North America Can Now Look In On Editors' Back Room

Almost one year after the original British release of their debut, Editors are finally getting a proper crack at the North American market.

The Birmingham natives released their critically lauded The Back Room on March 21, just in time for their second North American tour. And if the frenzied reaction of the hipsters to their first short U.S. tour is any indication, it seems that Editors are ready to conquer our continent.

"The first tour was basically sold-out everywhere, and there were queues around the block of people trying to get in," recalls bassist Russell Leetch. "So yeah, we're definitely looking forward to coming back and starting fresh.

"Though it's difficult to compare the American and European audiences, because in some places in Europe we can play bigger venues where the audience knows all the words. So obviously coming to a new country, we're still trying to win over people. It just depends on the place and who knows our album, and that'll be what makes it electric."

Pretty soon, there will be few left who haven't at least heard Editors' name, if not their music. Since the quartet could afford to be picky when it came to North American labels, they took their time before deciding.

"We're releasing it on Fader, which is an independent label through Fader Magazine," says Leetch. "We're really excited about it. It's just what we like to do — find an independent label, find what they're about, then see if it works for us. It's sort of about a partnership and it's a working relationship.

"We're kind of purists about our music, and we don't want anybody else to get involved with it. So I think that if we were pushed on to a major label, they might try and dictate where we go with our songs. We definitely don't want that. We're not the band that we would be if we were on a major label."

Fader is distributed in Canada by Sony BMG.

Editors' D.I.Y. attitude is reflected in much of what they do, from their work ethic and low-budget music videos to their hectic tour schedule.

"We want to spend as much time as we can everywhere — anywhere where people want to hear our music live," says Leetch.

This independence hasn't gone unnoticed by audiences, many of whom have been won over by the band's live shows and dark music.

"Our fanbase is growing rapidly, too, and it's already put our album in the top 40 in the U.K.," says Leetch.