The Editors have taken what could be considered a fairly big risk in the rock world: They opted to have their guitar parts take a backseat to keyboards this time around. With producer Flood (Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails) at the helm of their latest record In This Light And On This Evening, the British quartet has delivered a set of songs that is more in line with Joy Division or New Order than the Arctic Monkeys. Although on paper it might seem like a gutsy move, critics and fans have given generally positive feedback, with a recent BBC review commenting that The Editors had indeed "stuck gold" (October 5, 2009). While In This Light And On This Evening already earned the coveted #1 spot on the UK Billboard charts back in October, American audiences only recently got a taste of the new sound when the album hit US shelves on January 19.
The most unusual aspect might just be that it was
Chris Urbanowicz – the lead guitarist – who spearheaded the decision to dust off the samplers and synthesizers. When the usual rock chords weren’t fulfilling his songwriting needs, he took to the keyboard (which Urbanowicz had dabbled with in the past) and an entirely new musical path was paved for
In This Light And On This Evening. While the guitarist isn’t certain that he’ll be sampling on future albums to come, he is still able to say with confidence that the recording process was never mired by boredom.
UG: You’ve taken quite a fresh new direction with the addition of more of a synthesizer-driven sound. As I understand it, you were the one who suggested the idea. I found that to be an interesting choice for a lead guitarist to make.
Chris: We had written a bunch of songs after the second record. We definitely weren’t listening to the same things that we were into before. The songs were kind of okay. They would have a few good riffs and stuff, but they weren’t really quite like what we wanted them to be. We decided to sort of change the sound, and it changes the way you write. So instead of focusing on the guitars, we would try out the synthesizer. It seemed like a better fit for the new record.
Before you even began writing material for In This Light And On This Evening, had you already been experimenting with synthesizers? Was it something always in the back of your mind?
Sure. On the previous records we would have some synthesizers in the background to give it a little bit more texture. It’s the other way around now. The guitars are in the background and the synthesizers are now up front. It’s pretty much the same as we’ve always done it, but sound-wise they are just reversed.
"The guitars are in the background and the synthesizers are now up front."
The songwriting process is pretty much the same. We’ll come up with an idea for a song and make demos of the song, and then we’ll kind of work on it from there. Some of them were written on a keyboard. Some of them had a drum machine. There were different processes, but they would all kind of finish them the same.
You chose to work with the producer Flood for In This Light And On This Evening, whereas your previous album featured the work of Jacknife Lee. What was the primary reason behind that switch?
We prefer to change producers quite a lot. We like to keep working with different people to keep it fresh. We actually demoed seven or eight songs before we even went into the studio. Some of them had that dark, industrial, electronic sound. We knew Flood had worked with Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode and artists like that. So we sent him our demos and he really liked them. As soon as we met with him, we knew that he was the man.
I recall one of your bandmates mentioning that his experience with Flood was the most fun that he’s ever had in the studio. Do you share that sentiment? If so, what is it about his style that made things a bit more lighthearted?
Whenever we would go into the studio, we would laugh a lot. That’s always a good sign. We were never bored. When we’re bored, we’re not productive. What helped keep the record going was that he would make sure we were all focused on doing something new and interesting.
I can imagine that because there is more of an emphasis on the keyboard aspect of The Editors, that also meant there was a change in the studio setup. Did you try out any new recording techniques or equipment?
There were a lot of the same things that I’ve used before. We did have an old Moog and a lot more keyboards. We experimented quite a bit more with electronic drums as well. We created a lot of the sounds ourselves. We actually had not tried sampling before that much. So this time we were creating our noises, sampling them, and them replaying them.
Is the sampling process something that you enjoyed and can see the band returning to in future albums?
I don’t know. I mean, we’re still learning. We’re still learning how to make new records. We want to try new sounds all the time, but if we use a sample that’s because that’s what we needed to get a certain sound to make the song progress.
Did you try out new guitars?
It was pretty much the same that I’ve used in the past. Tom is the guitar guy, but I do like to play around with pedals.
What pedals have you been using lately?
My (Electro-Harmonix) Memory Man is kind of the staple for me. There’s also a company called Death By Audio. They make some great pedals. I try to buy from them a lot.
With the new musical path that you’ve taken, does that mean you’ve had to tweak your live stage setup quite a bit?
I’ve got four new pieces that are taken now onstage such as a keyboard, a sampler, an omnichord – which is another piece of electronic equipment. There’s a lot of stuff going on to play with and think about now!
Does it intimidate you at all knowing that you have to operate all of that equipment along with your usual guitar playing duties? Or are you already used to everything after a thorough studio session?
It’s a bit of both. I’ve used them since like 2004 and have experience with them. Of course, when you take them out in front of a few thousand people, then it can be a bit of nerve-racking. I’ve just played the guitar for so long that when you have a brainfreeze, you have avenues to get out! I haven’t learned how to do that with the keyboard yet. I need to play with it as long as the guitar to get to that point.
"It’s pretty much the same as we’ve always done it, but sound-wise they are just reversed."
Yeah, there is a reason. Our record label fucked up! It’s supposed to go international this year, though. It’s strange when you have the #1 album in the UK, but elsewhere you feel kind of ignored.
Do you feel at least somewhat confident in the US record release after a strong debut in the UK?
Well, it’s not about that. The last record went to #1 and it didn’t really do much in the US. We’re not really bothered. We’re doing so well in Europe, but we do need to start concentrating on new areas.
There are a lot of creative ideas that bands are thinking up in order to promote new records and tours. Do The Editors ever try to try the self-promotion route or do you leave it up to the record label/publicists?
We can’t really leave it up to the record company to do anything interesting! We actually did this thing where we had people go to different places in London and tell how that had a certain connection with the record. That was kind of interesting thing and it was on our website.
Have you tried viral videos?
I don’t know. If someone had an idea where we could do something, it would be sort of cool. We usually kind of have a video camera around to film locations and post videos. We had one when we were recording in the studio. It was a bit of a recap to show the work we were doing in the studio.
What are your plans for the coming year?
We’re touring now and will be headed to Australia and New Zealand. Then we do a bit of recording to work on a couple of songs that we didn’t get quite right in the studio. We’ll do the American tour, another UK one, and then another European one.
Will those reworked songs be released on the American release or saved for a future CD?
I don’t know yet. If they turn out to be shit, then no! We might be able to get some B-side singles, or it’s possible some will make it on to an album.
Photo credit: James Goulden
Interview by Amy Kelly
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2010
