Niall Horan might be one of the most chill pop stars we’ve ever chatted to…

If you consider the achievements this guy has ticked off and the wild life he’s lived, you’d be forgiven for assuming he might have a bit of an ego. But it turns out the millions of records, legions of fans, and genuine songwriting ability have made him more down-to-earth and full of gratitude.

His new album Dinner Party, which he’ll be bringing Down Under in February, feels reflective of his polished persona while also being more grounded than 2023’s The Show. Underneath the clean pop production, you can hear a live band feeling out a room, tinkering, and losing themselves inside each tune. It’s made for the stage as opposed to the radio.

That’s not to say Aussies aren’t among those around the world who’ve embraced Dinner Party. Last week it reached Number One on the ARIA Charts, cementing Niall’s songwriting credibility and making those One Direction days seem even further in the rear-view mirror than ever.

We caught up with him last week to chat about golf, the World Cup, and the last time his mind was blown. Check out our interview below and grab tickets and info for Niall’s upcoming Australian tour right here!

I’m not personally a golfer, but a few people in the office are, so they wanted me to ask: if you could play any course in Australia, which one would you be most excited to play?

NH: Last time I was there, I played Royal Melbourne, which was insane. Another great one is Kingston Heath. They’re right next to each other on the Sandbelt in Melbourne. Either one of those.

In another life, would you rather be a professional golfer or a professional footballer?

NH: It depends what level of those sports I’m playing. If I’m playing top level, being a professional footballer… imagine playing in the World Cup right now. It’d be nuts for a team that’s really good. If I was French, I would like to be a professional footballer.

I read that you’re backing Scotland at the moment. Living in England, do you think it’s finally “coming home”?

NH: I’m supporting Scotland right now. I hope it comes home a little bit, but I hope it doesn’t come home at the same time because they’re a hard bunch to listen to if they do well… They’re still talking about 1966.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xKg4LgZ2c

You just went to number one in Australia, which is obviously a huge achievement. Does something like that still blow your mind? I know you’ve had so much success already, but do moments like a number one album ever become normal, or do they still hit the same?

NH: I think none of these things are inevitable. You put in the graft, you write the songs and you want them to be accepted worldwide. I have an affiliation with Australia. I just love going down there and I want the music to do well there so we can all be together.

Getting number one albums is mad, especially in countries that you love going to. As I said at the start, none of it’s inevitable. I’d like to think I’m a hard worker, so I try to write the best I can, do the interviews, travel the world and do all that stuff. When you get a number one, it feels gratifying, and it lets you know that people still want to hear from you.

That’s the thing. I can like the music all I want, but if people aren’t into it, then… it’s just a nice feeling to know that people still want to hear from me, I suppose.

On a completely different note… dinner parties. What’s your role? Are you the cook, the cocktail maker? What’s your specialty?

NH: I’m not a great cocktail maker, but I like drinking them. I do a bit of everything. I’ll try my hand at anything and I’m there to help. I do a bit of cooking. I’ll make a few drinks. I always make the drinks early at the party, but I never keep up the whole making-the-drinks thing because I just let everyone do it for themselves.

I have the beers flying, have all the drinks going. But when it comes to the cooking stuff, if I’m cooking for a group of people, I try and keep it very simple and not overthink it, because then you forget you’ve got people around your house and all you’re thinking about is cooking.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ScqYsvFpft4

What’s the one thing that’s going to end a dinner party?

NH: Me kicking them out because if it’s at my house, when Niall decides this is over, it’s over. I’m one of those people that just goes, “Right, everyone out. Good luck and see you tomorrow.” As simple as that.

I think if you can do that, it’s probably a good sign you’ve got good friends.

NH: Yeah, to be fair, my crowd are good at that. We’re good at not overstaying our welcome as a group.

Touching on people you’ve met, you’ve obviously met presidents, icons and celebrities. I know you keep a pretty low profile, but has there been anyone recently who’s left you a little bit starstruck?

NH: I’m not going to lie. I was on Jimmy Fallon a couple of weeks ago in New York and I walked past Hugh Jackman on the way into the toilet doorway. I was just like, “Oh shit, that’s Hugh Jackman.” I wouldn’t say starstruck, but you definitely kind of go, “Oh, Hugh Jackman is just there.” Big dude. Handsome. Couldn’t believe that. I knew he was going to be big. I didn’t think he was going to be that big. Unit. But I don’t think he knew who I was. He just kind of nodded and left it at that.

You didn’t get a chat?

NH: I don’t think he had a clue who I was. He wasn’t going, [in Australian accent] “Oh Niall.”

Your Hugh Jackman accent is pretty good.

NH: I happen to be one of those fellas that can do accents. I don’t know how well, but it’s something I like doing.

You obviously travel a lot. Outside of shows, do you have to do the whole undercover thing? How do you stay anonymous? Is there anywhere you can actually go where no one recognises you?

NH: You’d be surprised. I have to wear a hat a lot and stuff like that. I have bad posture from looking at the floor for the last 16 years. When I walk into places, I kind of find my way through a restaurant by the legs of the tables and the seats because it’s important to get to the table before you get noticed.

Generally I do alright. Where I live here it’s very quiet, which is great. When I travel, I try my best to keep the hotel as my home and navigate myself around the city without getting spotted. But it’s not as bad as it used to be. I live quite a free lifestyle these days, relative to what it was like back in the day.

I read that you’ve said this album is a really special one to play live, and that it was almost built to be played live. Can you talk me through that, and what people can expect from the shows?

NH: Yeah. A lot of the songs started as acoustic ideas or keys ideas in this very room and then were brought to my producers, John and Julian. We decided the year before that we were going to make this album as live as we possibly could. The first thing we did was set up a live band and the three of us just played and jammed.

I think it made such a difference. It felt kind of like a high school band where we’d just jam and come up with chords and things like that. The melodies that came out of my mouth became the songs, and it just felt a little bit more natural, instead of sitting there thinking, “What am I going to do here?”

So yeah, it’s made for these live shows that I’m going to be doing. I obviously have four albums now to play, but this one I’m particularly excited to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQxBdtsbK1c

You can almost feel that just looking at the album cover. It’s got this vibe that you all disappeared into the woods and made a record. What was that writing process actually like?

NH: Yeah, it was great. We did about six trips to different places. We rented an Airbnb in Nashville, one in Austin, Texas, one outside London, then obviously had LA and this house. We’d knuckle down for a week at a time and then step away. We’d go all in for a whole week, work stupid hours and just see what happened. We did that five or six times.

Outside of golf, what’s one thing you always try to do whenever you’re back in Australia?

NH: Great question. There are parts of Australia that I haven’t been to yet, which I’m not going to mention because I might want to go there. I’ve obviously hit the cities a lot and I’d like to get out and have a proper explore. I’ve spent a lot of time in Australia, but it does feel very city-centric. I’d like to get out of town a little bit and have a proper look around.

In my head, Australia is kind of like a second home to me. When you’re at home, you don’t really do the things that people would do when they visit. I know that sounds stupid because I’m clearly not Australian, but it does feel like that to me. I try to go and see my mates and their kids. My cousins are there, so I’ve been doing a lot of that, while also trying to tick off a couple of places I haven’t been to yet.

I just can’t wait to get back to Australia and tour it. The people are so great. The food is amazing. It’s such a beautiful spot. My kind of spot.

Grab tickets and info to Niall’s upcoming Aus tour right here!