Laneway 2023: BIllie Eilish’s brother, Finneas, will go solo for festival return

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Finneas is heading to Auckland for Laneway festival, 2023.

It’s been a rough nearly three years for Auckland’s music lovers without the presence of Laneway, a fan favourite festival that has played host to the likes of Tame Impala and Slowdive.

It’s a festival so highly-anticipated the organisers shrouded the line-up in secrecy – the identity of Finneas O’Connell as an artist billed for Laneway was only revealed to a small number of journalists because he just so happened to be in town.

Abigail Dougherty/Stuff

American singer-songwriter Finneas Baird O’Connell will play Auckland’s Laneway on January 28.

On Wednesday morning festival organisers announced Finneas would be joined by the likes of Haim, Joji, Phoebe Bridgers and Slowthai when Laneway will return to Aotearoa’s shores on January 30 at Auckland’s Albert Park.

We sat down with Finneas at Auckland’s The Grand’s Presidential suites earlier this month.

Running only slightly behind schedule – the California-native played to a sold out Spark Arena the night before with his superstar sister Billie Eilish, so it’s understandable he may be needing some time to recover.

Finneas, as he is mononymously known, is the mastermind producer and co-songwriter behind Eilish’s hits – in just a few years, the sibling duo has taken over the music world with the chart topping Bad Guy and Bond theme song No Time to Die.

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They attend red carpets, tour (with Eilish centre stage and Finneas on instruments in the background), and take interviews together. Since their rise to the top, Finneas has also lent his hand to other pop heavyweights Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez.

“My role in [Eilish’s] shows is a sort-of member of support staff – I play some bass and guitar and some keys – and have fun doing it, it’s super easy,” Finneas says.

This month’s concert was their first of three nights at Spark Arena, a mammoth feat for musicians who just five years ago played the tiny Tuning Fork venue with a capacity of 200 people next door.

“Hilariously, the Tuning Fork is basically in Spark Arena. Like, you walk through the arena to the tiny room that is Tuning Fork,” Finneas says.

“We carried our big guitar cases and keyboard cases through the arena and just thought, ‘this is enormous’. So to get to come back and play was such a treat.”

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Finneas already has three studio albums, eight Grammys, an Oscar and a Golden Globe under his belt.

Since their first New Zealand show in 2017, the 25-year-old Finneas already has three studio albums, eight Grammys, an Oscar and a Golden Globe under his belt.

He released his first solo studio album Optimist last October, and embarked on his own solo tour across the United States.

This will be Finneas’ first Laneway as a solo artist, having joined his sister’s Laneway spot in 2018.

While performing his own music at Laneway is “so exciting,” it requires a bit more stamina than playing an instrument on Eilish’s tours.

“I watch her have these wonderful moments and just put on a performance … Billie does like, three hours of vocal warm-ups to get her voice sounding as it does and physical warm-ups to make sure she doesn’t injure herself on stage.

“I did my first solo tour in the fall of last year and was carrying my hubris into that tour, like ‘I don’t need any of that stuff!’ and immediately totalled my body.

“My voice was going out and my back was killing me, so I have a newfound reverence for the whole process.”

Pre-sale tickets are available September 25, while general tickets go on sale September 27.