Relentless rain, cloying mud and uneven grounds – that certainly do not sound like it’s the most comfortable setting for an outdoor live music festival. But if Glastonbury can do it, what’s stopping Southeast Asia’s first St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival, held on the historic slopes of Singapore’s Fort Canning Park on January 29, 2011? The 11-hour indie music festival saw a 6000-strong crowd of music lovers singing and dancing to the beats of nine critically-acclaimed bands from the likes of Beach House, Foals, and The Temper Trap.

If you’ve been religiously following various music publications for the next big thing to break out in 2011, Warpaint would be a familiar name to you. Formed on Valentine’s Day in 2004, the LA-based band – Emily Kokal (vocals, guitars), Theresa Wayman (vocals, guitars), Jenny Lee Lindberg (vocals, bassist) and Stella Mozgawa (vocals, drums) – is currently hotly tipped to be “The sound of 2011” (BBC), “Artist To watch in 2011” (MTV), and “The Best Live Band You’ll See All Year” (NME). And the girls definitely live up to all the accolades, as attested with their self-released EP Exquisite Corpse, their critically acclaimed Rough Trade debut, The Fool, and their electrifying live shows that leave so many in awe by their sheer musical brilliance.

Before the band takes the stage and opens the inaugural St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Singapore tomorrow (January 29, 2011) at Fort Canning Park, we met up with Jenny and Theresa at INK Bar at Fairmont Hotel to talk more about the music, their friendship and more. Nothing beats gearing up for an awesome festival by talking with two spirited musicians who are wholly passionate about their music!

Hi all! I wrote my final exam paper last Thursday which means that, I am, momentarily- not a student! Woo woo woo. Hurrah! I celebrated with cake and ice cream and purple confetti. To mark the end of my school year, and the A’s that I am hopeful of getting, I have created a playlist for me and you and everyone we know. Including some tunes from bands that will be here, and performing for us at the Laneway Music Festival right here in Singapore! Yes! Utt and I cannot wait.

Since releasing their debut album, Conditions, in 2009, London-based Australian band The Temper Trap has been wowing about music fans and critics alike with their soaring and atmospheric tunes such as “Sweet Disposition,” “Love Lost” and “Fader.” Cutting their mettle in London, the band – Dougy Mandagi (vocals, guitars), Jonathon Aherne (bass), Lorenzo Sillitto (guitars) and Toby Dundas (drums) – has played various major music festivals in both the U.K. and U.S. and at the 2010 ARIA Music Awards, the band also bagged home Best Group and Most Popular Australian Single (“Sweet Disposition”). Suffice to say, The Temper Trap has definitely arrived in their own terms.

It is 11am in the U.K. and Yannis Philippakis has just gotten up. Starting his day with breakfast and a phone interview with MTV Asia, the frontman of Foals sounds upbeat and recharged with the current break that the band is currently on, having just completed a tour back home in the U.K. in November.

Clearly, 2010 has been a good year for Foals. Their second full length recording, Total Life Forever, charted at No. 8 in U.K. and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Yannis describes 2010 as “amazing” for the band and mentions their five-and-a-half week tour of the U.S. as being a very memorable highlight in promoting and performing the album.

Indie kids, here’s a music festival that will truly make you go ga-ga for – Australia’s St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival is set to hit Singapore shores come January 29, 2011 at Fort Canning Park