Snow Patrol and White Lies

Some bands are just lucky. There are those that score a record deal the week after they form and go straight to the top of the charts before they've played their tenth gig, but they're usually flash in the pan novelty acts who find themselves out of date as quickly as they found success. It's safe to say that Snow Patrol, who toiled for a decade in obscurity before they hit the big-time, are not one of those bands. Forming as Shrug while singer and guitarist Gary Lightbody, bassist Mark Mclelland and drummer Michael Morrison were all studying together at the University of Dundee, Snow Patrol began life as just another student-led indie band. They played gigs in pubs to very few people and releasing EP's that very few people ever bought, and it took them three years to sign to their first label. Their first album “Songs For Polarbears” was released in 1998 and after all that effort, the album tanked, though the critical notices it received were unanimously positive.

This was the also the case with their second album 2001's “When It's All Over You Still Have To Clean Up” which lead to the band being dropped by their record label. A hellish period of time followed, in which the band were playing gigs to less people than they played to when they formed. It's quite safe to say that what followed is one of the most inspiring come-backs in British rock history, and it's all down to a song that, at the time of its release, was already around four years old. While the band had struggled along, Richard Smerniki, a fan of the band who had gone to university with its members had gone on to become Polydor Records' Scottish A&R rep, and his brother Paul had gone on to manage Fiction Records. Once they became aware of the band's label situation, they sent some talent scouts over to the band's Glasgow headquarters to listen to some of their demos, and they were impressed enough to sign the band to Black Lion, a subsidiary of Polydor Records.

In 2003, their album “Final Straw” was released, and after its initial release proved to be a modest word of mouth success, the release of its second single, “Run”, shot the band into the stratosphere. A top five hit on the singles chart, it propelled the album into the upper regions of the charts, peaking at number three, and set up the band as one of the hottest rock bands in the country, nearly a decade into their career. Three further hit singles from the album, along with a stint supporting U2 on their wildly successful Vertigo Tour cemented their position as the next big thing in British rock. It would take them ten years to conquer their home country, but it would only take them a further three to make them one of the biggest bands in the world thanks to their timeless hjt single “Chasing Cars”. Needless to say, the band were still an enormous deal back home, and its parent album “Eyes Open” became the biggest selling album of the year in the U.K to show that, beating out stiff competition from Arctic Monkeys and Take That in the process.

To this day, Snow Patrol remain one of the world's most beloved rock bands. They've headlined festivals, sold out arenas, supported the world's biggest bands and seem set for stadium slaying dominance in the very near future. Over twenty years into their career, they're still at the very top of their game, and they come highly recommended.

The beginnings of White Lies were when Charles Cave and Jack Lawrence-Brown played together in a school performance, when they were originally called Fear of Flying. They were initially just a weekend project whilst being at school, but their following grew and grew, seeing the band land support slots on tours with The Maccabees and Jamie T. In August 2007, the band played the Underage Festival in Victoria Park. The band took a second gap year deciding to pursue the band full time, and changed their name to White Lies in October 2007. With the name change came a new level of maturity with generally darker songwriting.

With a new name and a new sound, the band played their first gig at Hoxton Square’s Bar & Kitchen on February 28th 2008 supporting Team Waterpolo and Semi Finalists. They soon began to capture the attention of record labels, and had many offers before signing to Fiction Records. The band earned themselves airplay on BBC Radio 1 when Zane Lowe named “Death” the ‘Hottest Record in the World’ on February 5th 2008. With their career beginning to snowball into something bigger by the day, they earned a headline slot on the BBC Introducing stage at Big Weekend 2008. In March 2008, they were announced as one of the four bands that would be taking part in the NME New Noise Tour. A couple of months later, they had their first performance on Later… With Jools Holland on May 30th 2008, on which they performed the songs “Unfinished Business” and “Death”.

Towards the end of 2008, the band embarked on a headline tour, which had six dates in the US. They released their debut album entitled “To Lose My Life” on January 12th 2009, and became the first British act in 2009 to achieve a number one album, which beat Lady Gaga, The Script and Kings of Leon to the number one spot. Later in 2009 the band travelled across the pond to build their following in the US. They played on Last Call with Carson Daly and the Late Show with David Letterman, the latter marking the band’s debut performance on US television. In the summer of 2009 they played Coachella and Lollapalooza.

“Ritual” was released on January 17th 2011 and became an international hit, making it to the top 20 in eight countries. It was later certified Silver by the BPI. “Big TV” was released on August 12th 2013 and made it to the top forty of six countries.

They are the recipients of three awards including a Q Award for ‘Best New Band’, a ‘MOJO Honors Lists: ‘MOJO Breakthrough Award’ and ‘Best Album Artwork’ for Big TV.