Lights All Night Creator Scott Osburn Talks 10 Years of New Years Magic, Selling Out 2019 & Texas EDM Scene [Exclusive Interview]

While we’re almost through the first month of the new year, it’s hard not to look back at the 2010’s and think about those moments that made it all worth it. For many us, the first few years were the peak of electronic music and towards the end, the scene has exploded; bringing with it a flurry of new blood, music, and friendship. At the end of 2019, ravers celebrated across the world at a multitude of festivals, one of them being Texas’ longest running event, Lights All Night.

Ten years ago, Scott Osburn had the crazy idea to go all in to bring to the Midwest an event that will soon become a tradition for many. Read on to hear about the tenth anniversary of Lights All Night, overcoming incredible odds, growing the EDM scene in Texas and more.

RR: Lights All Night has just finished with a bang for its tenth year anniversary. What has really made this milestone special? 

SO: The first LAN was held at the Plaza of the Americas in Downtown Dallas, which was essentially an enclosed common area connecting two office towers and the Marriott Hotel.  The first edition of LAN sold out at 6,000 tickets in advance of the show. For the 10th edition of LAN, we sold out a total attendance of 40,000 people over the 2 nights. The growth and challenges we faced to achieve that growth makes it incredibly special and makes me extremely proud of the hard work my team has put in over the years to make the fest as successful as it is today.

RR: This is the first year that LAN has sold out, perfectly fitting for its 10th birthday. With over 300,000 attendees that have come through, what do you think has made LAN so special that the family has grown exponentially? 

SO: Festivals are hard and take a long time to get right. You have to be committed for the long run, and in most cases that should most likely mean starting slow and building over time. Festivals are a culture based on community around music, and communities aren’t built overnight. LAN has committed to procuring major talent year over year, and consistently completing it with major stage production and experiential offerings. Every year a major focus is placed on building unique talent lineups, one of a kind marketing and branding campaigns, and onsite experiences that are unlike anything else in the market. All of these factors combined have resulted in us being able to build that community, and grow it.

RR: Looking back, Lights All Night didn’t always have success after experiencing a huge loss in 2012. What helped with the rebound and kept you going to help grow this festival into what it is today? 

SO: The company was young and in a pivot point as to what to do next. The option was to either file for bankruptcy and move on from the live event business, or re-work the economic model and projections and continue to produce the festival. The amazing part of the LAN 2012 event is that people to this day continue to hail it as the best LAN that ever was. And I won’t argue that – it was 3 days with some of the largest acts in the world, including Avicii, Calvin Harris, Bassnectar, Tiesto, Diplo, Zedd and many more. I would go as far to say it’s arguably the largest EDM lineup that has ever been presented in Texas. But that was the shining light, the fans had a great time and from the consumer perspective, LAN had legs. Future years were spent reforming the financial model, moving venues and figuring out what worked. I learned so much in those formative years, especially about how to fight through adversity.

RR: When a lot of people think of Texas, electronic music isn’t something that immediately comes up. What has been some of the challenges of changing the environment so that the genre has a place to grow down South?

SO: The toughest challenge for us has been creating unique talent lineups year after year, while competing with local and regional promoters. We continually work to remain relevant from a branding and marketing position. We work very hard to re-establish our identity every year, and work to continue to connect with our Texas audience and listen to what they want to see and hear at each upcoming fest.

RR: Why was it important for you to keep Lights All Night in your hometown of Dallas? 

SO: We are fortunate to now have long standing roots in Dallas and I hope they only strengthen further from here on out. LAN was built out of the hope of filling a void in the market, especially during the holidays, and present Dallas with an incredible way to ring in the new year. As my hometown, giving a unique, positive experience like LAN to the city that raised me is an incredible honor and privilege. 

RR: So we’ve seen you add more and more elements each year, for example: including the Sweet Tooth Hotel to have their personalized LAN installation on site of the festival last year. How important is it to you to include art features like this and what got you onto the Sweet Tooth Hotel? 

SO: Being able to offer attendees unique activations onsite, like the Sweet Tooth Hotel, that elevate their experiences beyond the music programming is extremely important. In today’s competitive festival landscape, there are endless options for music fans and they are looking for those additional offerings that set events apart and make them memorable. Our goals are to continue to develop the experiences and marketability of the brand an event, and a big part of that lies on the onsite fan experience including art installations and other activations.

RR: What have been some of your favorite moments, looking back at these ten years? 

SO: The most memorable moments come from massive crowds responding to artists that we booked. Some of those moments include:
2011: MSTRKRFT played an amazing set in a large cavernous convention hall. 
2012: Avicii performance as well as the Calvin Harris playing before Bassnectar on a freezing night at Fair Park. 
2013: This was a big year with artists like Major Lazer & Above & Beyond playing sets on our massive projection screen that was fabricated as a speaker. 
2014: Performances by Skrillex, Odesza, Disclosure, Armin Van Burren, DJ Snake, The Chainsmokers, too name a few.
2015: Took us to Dallas Market Hall and I specifically remember Hardwell, Kaskade and Flosstradamus as stand out performances. 
2016: Deadmau5 & RL Grime has standout performances
2017: Bassnectar and Porter Robinson, and Marshmello were really special, including Seven Lions and Illenium
2018: Combo of performances from Diplo, Tiesto and Excision

RR: While it’s hard to imagine how much better it can get, are there any new features yet to come for Lights All Night? 

SO: LAN has evolved several times throughout the past 10 years and we plan to continue doing so. We hope to make LAN bigger and better each year by expanding the onsite experiential offerings, continuing to work to procure and create relationships with audio/visual artists from around the world to create an onsite journey of sound and light, at every turn, and, of course, deliver the best music lineup possible with big name headliners and promising, new up-and-comers alike. Stay tuned!

We thank Scott for everything he and his team have done to bring Lights All Night to life through these past ten years. We can’t wait to countdown another decade!

Photo Cred: ALIVE Coverage

Connect with Lights All Night:
https://www.facebook.com/LightsAllNight
https://twitter.com/lightsallnight
https://www.instagram.com/lightsallnight
https://lightsallnight.com

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