Written by Sara Tardiff
It’s the evening after being named VH1’s Art¬ist of the Year and Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known by the mononym Hozier, seems unfazed. Not with lack of elation, but he is almost un¬touched by the reality of it. With a year on the road, Byrne is walking away with a handful of chart-topping songs, a Grammy nomination, and a number of high profile award show performances, yet he reluctantly admits, “I don’t feel the fame in a way you might expect,” he says. “It’s like you’re living the same life you always have, except one day someone asks you what being fa¬mous feels like—and you don’t know how to answer.” And by the humble, near self-depricating answers he often gives, and the sweet softness of his voice, I almost believe him.
Whether or not he identifies with the fame, it is there — and it unfolded quicker than it does for most. After the Irish-born musician dropped out of school to pursue a more fulfilling career trajectory, he jumped right in. “I was doing open mic nights but I wasn’t really part of this singer, songwriter scene in Dublin. I didn’t think I’d have the path that I ended up having,” he says. “I thought I would have a small growing fan base. At the time I didn’t know how to produce music, record music. I didn’t know what I wanted out of myself either. It was a very slow learning process, and a lot of working with producers, but within days of releasing ‘Take Me To Church’ there was major label interest. It was all very grass roots.” The music video—which was a commentary on the violence and discrimination again the LGBTQ community in Russia— was a viral hit that no one saw coming, least of all himself.
Come March, Byrne will have been on the road for nearly a year straight, spending a great deal of time touring the U.S. and more recently Australia. “Sadly, you don’t get a huge amount of time to soak of the atmosphere of a city,” he says. “If you’re lucky, you might get a day off, but you’re so tired you sleep.” Deeply inspired by jazz and the blues be¬cause of the “very sensual, very raw and physical” quality of the genres—citing Nina Simone and Billie Holiday as major influences—he was lucky enough to experience some of the south’s music scene—for a day at least. “We had a few hours in New Orleans, so we got to explore a bit,” he says. “I ended up on Bourbon Street, eating fried chicken and listening to some great local bands. There was a real sense of a creative community.”
He admits that it’s hard to get much writing done from a tour bus, considering he prefers “writing in solitude, away from everyone.” But he imagines that once his upcoming European tour wraps in March of 2016, he will have time to draw from all the experiences of the past year and start writing again. Most of his prior work has been the product of “love and lots of rejection,” exploring pain and beauty in equal parts. “I think I’d be a bit of romantic at heart,” he says. The first time falling and being in love with someone was such a profoundly altering experience that I still am reeling from it. I still draw from that experience creatively. But I am a cynic, don’t get me wrong. I feed into that dark side of myself.”
Hozier’s new album is out in early 2019. His new single, “Movement,” is out now.
