#m:q

[actualhumansunshine]

So would I, actually. I love that kind of stuff. That’s the kind of stuff I grew up on, so I love playing that kind of stuff. […] Since We’re Alone was really, really random. I was in a writing session with someone and it wasn’t going very well. And we spent hours writing this crap song that I didn’t really like writing, but I didn’t know the person, so I couldn’t be like, ‘This is shit.’ But also in the session was a guy called Greg Kurstin, who wrote and produced a lot of Adele’s stuff with her. He’s always the guy that goes onstage when she wins a Grammy, cause he’s the king. He’s also the guy that the microphone went down in the middle of her speech [laughs]. Poor guy. Nicest fella in the world, but he’s like a… More of like a… He’s not so much of a songwriter, but he’s a musical guy. Played piano for Beck for years and played with many bands, and he’s an absolute genius. So we’re sitting there in the studio, and that guy had left and I had to leave at like - I remember I had to leave at like 6 o'clock, and it was like 10 minutes to 6, and I was like, 'I’m not finished yet, I wanna do something. Can you just like play some kinda like Fleetwood-y chords on the piano?’ And he started playing these like [hums the start of the Since We’re Alone guitar line] and I just was like, 'Alright, stick that microphone on, I’m going in.’ And I started singing [mumbles along to the pre-chorus melody], right? And I had all these melodies, and none of the matched up- there was no verse, no pre, no chorus, blah blah blah, and just had loads of stuff of me going [mumbles along to chorus melody]. And then about four hours later, I get home and I’m watching TV and I just get this email from Greg, and he’d sat and made a full track - that he’d recorded cause he can play every instrument… He’d sat and - Like, we did this in like 10 minutes, and he’d sat and made this track and sent me all the parts put together and everything, and then the next day, I just wrote the song. And I just knew what I wanted to write about and kinda - Since We’re Alone and Fire Away have a similar kind of idea behind them. They play differently with a different vibe, but yeah. Greg Kurstin is just an absolute genius, so I’m looking to spend a lot more time with him next year.

Niall - soundcheck Q&A, Los Angeles | 08.08  -  Since We’re Alone is such a masterpiece. Can you tell us more about writing it? I would love more of that on the next record.

[actualhumansunshine]

Uh, I don’t know, yeah, it kinda depends on what way I write the songs. I have found that recently the songs I’ve been writing, I’ve been writing on the piano, and kinda like - It’s easier to like... If I sing a melody into my phone and I feel like it could change it a little bit, I can look for notes on the piano a lot easier than I can on the guitar, like they’re a lot easier found. But yeah, I do need to get a couple of...a couple of piano lessons before I can advance for the next album. But I’ll get them, I’ll get them! I’ve got time! But yeah, I will try, I will try, I will try.

Niall - soundcheck Q&A, Los Angeles | 08.08  -  Do you plan on playing more piano for your next album/tour?

[actualhumansunshine]

Do you know, one of the ones that I feel most proud about- we wrote a song here called This Town for Niall Horan. That was a special song because it was the first time I'd seen him since he left the One Direction band. I didn't really know what we were gonna make, but I kind of assumed what record he wanted to make because he'd always been into that kind of music - folk music, country music, singer-songwriter. He was obsessed with that, you know. We sat down and literally one of the first things we wrote was This Town, from beginning to end. That was a really special thing because it was so, just, effortless. And, you know, a good song DOES come effortlessly, I think. I think you have to work at lyrics sometimes, you gotta change a bit, but the core idea normally comes pretty quickly. In my experience, anyway. But then again, I suppose its got something about it that's, you know, it's got nostalgia and it's so honest to him that you know that's the kind of record he wanted to make, you know. And then it did really well in America, and what I always get surprised about is how much that track is still played when I'm over there and the great, priceless feeling of a song that actually gets played outside its own window of, you know, four or five months.

Jamie Scott for Spotify Secret Genius | 06.06.18 - What of your songs have surprised you that you still get a lot of reaction to?

[actualhumansunshine]

I suppose it did in a way, you know. The dream is to become a successful musician and travel the world and - [Int: What does that mean, 'successful musician'? What does that mean to you?] To me - You know when people go, 'SOLD 80 MILLION RECORDS'? I'm there. Yes. Sounds good. And we were known for our touring, so to travel the world and play - I always, in my head, because I love going to gigs and I don't like when I don't get my value for money. You know when you can just tell that someone's in the middle of the tour and they're sick of it? I hate that. So in my head, no matter what mood I'm in, I'm always trying to give my value for money. So I like the fact that I can tour the world and have thousands of people, who've waited - bought a ticket a year previously, then waited to come along to a show - and give them what they came for. So that's what I would call a success, because I'm a gig-goer and a music-buyer myself, so I want to get what I came for. [Int: I had a buddy of mine, Bob Hallett, who plays in a great band, Great Big Sea, and he said, 'It's night 30 of 60 for us, but it's night 1 of 1 for them.'] Yeah! I'm having that. Thanks for the quote, I'm gonna steal that one.

Niall - q with Tom Power [11.01.17], So back in 2010, you tweeted something that your fans have really glommed onto. It’s “applied for xfactor,hope it all wrks out” So X Factor leads to One Direction, One Direction leads to this. Has it all worked out?

[actualhumansunshine]

[After bringing up the lights and looking at everyone's costumes] This next song - We're gonna get back to this. You know, that concert that we're doing? We're gonna get back to that... This next song is my favorite song on the album and it's also the title track to the album. I personally think it's my favorite song, lyrically, I've written, probably the most emotional to write, and THE most emotional to record as well. I think this song, for me, changed the way that I wrote the album, changed the direction of the album completely. At the start, I was writing songs like On The Loose, The Tide, songs like this, and after I wrote Flicker, I feel like I started writing a lot more songs along this line, like Paper Houses, Fire Away. So I think this was a pivotal moment in the album process for me, and a song that I'm really proud of and I never get bored of playing. And I would also like to dedicate this song to the people who lost their lives not too far away from here today, in that terrible incident that we had not too far away. So I want to dedicate this song to them and the beautiful city of New York. And ALL the cities that have been affected around the world.

niall introducing flicker - flicker sessions: nyc [10.31.17]

[actualhumansunshine]

I'm doing a lot of rambling tonight. I must be emotional.

niall speaking to the crowd - flicker sessions: nyc [10.31.17]

[actualhumansunshine]

I've been stuck behind the four walls of a studio for the last year and a half, and I've been waiting to get out on the road and do this every night. It's my favorite thing to do. It's the best part about what every artist does, is getting on stage and giving the people the value of their money, so thank you very much for coming out. Well, hopefully you think it's the value of your money. If you don't, there's a complaint box outside, fill it in. But yeah, seriously, this is the best part and I wouldn't change it for the world, so thank you very much for allowing myself - like, this shit doesn't happen to a lot of people, so I feel very fortunate. I come from a town of less than 20,000 people, three schools - three high schools, twenty-six pubs in one mile. I know- that IS impressive. And I have drunk at every single one. But yeah, this stuff doesn't happen to everyone, so I really appreciate it. Honestly. It might sound cliche or whatever you want to call it, but I really appreciate it. Anyway, I'm doing a lot of rambling tonight. I must be emotional.

niall - flicker sessions: nyc [10.31.17]

[actualhumansunshine]

As I said, this album is quite the personal album to me, and as I said before as well, I really appreciate you guys really latching onto that. What I've noticed is that a lot of people that have started to interpret the songs- from what I've seen online, anyway, a lot of people have started to interpret the songs in their own way and it really brings out memories of their own, which is exactly why we write music, and it really means a lot to me and to all of us songwriters. I really appreciate it.

niall - flicker sessions: nyc [10.31.17]