An Interview With Lane
Introducing Lane; one of our Vibe Union community members who has made an impact upon the Talking Blue stage with their Spoken Word and language arts performances. He has been attending vibe union events for the past year and blown us away with his writing and creativity. Get to know more about Lane and his writing.
Photo by @picrnicr
An artist by trade, selling my creations to other people is totally a gift, but leaves out something personal. Writing is one thing that I don't have to sell and something I can use to express myself without a dollar sign censoring my experiences to make them more palatable for an audience. When I write you're reading about my life and my identity without a filter, and that's priceless baby.
Do you come from a literary background?
I think I'm too young and unestablished to answer that well. No, my experience with writing has been totally recreational and I never really studied it either. I read a lot as a child and have always kept well-filled journals, but writing has only ever been personal to me until sharing it with Talking Blue.
What writers did you enjoy reading as a child?
I always loved the classics and still do. I read Mark Twain novels, the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a bit of Virginia Woolf. As a teenager, I loved the darker stuff and anything that questioned nature versus nurture. I kept a copy of A Clockwork Orange on me at all times for years, and it sits next to my bed even now.
Did you write as a child?
I used to enter a lot of short story and poetry competitions as a child and teenager, and I kept a journal from a young age all the way up to now as an adult. The older I got, the less fiction I wrote and the more I just started documenting my life.
“ I can write a thousand artist bios but a writers bio is just gonna be ‘sometimes i do cocaine and log onto rhymezone.com’ ”
How did you get started as a poet?
"Get started" is such an interesting way of putting it, because for me it's not a job or a goal or something that I need to feel dedicated to. It's like asking when I got started singing for fun in the shower or doodling when on hold to Medicare. Not everyone is a professional singer or visual artist. I've been writing since I got my pen license in primary school, I've never been a professional and I don't want to be!
Do you find writing easy?
Sometimes it comes naturally, other times it's a chore. When it feels like a chore, I don't bother, because if it's not flowing from the pen I probably don't have anything worthy to say.
Does writing energise or exhaust you?
It does neither! For me, it's cathartic, therapeutic, and fun.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Worry less about rhythm and rhyme, just say what you want to say. It doesn’t always need to be hidden under metaphors and structure.
Lane is a familiar face upon the Talking Blue stage and within the Vibe Union Community. He has been an incredible source of both entertainment with his employers 5 pm traffic quotes, and a source of inspiration with his poetry - revealing a raw emotion and incredible sense of vulnerability when sharing.
When did you first start performing spoken word?
I was asked to read for an event once as a teenager, but at the time being heard wasn't important to me. The writing was personal to me and didn't need to be shared. I only started performing regularly from the first Talking Blue event in 2021.
What hopes do you have for the future of your writing?
For now, I'm satisfied keeping my journals full, my guitar strings tight, and getting up every fortnight for Talking Blue. In the future, I'd love to branch out to spoken word competitions but there is no be-all and end-all goal beyond the therapy of getting thoughts down on paper!
What made you come and perform at Talking Blue?
I'd been attending live music events held by Vibe Union for a few months and gotten to know the organisers and musicians really well. When I heard they were starting up a spoken word event I could tell they were going to fill spaces in the poetry community that have been left open for a long time and I was super excited for a new event focused on inclusivity, having fun and supporting each other. Coming to speak or listen was a no brainer.
