WBRU Interviews Hozier!

Between the Newport Folk Fest and Beck’s performance at the Providence Performing Arts Center (surprisingly feat. Jack White and Sean Lennon), it was a phenomenal weekend for live music in Rhode Island. Stella caught up with Hozier backstage at Fort Adams during the Newport Folk Fest and asked him about his sudden success, what it was like to drop out of school to pursue music, and how epic it is to be Irish with a birthday on St. Patrick’s Day. Take a listen!!  Andrew Hozier-Byrne, or Hozier as he is known on stage, played at Newport Folk every day that he was there. While his main set for hundreds of people was on Sunday, he was asked to play intimate shows in the Fort Adams Museum on both Friday and Saturday. Hailing from Ireland, Hozier cites his influences as being mainly Americana, having grown up on Chicago Blues. Understandably, he was honored to play Newport Folk, and it absolutely showed in his performances. His intricate guitar riffs were matched by his impossibly powerful voice in a seemingly effortless way that made festival goers literally run towards the stage when they heard the beginning riffs of “Take Me To Church.” In the interview, Hozier cites his up and coming hit single to be a love song, but also acknowledges how politically charged and deeply personal it is. The music video, targeted at exposing the horrors of Russian policy against the LGTBQ community, has gained more than 5 million views and a lot of activist attention. While it is obvious Hozier is intensely focused on humanist efforts and having his music be taken seriously, his genuine good nature shown through immediately as he approached the interview introducing himself as Andrew with a chocolate-chip cookie in his hand and a smile on his face. Check out photos from the interview and his set:   and the music video for Take Me To Church: