Hiatus Happenings: Q1 2018 January to March

Odds and ends of Hozier news during his hiatus. This is an active quarter. 
(Check out the last quarter: Q4 2017.)


February

Better Love is included on a Valentine’s Day playlist by Abbey Road.

And Better Love was #1 on the iTunes chart in Bahrain.

 

Take Me To Church is still going strong in some places in the world.

Feb 1: Today is the feast day of St. Brigid, one of the patron (matron) saints of Ireland. It is also Imbolc, a pagan festival in Ireland that marks the beginning of spring.

That sky though

A post shared by Andrew Hozier Byrne (@hozier) on

Feb 1: RIAA, the body that certifies record sales in the US, announced that they will be integrating streams in their calculations for album sales. The first 17 albums to be awarded certifications under the new criteria included Hozier’s debut album, which was given (its second) Platinum award. Take Me To Church is 6x Platinum in the US.

RIAA certifications Feb 1 2018

January

Jan 30: The video for Take Me To Church surpassed 200 million views on VEVO. The same video on Hozier’s own channel is at almost 400 million views!

But wait! The really impressive thing is that from all sources on YouTube, the video has been viewed almost 900 million times!

TMTC 900 million

Jan 23: Hozier’s manager, Caroline Downey, posted a photo of the studio in London where he is working on the next album. See more about that Hammond B-3 organ below.

#Hozier + #ALegend #Studio #London #Exciting

A post shared by Caroline Downey (@caroline_downey1) on

Jan 22: Hozier posted a photo of a beautiful Hammond B-3 organ in the London recording studio where he’s been spending time.

The expression he used, “pulling out all the stops”, is actually derived from organ playing. The drawbars on this organ are also called stops, and you pull them out to change the sounds.

Pulling out all the stops. Don't even worry about it.

A post shared by Andrew Hozier Byrne (@hozier) on

If you’re curious about the Hammond B-3 organ, here’s the legendary Booker T. Jones (from Booker T & The MGs) at NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert playing Green OnionsBorn Under A Bad Sign, and Down In Memphis. Between songs, he tells the story of how he came to play the Hammond B-3 and demonstrates some of the features.

Key to the Hammond B-3/C-3 sound is the Leslie tone speaker cabinet. The speakers have spinners that turn at different speeds that you control to create vibrato. Here’s a pretty smokin’ rendition of Stevie Wonder’s I Wish that demonstrates how the player controls the vibrato. You can see the speed change and compare the sound difference while watching the treble speaker horns spin. There’s a bass woofer in the lower cabinet with another spinning rotor that isn’t shown in this video.

Jan 22:

Jan 17: RIAA announced that Hozier’s album is now certified 2x Platinum in the U.S. (2,000,000) and Take Me To Church has been certified 6x Platinum in the U.S.

 

Jan 3:

Take a trip back to Eurosonic 2014 when Hozier played his first gigs outside of Ireland on 15 and 16 January in Groningen, Netherlands. Hear how this premiere European music industry festival helped to break Take Me To Church and kickstart Hozier’s live bookings in Europe.

Listen in from 21:45.

Jan 1: “I’ve been hit with a terrifying bout of optimism and I hope it finds you also. Excited to share what’s coming.”


 

Thanks to all of our contributors with special thanks to @literarypengke and @Megn0481.

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Featured image: Caroline Downey

Happy 2nd Anniversary HoziersGuitars.com!
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