I’m sensing a Scottrade pattern here.

Last month, Green Day brought along UK sensations Franz Ferdinand to open their concert. Tomorrow, the newest UK rock phenomenon, White Lies, will do the honours for Kings of Leon.

Having already headlined big halls in Europe and playing every monster festival under the sun, the addition of the White Lies on the Kings’ bill is a significant coup.

Musically, Franz and the White Lies are kindred spirits. While very danceable and hook-laden, the Lies take it to a dark and driving place where bands like Joy Division and She Wants Revenge reside.

The trio performed under the name Fear of Flying, when they occasionally got to work with Smiths and Blur producer Stephen Street. Since unveiling the new name and batch of songs in 2007 they have been on a dream ride, from signing with the Fiction label a few days after their first gig to having their debut, To Lose My Life…, make #1 on the UK chart.

I caught up with West Londoner Harry McVeigh (lead vocals, guitar) today as the band geared up for their first show of the current tour, in the Twin Cities.

RC: How did your style change when you became White Lies?
HM: It all was a huge step up, really. Fear of Flying we very much did while in school as a hobby. When we met, we had all just bought instruments at the same time, so we were learning together. When White Lies happened, we had written “Unfinished Business” and everything just clicked. We realized that we could write songs that truly meant something and it changed very quickly for us. We could focus on it as a career rather than a hobby. Our first show was at Hoxton Square’s Bar & Kitchen and was attended by a lot of media and industry people.

RC: How did you feel during that first gig?
HM: I remember being absolutely terrified. It wasn’t so much because of the industry people, but I wanted to show my friends and family that we could consider doing music as a future career.

RC: Were you surprised your debut went to #1?
HM: We were very surprised. In the current climate, there is a bigger response to female singer songwriters in the UK, so we were really shocked and incredibly flattered. It set us up all over the world with so many new opportunities.

RC: Did you grow up going to festivals?
HM: I went to a few. I have fond memories of going to the Reading Festival as a teenager. It always had the most amazing lineups. When we played it this year, it was the highlight of the summer. At the time I never would have thought for a million years that I would one day play it. Now that we have, it’s a dream come true.
http://www.readingfestival.com/home/

RC: What was it like working with Stephen Street?
HM: Our friend and scholar Will Street is his son, so we were extremely fortunate to work in his studio a few times. He looks out for people and he’s one of the nicest men I’ve met in the industry.

RC: Have you scheduled a time to write new material?
HM: We’ll definitely start early next year. We won’t go straight into the studio, we’ll probably work inside my house. When you tour, you miss the writing and recording and vice versa. It will be pretty quiet on the touring side and we’re going to try to put out an excellent second album late next year or early 2011.

Kings of Leon with White Lies

7 pm Wed., Scottrade Center, $43.50

http://www.myspace.com/whitelies

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