The Maccabees

Initially formed of Orlando Weeks (guitar/vocals), Hugo and Felix White (guitars/backing vocals), Rupert Jarvis (bass) and Robert Dylan Thomas (drums), the band released their debut single, "X-Ray," on Promise Records, which caught the attention of XFM-Radio, gaining substantial airplay. This led to The Maccabees being chosen as the support slot for an Arctic Monkeys tour. The Maccabees moved to Fierce Panda Records to release their second single, "Latchmere," which was to be a success, bolstered by the support of Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq. The accompanying video became popular on YouTube and also received significant airplay on MTV2.

The band then moved to major label, Fiction Records, to release their debut album, "Colour It In," which came out in May 2007. The album was a success, receiving widespread positive acclaim, charting at number 24. Their first single off the album, "First Love," entered the Top 40 in the UK. Their second, "About Your Dress," also breached the Top 40, peaking at number 33 in the UK charts. They then embarked on a US tour with Bloc Party and performed a sold-out show at the Roundhouse in London, UK.

Thomas left the band in 2008, being replaced by Sam Doyle on drums. In 2009, "Wall of Arms" was released, produced by Arcade Fire's Markus Dravs. The album built on the success of their debut, reaching number 13 in the UK Albums chart, receiving high praise from music critics, with Artrocker magazine naming it joint number one album of the year in 2009, alongside Yeah Yeah Yeah's "It's Blitz."

The band's popularity was displayed by their selection for main stage slots at Reading and Leeds Festival in the UK. After touring in support of their second album, The Maccabees spent two years writing and recording for their third offering, "Given to the Wild," released in 2012, featuring the lead single, "Pelican." The album received a Mercury Award nomination for album of the year.

For their fourth studio album, the band naturally found themselves taking a more introspective approach. Hiding themselves away in an anonymous two-storey building in Elephant & Castle, South London, and focussing on a more stripped-back band dynamic, they later sought an outside perspective in the form of much-admired producer Laurie Latham (Ian Dury & the Blockheads amongst others). The resulting LP Marks to Prove It was released on 31st July 2015 and shot straight to No. 1 in the UK album chart. Following another busy summer of festivals, the band will soon embark on an extensive US tour before returning to the UK in November.

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.