Editors frontman Tom Smith notched up two UK No.1 albums during the band’s noughties commercial heyday. Here, in the midst of their greatest hits tour, Smith relives signing his first label deal, going mainstream and touring with REM – and predicts his own epitaph...

We signed to an indie because…

“We never felt like we got the love from the major labels, and when we met with Kitchenware there was just a different energy – more of a punk rock ...