*FIND THE 2015 LANEWAY MAP AND TIMETABLE HERE*
"And it was like this beast was unleashed from my mind, and it was the most incredible liberating magical feeling that I'd ever felt. I felt heard for the first time, even though I wasn't playing to anyone but myself. But I became addicted to it, and the next six to seven months are a bit of a blur in my head, I don't remember hanging out with anyone or doing anything else except writing music."
Her singing voice came naturally - she hadn't thought of herself as a singer as a child, because of her voice's unusual qualities, but as an adult they seemed to be a perfect point of difference.
"I always thought that I had kind of a weird voice, even talking-wise, like my mum told me when I was 4, people would ask her why her 4-year-old sounded like a chain smoker. I didn't know that I could sing, but I knew I had this gritty raspiness, and then when I started singing I kind of felt like, 'Aha! This is nice, this is how I can use that crunchiness'."
For a long time, Banks kept her music-making to herself. She felt like it was something purely for herself - for her own sanity. But then her friend Lily Collins - the actor daughter of Phil Collins - heard some of her songs, and decided to send them to another friend who was a DJ.
"I was like, 'No, it's not ready!' but she did it anyway, and I guess he was just really touched by it, and so we met at a cafe to talk. His name is Trevor, and he started setting me up with different producers to work with, which was wonderful, and he ended up being my manager. And it all kind of just happened from there."
Her first official single, called Before I Ever Met You was released in February 2013, having been picked off her Soundcloud page by BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe.
She released two EPs that year and was named by many as an act to watch out for in 2014. Last year she embarked on her own international headlining tour, along with performances at festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo, before she released her debut album Goddess in September, and found herself sitting in top 20 spots across Europe, UK, US, Australia, and New Zealand.
You might say she's become something of an overnight star, but it's all been driven by Banks (who is known simply by her last name on stage), who had some strong ideas about the production needed to take her simple vocal and piano tracks to a different level.
"In my gut I knew it needed to be thick and heavy and gritty and dark and misty.
"I'd kept my music to myself for so long, and all of a sudden I was around all these people who spoke the way I did, expressed themselves the way I did, and it was like my whole world opened up."
Working with producers like Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Sohn, and in particular Lil Silva, has been a treasured experience for her - it seems she's found a key collaborator in the 24-year-old British production prodigy.
"I like to say all his beats are his heartbeats. He's just amazing, and it's just such a fluid process working together. I think we're kind of addicted to each other."
And hearing her music in this complete form, as a finished album, was a revelation for Banks.
"I felt so completely fulfilled by the songs, feeling like they perfectly represented exactly who I was as a human on the purest level. There's nothing that can beat music in that respect, in my opinion. It leaves you feeling empty in a good way, like you have room for new things to happen."
Who: Banks
Where and when: Performing on the Cactus Cat stage at 6.55pm at Laneway Festival in Auckland on Monday, January 26.
Listen to: Goddess (2014)
• TimeOut has five double passes to Laneway to give away. To enter, simply head to our Facebook page and tell us who you're most excited to see. Winners will be drawn Friday, January 23 at 5pm. Tickets will be emailed to winners ahead of Monday's event.
- TimeOut
