HotStar: White Lies

UK-based White Lies has all but hit the ground running since forming in 2007 out of Fear Of Flying, the band created by singer/guitarist Harry McVeigh, bassist Charles Cave and drummer Jack Lawrence-Brown when they were teenagers.

Fear Of Flying had moderate success and the trio gained road experience with a support slot on a UK tour and released two singles in 2006. But as the band’s persona evolved, so did its musical direction. It was time for a change.

McVeigh, Cave and Lawrence-Brown reemerged as White Lies and debuted an updated sound in 2008, which led to the band signing with Fiction Records. Singles “Unfinished Business” and “Death” brought White Lies media attention, radio play and tour slots that took the band around the UK and to North America.

Its 2009 debut album, To Lose My Life, debuted at No. 1 on the UK album chart and grabbed more attention from the press as well as fans. The band earned A MOJO Breakthrough Award and Q Awards’ Best New Band that year. White Lies was also voted Best Rock Band at Poland’s Eska Music Awards in 2010.

Support slots with Glasvegas, Snow Patrol, Coldplay, Kings of Leon and Muse in addition to headlining dates have kept the buzz growing.

The band’s sophomore release, Ritual, dropped in January and the band has hardly been off the road since.

High Road Touring’s Matt Hickey saw the band’s potential right off the bat.

“After hearing a couple of songs from their first record, I jumped at the chance to work with them,” Hickey told Pollstar. “[The band has] a sincere dedication to making music they believe in and a tireless work ethic.”

That work ethic continues with White Lies making the rounds of summer festivals in Europe, Canada and the States, inclduing Lollapalooza’s 20th anniversary, through the end of August.