Hothouse Flowers Re‑establish Their Australian Connection After A Twenty‑Year Gap

Renowned for their explosive blend of rock ‘n’ roll, Irish folk and American gospel, Ireland’s legendary Hothouse Flowers, are on tour in Australia for the first time in twenty long years right now. The Dubliner’s passionate fusion of rock, folk and gospel has captivated audiences worldwide for the last four decades. From their humble street performing roots in Dublin to global stages, the band continues to deliver electrifying performances that blend cultural storytelling and raw musical spirit with spontaneity and soulful energy.

After winning the Street Entertainers of the Year award in 1985, the band caught the eye of U2’s Bono, leading to a record deal with PolyGram. Their 1988 debut album, People, topped the Irish charts and hit number two in the UK, establishing them as a captivating live band with a dedicated global fanbase. The album features their highest streaming single to date, the utterly sublime, Don’t Go.

Home followed in 1990 and featured the band’s gorgeous cover of the Johnny Nash classic, I Can See Clearly Now, which was given a new lease of life and used to stunning affect in the opening scene of 2016’s Jeremy Clarkson’s Grand Tour TV show. Watch the incredible intro here. Home along with 93’s Songs From the Rain cemented the bands place as one Ireland’s greats. The Australian tour follows the release of their latest album, Let’s Do This Thing (2020). Liam Ó Maonlaí talks to Hi Fi Way about their return to Australia.

Great to be talking to you. You must be really over the moon to be finally back in Australia?
Absolutely, it’s great, really great to be back here.

Is there a sense of feeling really overwhelmed with how many of these shows have actually sold out, and how many extra shows have been added?
Yeah, we’ve been so busy, both individually and collectively, that it’s starting to sink in and out that we’re here. Even just being backstage before going on, I caught a glimpse of some of the faces, and some of them were faces that we knew from twenty years ago and more. And just a great sense of visiting old friends, really, even though the friendship is based on us being in a room making a sound, and everyone else listening to that sound, feeling that sound and sending what they feel back. That amazing thing that music is, that we could never really put our fingers on, but there’s a friendship there.

Is that what feels different about touring this time around in Australia?
Started happening the second time we came. But yeah, when you leave it twenty years, it becomes a little bit more profound.

It did take quite a bit of work to try and get all the planets in alignment to actually make it happen?
The calls come in and we answer them. This call came in, and we kind of said, oh, brilliant, that’s been a while. It’s not like we were sitting on the edges of our seats, waiting for it to happen, but… now that it’s happening, we can really feel how beautiful it is to be back in this gorgeous country.

What do you think it is about the music that still continues to resonate with fans here?
Well, I think for me the question is what makes it resonate with us first. The thing is that we’re still searching for that feeling that a band gets on stage when they hit a groove, they hit on a frequency, they hit on a level of joy. Sometimes you can get cynical and I’ve met that very sad person who’s somebody who’s on the road who isn’t loving being on the road, or who isn’t loving making music. I think you’ve got to love what you do, you’ve got to love anything you do, but especially if you’re making something like music, where potentially you’re bringing joy into somebody’s life, into somebody’s heart, into somebody’s moment, into somebody’s Friday, or somebody’s Tuesday, as it was last night. You’re bringing something that makes them smile, and makes us smile as well.

We are still as excited about it and more excited about it as we ever were, to be honest. Thirteen years ago, thirty years ago, there was a sense of the commodity about it, I mean, that was in my young mind, but we were working so hard back then. It didn’t feel like we were driving, and that’s exhausting. But we survived it, and we still enjoyed it. But there’s a sense for me anyway, and I think I can speak for the band as well, that we’re enjoying it more than ever now. There’s still psalms lurking, waiting to be written, and moments waiting to be had. On stage and off stage, because it’s a friendship too, and when you’ve been through thick and thin with a bunch of people, after a while, you can’t buy forty years engaging with each other. You can’t buy it or replicate it. That just happens. That’s just a part of life. That’s like having a child.

When you stepped on stage in Perth, and seeing how impactful your songs are, and how they connect with a crowd, that kind of must be the humbling moment?
Yeah, you catch a glimpse of somebody, and they’re just smiling up at you, or they’re singing, they’re mouthing the words to the songs or they’re looking at each other, remembering something, or whatever it might be, there’s so many… yeah, it’s humbling.

How do you go about compressing everything down to ninety minutes, or two hours, or however long you’re playing?
We don’t write a setlist. We go on stage, and there are songs that come into regular use for us. We just set out to play two hours of music without trying to fit everything or anything in. You might find that one song might go on for ten minutes because we might hit on something that feels good. Yeah, the less thinking or strategizing I feel, the better.

Do you get much of a chance to get out and about and take in the sights and sounds of Australia, or is it pretty much just focused on the shows?
Well, even getting up in the morning and going for a coffee in your neighbourhood we’re staying up in West Perth, and just finding a place to go for coffee. Taking a walk into town. We went for a swim last night, after the show, saw the Kidogo Arthouse down in Fremantle. So, you grab little bits as they come, and a cup of coffee can give you a lot, listening to people talking before going to work. Seeing all the different shapes and sizes of people that make up a day to make up a morning.

Is there any particular city that you look forward to more than anywhere else while you’re here?
No, not really. We have a lot of friends. I’ve got family living in Melbourne, so for friends and family, I suppose Melbourne is probably the most anticipated. Yeah, but everywhere has its surprises.

Do you still think about potential for new music? Is it still the right time?
Oh, there’s always that thinking going on. I think our sound checks… very often, they’ve always been a very creative part of our day. Once we get the individual instruments sounding good. Somebody will probably start something, and the next thing you know, two hours have passed, and we might have written a song or two. Home and Songs from the Rain are songs that were written on the road.

Beyond Australia, what’s next for the band, or do you go back to your own individual projects?
Yeah, I’ll be jumping straight back to individual stuff, but the band I think are ready to record some more, there’s some gigs coming up in Scotland and in England towards the end of the year, November, December. I have a record that I’ve just released in Japan, and I’m trying to figure out how to get it out everywhere else. It’s changed so much. When you made a record in the old days somebody would distribute it. It’s a little bit more grassroots now, in a way, even though it’s more digital.

Playing a song like Don’t Go and I Can See Clearly Now each night on tour, what does that mean to you? How do you feel about it when you play it live, and seeing how much joy it brings to a lot of people?
To imagine that I got up one morning, and that night, there was a song written, and it took me a while to actually realise that to really love the song, to be honest, I didn’t think it was that great. I’ve learned to not even quantify a song actually because you never know if it’s going to reach people. If I feel like the intention during the writing of the song was true, then it doesn’t really matter whether I like the song or not, because it was a true intention. Even your favourite record by somebody else, there are days when maybe it doesn’t work, so imagine what it’s like to be writing songs, and you’re trying to go, do I like this or not? Sometimes you really have to not care whether you like it or not.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Hothouse Flowers on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…