tom" Smith (born 29 April 1981) is an English musician. He is the lead singer, lyricist, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist for the Birmingham-based indie rock band Editors.

Smith's vocal style has been compared to that of post-punk singers such as Ian Curtis of Joy Division, Paul Banks of Interpol, Robert Smith of The Cure and Michael Stipe of R.E.M.. Smith's vocal range is baritone, but he uses falsetto to reach higher notes. His use of falsetto has been noted on their third album, In This Light and on This Evening. His main guitar is a Gibson ES-335,[1] and he also plays a Fender Telecaster Custom.

When Smith lost his voice during the 2006 SXSW concert, the band had to cancel the last song of their first gig.[2]

In July 2008, he contributed a cover of "Bonny" (by Prefab Sprout) for the UK edition of the Independents Day charity album.

Smith performed a solo show in February 2012 in Brussels, Belgium where he sang old and new Editors songs.

In 2014, the Daily Mirror published a list of singers with largest vocal ranges in the UK. Statistics were based on sheet music data from musicnotes.com, a website with over 260,000 sheet music arrangements. With his vocal range of 4.75 octaves, Smith topped the list, beating singers like Elton John, Robert Plant or Freddie Mercury.[3]

Background

Born in Northampton, Smith grew up in Stroud, Gloucestershire[4] and attended Woodchester Endowed Primary School, where he learned to play the guitar under the guidance of the headteacher.[citation needed] He later attended Archway School, where his mother and his father, John Smith and Sylvia Smith now work as physics and chemistry teachers.

As a teenager Smith listened to Britpop band albums and songs that included Oasis' Definitely Maybe and Blur's Parklife albums. "Suddenly, all I wanted to do was to be in a band," Smith has said. "I learned to play the guitar by playing those records."[1]

He later studied music technology at Staffordshire University where he met fellow Editors band members.

Personal life

He lives in London with his wife, former BBC Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman whom he married on 22 December 2013.[5] They have been in a relationship since 2005.[6] The couple have two sons, Rudy Brae Bowman Smith (born 10 June 2008)[7] and Spike Bowman Smith (born February 2013).

Smith is an avid Arsenal F.C. supporter. He is a friend of Guy Garvey, the lead singer of Elbow.[8]

Collaborations

Smith collaborated with Cicada on the songs "Executive" and "Talking" from their 2009 album "Roulette."

Smith provided vocals to the song 'The Good Book' by Tired Pony on the 2010 album The Place We Ran From.

In 2011, Smith contributed vocals for songs 'Joshua' by Northern Irish electronic band The Japanese Popstars and 'The Fall' by London/Manchester progressive house project Raized by Wolves. In October of that year, Smith announced the collaboration album with his good friend Andy Burrows (from I Am Arrows, We Are Scientists and Razorlight) under the moniker Smith & Burrows.[9] Their album Funny Looking Angels was released on 25 November 2011. In December 2011, Smith & Burrows played a number of shows throughout Europe. Smith also provided backing vocals to the lead single from the second Andy Burrows' solo album Company, 'Keep On Moving On'. Smith also sang in Burrows' track 'Watch Me Fall Again' from his third album Fall Together Again (2014).[10]

In 2012, he worked with the French band Indochine for the song 'The Lovers' on their album Black City Parade.

In 2013, he contributed vocals for the song 'Lux Lisbon' by German rapper Casper on his album Hinterland.

In 2014, Belgian dance project Magnus teamed up with Smith for their song 'Singing Man', which was the lead single from their second album Where Neon Goes To Die.

Influences

In 2006 Smith stated that Murmur by R.E.M. was his favourite album of all time. Editors drummer, Edward Lay concurred in an interview in Winter 2005, saying, "Tom's favourite album is R.E.M.'s Murmur, so they were his favourite band whilst growing up and I think they've always maintained a certain cool vibe about everything they've released. They haven't sold out at all, so they're big influences not just in songwriting, but the way they've protected themselves as musicians and as a band."[11] He has also expressed admiration for performers such as Bruce Springsteen, describing him as "a legendary artist who's still got that magic he started with", Mogwai (a favourite since he was a teenager), Prefab Sprout and Peter Gabriel, despite overcoming initial skepticism that Gabriel was "music for your dad".[8]

Humanitarian efforts

Smith's Converse All-Stars basketball shoes, worn at 2007's V Festival, went on sale on internet site eBay in a charity auction to raise money for MAG (Mines Advisory Group). They raised £52; slightly more than the RRP for a new pair.[12] In April 2011 Smith ran the London Marathon along with band-mate Russell Leetch. They raised over £10,000 for Oxfam.

Discography

See also: Editors discography
With Andy Burrows

References

  1. ^ a b Vaziri, Aidin Gibson Recommends Editors An End Has a Start 11 October 2007. Accessed 24 October 2007
  2. ^ Stellastarr Upcoming Concert Reviews of the Editors, Metric and More... Cincinnati CityBeat, 12 April 2007. Accessed 24 October 2007
  3. ^ "Which singer has the best vocal range in the UK?". mirror.co.uk. Daily Mirror. 26 September 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (22 June 2007). "Violently happy". guardian.co.uk. The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  5. ^ Lyons, Beverley (26 December 2013). "Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman marries Editors frontman Tom Smith in secret festive ceremony". dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  6. ^ "Festival Queen Edith Bowman gets down and dirty". Daily Mail. 12 May 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
  7. ^ "BBC – Newsbeat – Entertainment – DJ Edith Bowman has baby boy". BBC News. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  8. ^ a b Swash, Rosie (17 September 2007). "Peter Gabriel is not just music for your dad". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Tom Smith / Andy Burrows Team Up". Clash Magazine. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Musicians Andy Burrows and Tom Smith on their special relationship". Paste Magazine. 14 November 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Editors – Manchester, UK – Winter 2005 Meeting in the Back Room". Retrieved 22 September 2009. {{cite web}}: |archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)
  12. ^ "EDITORS – Popworld". Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
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