Tom Smith (musician)

Tom Smith
Tom Smith at Taubertal Festival 2013
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Michael Henry Smith
Born	(1981-04-29) 29 April 1981 Northampton, England
Genres	Rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Kitchenware
Associated acts	Editors, Magnus, The Japanese Popstars, Tired Pony, Andy Burrows, Indochine
Notable instruments
Fender Telecaster Custom Gibson ES-335

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. 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

With Andy Burrows

• Funny Looking Angels (2011)

References

External links

• Tom Smith Biography at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 January 2009)
• From band's official site: Snare Drum, signed amongst other items to be auctioned in February 2010 for charity for the Haiti relief effort