St. Jerome's Laneway Festival has always held pride of place on our calendars. Whether you're participating from Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide or Perth, you know a good time is headed your way. RUSSH went backstage at Sydney Olympic Park to capture the faces headlining Laneway Festival in 2023. The Jungle Giants divulged that a new album is on its way, while FINNEAS is manifesting one with Billie Eilish for the end of the year. Alana Haim is issuing a call out for an Australian husband to stay a little while longer and girl in red may be allergic to avocados...she's not sure yet.
Haim
"We've never been afraid to match. Whenever someone would be like 'oh my god, imagine showing up to the party and someone's wearing the same dress'... that's my dream. It immediately bonds you to that person." – Alana
"Last time we came here I got proposed to...he was on Big Brother." – Este
Sycco
"I want 2023 to bring me independence and an album."
FINNEAS
"There are so many things that I feel really lucky to have gotten to do. I went to the Met Gala in 2021 and if anything, the Met Gala makes you feel imposter syndrome because everyone there is the most famous person you've ever seen. And there was a surprise performer, they walked on stage in a balaclava and I thought 'who's that?' And as soon as they opened their mouth it was Justin Bieber and he sang Lonely. That was so sick. So cool."
MALLRAT
"This skirt reminds me of that scene in Mean Girls, where she's like 'it's the ugliest fucking skirt I've ever seen.'"
Julia Jacklin
"I always say to my bandmates about 20 minutes before I go on, 'why do I do this? Why? Why do I live this life? It's horrible.' Well, it's not horrible but it's terrifying. It's so terrifying it makes me feel sick. But then five minutes before, it's too late. Then I go on stage and I remember I love this. I wish those 20 minutes didn't exist."
I think I have a healthier relationship to my music now. I'm not as stressed about proving myself. I think I can just finally relax and enjoy what I've achieved. I don't think I've taken a sec to do that since I've started."
Fontaines D.C.
"I was just listening to loads of Bob Dylan which is really inappropriate for dancing. I've just listened to him for a long time since I was really young, so I feel connected to myself when I listen to him. It's a nice little private thing [before we go out and perform]." – Conor Deegan III
girl in red
"I honestly don't feel that creative anymore. But maybe that's just imposter syndrome. I think maybe it's good not to feel cool. You've got to stay chill, you know?"
"I'm really not nice before a show. When I'm nervous I get really short. I don't feel like my best version. And then I go out on stage and we have a great time."
JACOTÉNE
"I said no school for three weeks. Get it while you can!"
The Jungle Giants
"I know the value of being friends with people in your band. It turns out we're a bit weird because we love each other so much. Our friendship is more solid than it's ever been and I think it reflects in the music because we push each other and feel safe all the time, even when we're doing dangerous stuff." – Sam Hales
"Before we go on stage we like to do a hands in. We also do this thing called a monster truck, and a monster truck is where everybody in the band gets to pick a song that they want to play really loud. Then what you do is you go around the room and pretend to trash stuff. One of Keelan's favourite [moves] is to get a piece of ice and just smash it. So we're polite with our trashing of rooms."
Come with us behind the scene of Laneway Festival 2023, below.
