-
I had a fascination with the roots of African American music. That would have been my first education in music. I had a real passion for it. I wanted to play it, sing it. I could sing at a young age, but I started to teach myself bass guitar and started writing when I was 15.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
There is no singer I can think of who can touch Ella Fitzgerald. And when Billie Holiday sings, she's merciless about it. Her voice has just this immaculate sadness - even in happy songs, there was something that was so broken about it.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
The best vocalists I can think of are female. There is no singer I can think of who can touch Ella Fitzgerald. And when Billie Holiday sings, she's merciless about it. Her voice has just this immaculate sadness - even in happy songs, there was something that was so broken about it.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
Growing up, I always saw the hypocrisy of the Catholic church. The history speaks for itself, and I grew incredibly frustrated and angry. I essentially just put that into my words.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
If you can say something beautiful in a very terrible way - I was always drawn to that.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I find lyrics can come at any time during the day, as can music.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
Things were never as exciting for me as the first gig in New York.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I didn't know what to expect of real America. What shocked me was the diversity of it and how different every city is. But also just how polite and usually good-willed and optimistic most Americans are.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I tried to avoid anything that caused me frustration or grief or duress. I played FarmVille and procrastinated like all teenagers.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
Religion wasn't imposed on me.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
The public discourse online is not done through the polite language of debate.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I think all that we would know of America back home is foreign policy, and maybe the snippets of the madness of political culture.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I'm not cross about the idea of baptism; I just think the idea that when a child is born it is inherently sinful and carries sin and needs to be cleaned in order for it to be all right and all good with its creator, I just think that's an absurd notion.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I just hate getting my hair cut.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I'm an awful control freak at times when it comes to production and stuff like that.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
Being in a studio is quite a creative and energetic process.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
My dad was a blues musician around Dublin when I was a baby, so the only music I would listen to growing up was John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. It's music that feels like home to me.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
It was a rural upbringing by the seaside. A real quiet place surrounded by fields. I had to travel into town for school and stuff like that.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I was essentially raised on blues music. My dad was a blues musician around Dublin when I was a baby, so the only music I would listen to growing up was John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. It's music that feels like home to me.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
Rarely do I finish a song lyrically before I have a musical idea there, but then again, rarely ever would I finish a song musically before starting the lyrical ideas. So a lot of the time, they come in tandem, or they just come at a glance.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I am a politically motivated person, and that will come through in the music. I'm not sure if every song will be 'Take Me to Church,' but I can only hope that people enjoy the body of work that I have ahead of me.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I dabbled with faith, and I explored religion quite thoroughly.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
I'm influenced a lot by Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, even Paul Weller - Billie Holiday as well: People who wrote and sang songs that were reflective of their times. I quite like that. I quite admire that.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
-
Someone had an eye on me as I was leaving high school. I had a chance to record demos, but they were kind of wanting to make a pop singer out of me, of the 'X Factor' variety. I didn't feel comfortable with it. I wanted to be a songwriter.
Andrew Hozier-Byrne
