By Uday Duggal

Last year, slightly over 10,000 merry music-lovers descended on The Meadow at Gardens by The Bay for the Laneway Festival. A similar number will almost certainly return this year on Jan. 24, 2015.

But how many of us attending know about the festival’s fascinating origins?

Today, Laneway is huge; it’s a beloved fixture across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and in 2013 expanded even further, to Detroit in USA. That’s why it’s probably a little hard to imagine where it all started: in the back alley of St. Jerome’s, a tiny bar in Melbourne.

Nearing the first anniversary of the bar’s opening, owner Jerome Borazio and his friend Danny Rogers (who’d been working in New York as a band booker) discussed the idea of throwing a "party". That party became a small music show outside the bar, on Caledonian Lane… the "Laneway" in question.

The duo got flyers distributed, moved bins, and convinced F&B outlets along the lane to sell food through their rear doors on the day. Somehow, this show at the end of a small alley sold out, and Laneway was born. A chance meeting with a promoter brought Laneway to Sydney the next year, word spread, and in the space of a few years the festival was all over Australia, along with Auckland in New Zealand.

In 2011, Laneway made the leap to Singapore, where heavy rain on the day of the festival led to the debut show being nicknamed "Rainway".

The weather, of course, made not one jot of difference; local concertgoers loved it. With a unique festival atmosphere, along with carefully selected line-ups featuring established ‘indie’ stars and rapidly rising artists, Laneway is very much here to stay. From nine acts at the "Rainway" inaugural show, playing to 6,000 delighted fans at Fort Canning, the festival has grown here to crowds of over 10,000 and a whopping 19 acts playing this year at The Meadow.

We’re excited.

Mothership.sg got in touch with Danny Rogers for some insights into the upcoming music festival.

1. By 2011, a small Melbourne alley show had become a much-beloved festival all over Australia and New Zealand. But why was (not-too-nearby) Singapore selected as the next city to expand to?

We loved how accessible Singapore is to all of Asia and we were convinced that by having hosted artists like Feist, The XX and Florence and the Machine, Singapore is a super viable market. 

2. Laneway has included Singaporean (and Malaysian) artists in the Singapore lineup for a few years…

We work with our team to try and give great local artists another platform. Once we grew to a 3 stage event, we had space to do that which has proven to be a wonderful thing. (Laneway Singapore 2014 featured a third ‘cloud stage’, up from two stages previously.)

Mothership: Look out for our two local artists performing this year! Hanging Up The Moon (above), created in 2011, is a solo folk project by Sean Lam, also of Concave Scream. The songs, featuring mostly unadorned guitar or ukulele accompaniments, were recorded late in the quiet of the night after Sean’s daughter was asleep and the day’s work was done.

Mothership: Meanwhile, .gif (above), around since 2012, describe their genre as "indie/electronic/downtempo/chillout" on the duo’s Facebook page, and ‘strive to make electronic music that combines lush soundscapes with lyrics that are intensely personal and hopefully, meaningful’. Both acts have received very positive reviews from critics and we’re hoping they put up fantastic shows at the festival. 

3. Are there any big new changes lined up for this year's edition? What's going to be different from last year's edition?

The local team are busying themselves coming up with all manner of surprises... There's a HUGE emphasis on more and interesting food options and some cool shade options. 

Mothership: Experienced festival-goers will know that’s great news. There will be 16 food vendors this year, including the likes of Casuarina Curry, Bochinche Burgers (above) and Tiong Bahru Bakery. The food options at Laneway last year certainly suffered from long queues at peak times and occasional shortages. Let’s hope the new food plans make Laneway even better this time round.

4. What has the experience of shifting to Singapore been like, by the way? Any pleasant surprises, or not-so-pleasant shocks and setbacks?

It's been a really great ride. The event has grown organically since "Rainway" and we've been utterly inspired by how well our shows have been embraced. I can’t praise the local team enough though. They are the heart of our event and it feels very Singaporean while being in line with what Laneway is. 

5. What’s it been like, meeting all the artists who play Laneway?

It's a pleasure to meet such incredible talent and often become friends with them and their team. Laneway is like summer camp for artists and we are the ringleaders so you can only imagine some of the madness that has been experienced. 

6. Last question! Which artists should Singapore be looking out for in 2015? Who’s going to really blow us away?

I'd say… Future Islands, FKA twigs and St Vincent are going to blow minds, but in all seriousness this is a top to bottom whole car of proper great music so get there early, discover and get into it!

For more information, click here.

Top photo from here.

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