Boys from The Back Room

OVER the past 12-months Tom Smith has seen a teenage dream become a reality.

The defining moment for his band Editors, formed by Tom and a group of university friends, arrived at the end of last year with the signing of their record deal.

Their first single Bullets sold out within two days of its release in January, and was followed up by the top 20 hit Munich, of which the Sunday Times said: "It packs more urgency, passion, hooks and power into its short life than many bands manage over a whole album".

The success has not, however, affected the modest 24-year-old guitarist and vocalist, who grew up in Woodchester.

"We were not the type that ever expected a record deal," he said. "We have self-confidence but no arrogance. We are still the same people."

The year has gone from strength to strength for the band, who are currently on a near sell-out tour of the UK.

Tom also has a celebrity girlfriend - Radio One DJ Edith Bowman, although he is reluctant to discuss their relationship.

Along with the completion of the album The Back Room, Tom considers playing at Glastonbury Festival this summer as his proudest moment to date.

"Glastonbury was an absolute dream," he said.

"Being from Stroud, Glastonbury was always a local festival for me."

"In '97 and '98 I was there as a punter, looking on in admiration so to step out on stage was mind-blowing."

A trumpet player as a child, Tom changed tack in his early teens, and took up the guitar.

"I was a teenager when Oasis and Blur and the whole Brit Pop thing came out," he said.

"My dad taught me some basic chords and from then I started to write songs and wanted to be in a band."

Proud dad John, a teacher at his son's former school, Archway, said: "There were always guitars around the house. "Tom would spend hours playing and recording on a four-track in his room.

"I'm so pleased he is doing what he wants to do, he is flying high and enjoying it but it's a lot of hard work and travelling."

Tom's former head of year Elaine Coley said he didn't actively seek out the limelight.

"He was interested in the technical side of music such as helping out with the sound for school events, but you wouldn't really have known he was interested in performing," she said.

It was outside school that Tom developed a taste for live performance.

"I played with mates in sixth form, we once got second place in a Cirencester Battle of the Bands but we were just learning our craft really," he said.

He may have a music technology degree, a record contract and an ever-growing fan base, but Tom still looks forward to returning to Stroud.

"I have some good friends in Stroud. It's also a beautiful part of the world to come back to, although I get less and less chance now," he said.

He also revealed that the Five Valleys means a lot more than just the picturesque setting for his childhood.

"Home is where I can write best. I have only ever written songs at home," he said.

"I have three homes now - the tour bus, my girlfriend's place in London, and home home in Stroud."

With an upcoming European tour supporting Mercury Music Prize winners Franz Ferdinand, a new album to write and a trip to America planned for next year, the band will have little time to relax in the foreseeable future.

"We don't aim to be U2 but we do want to progress," said Tom, who is performing on Later with Jools Holland next Friday, October 21.

"With the relative success we are having at the moment, we just want to see where it takes us."

Progression is important, but Tom also believes it is vital the band remember who they are.

"There is so much rubbish in the industry, everything is so throwaway and people are always after the next big thing," he said.

"Everything we have done so far has been for the right reasons and we've stuck at doing things our own way.

"We don't want to cheapen our music by selling ourselves short."