Whitley Was 'Sick' Of The Music Industry

It'd be easy to open this story with a quote from LL Cool J, something about not calling it a comeback or something or other. However, Whitley – or Lawrence Greenwood as it would say on his birth certificate – isn't remotely interested in such hyperbole. You can instead call his return to making music a resurrection. You might recall early 2010, after two albums and fed up with the rigours of touring, Greenwood retired the Whitley name and retreated to London to hang with his family and generally rediscover himself. Flip forward to, well, now and he's finally emerging from indefinite hiatus – it all began with a surprising appearance on the Splendour in the Grass poster and now with a brand new album – Even The Stars Are A Mess.

“It was definitely more of a, 'I'm sick of this, let's move on' kind of thing, but in retrospect I was just really burnt out, out of control with what I was doing and needed tIo completely restructure what was going on within my head and as a system of releasing music as well,” Greenwood confesses honestly. “That's been done – I manage myself now, it's very DIY, I put my own posters up – that kind of business. It's just about being in control of what I'm doing, it's about maintaining a sense of honesty about what's going on. I think bands have a propensity to try and push themselves onto people that might not necessarily be sympathetic to the music they make – I don't want to be one of those people. I like the idea that there are people that like my music and I can just play for them and to them.

“I was worried that I would lose track,” he continues, explaining the daunting task of taking on his own management. “But to tell you the truth, it's just given me more of a sense of strength and a sense of purpose towards playing more interesting music. Now I have a good idea what the direction I want to move in is, so I can play that and also then, just as easily pivot and do something else because I know how much time I've got. I'm now more aware of the hours I can spend on something, if that makes sense.”

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