White Lies biography
White Lies are an English post-punk band from Ealing, London. Formerly known as Fear of Flying, the band consists primarily of Harry McVeigh (lead vocals, guitar), Charles Cave (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Jack Lawrence-Brown (drums). The band perform live as a five-piece, complemented by sidemen Tommy Bowen and Rob Lee.
White Lies formed in October 2007, upon writing songs they felt didn't suit their original band. After delaying their first performance for five months to build up media hype, they earned a recording contract with Fiction Records days after their debut. The release of singles "Unfinished Business" and "Death" led to tours and festival appearances in the United Kingdom and North America, including a headline performance at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and a place on the 2009 NME Awards Tour. At the beginning of 2009, White Lies featured in multiple "ones to watch" polls for the coming year, including the BBC's Sound of 2009 poll and the BRITs Critics' Choice Award.
White Lies' debut album To Lose My Life... was released in January 2009, debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart. Their second album Ritual was recorded in 2010, and was released on 17 January 2011. White Lies' musical style has been described as dark yet uplifting by the media, drawing comparisons to Joy Division, Editors, The Bravery and Interpol.
History
Formation
Charles Cave and Jack Lawrence-Brown were both from Pitshanger Village in North Ealing, and first played together in a school show at North Ealing Primary School. Harry McVeigh (from Shepherd's Bush) joined them two years later, and they began playing under the name Fear of Flying at the age of fifteen. Cave described the band as a "weekend project", and one of many groups which they were involved in while at school. Fear of Flying completed one UK tour as a support act, They released two double A-side vinyl singles on independent record label Young and Lost Club, "Routemaster/Round Three" on 7 August 2006 and "Three's a Crowd/Forget-Me-Nots" on 6 December 2006. Both vinyls were produced by former Blur and The Smiths collaborator, Stephen Street, whom they met through a friend at school. They went on to play the inaugural Underage Festival in Victoria Park, England on 10 August 2007.Two weeks prior to the group starting university, they decided that they would take a second gap year, and perform new material which the band felt did not suit their current outfit. Cave stated that "I felt as though I couldn't write about anything personal, so I would make up semi-comical stories that weren't really important to anyone, not even me." with a MySpace bulletin stating "Fear of Flying is DEAD ... White Lies is alive!", and a new name that reflected their maturity. Cave stated that the band deleted their MySpace account "without any token farewell gigs". McVeigh said that the current musical climate had an effect on the split, stating that "Maybe a few years ago, we would have signed a deal and had a chance to make three albums .... In the current climate...we'd have been dropped".
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