He's winning over audiences at home, at Glasto and across the Atlantic. He's ready to deliver his feverishly-anticipated debut album this week – and now he's about to grace the cover of Hot Press for the first time. Andrew Hozier-Byrne is the man of the moment.
The past few months have been an incredible roller-coaster ride for the new HP cover star. In a wide-ranging interview, he talks to Olaf Tyaransen about some of the big shows he's done, including his controversial appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman...
“I think we fell into New York at 2am that night, got a few hours sleep, and then spent the day at VH1 doing sessions,” he continues. “Then rushed into Letterman’s studio to do a performance. I was tired. We’d been on tour and, before that, I’d been recording the album. I hadn’t had a day off. Some of the new musicians in the band had performed maybe three or four times with us. With the schedule like it is, everything is go go go, so it wasn't ideal.”
Hozier noted that all his US TV appearances were fantastic opportunities – and that Ellen was particularly brilliant. On that occasion, he took US television by storm.
"Letterman was a different story altogether," the 24-year-old says. "Certainly it was a great opportunity for people on YouTube to take a shot at me. I suppose you should never really read below the comments."
Hozier also sings the praises of his manager, Caroline Downey of MCD.
"Caroline was always very supportive,” he says. “I suppose she would have heard me performing first when I was in secondary school. She put me in touch with people like Mark Crossingham at Universal Ireland, just handing in demos… Caroline gave me a lot of advice, pointed me in the right direction. But it was only in the last couple of months, really, that she came on board officially as my manager.”
In an in-depth and revealing cover article, everything from Hozier's childhood and his decision to pursue music to the recording of his album and the anti-homophobia statement that is the 'Take Me To Church' video are on the agenda.
Read all about it in the new issue of Hot Press, out Thursday, September 18. To purchase a copy online, click here