Glen Hansard: From busking on Dublin's streets to accepting an Oscar in Hollywood
Glen Hansard dropped out of school early, but devoted much of his life to music.
When Glen Hansard was a student at Ballymun Comprehensive in the early 1980s, his headmaster would joke that while the aspiring young songwriter knew nothing at all about school he was a genius at music. “I’d get sent to the office for not paying attention or whatever, he’d say, ‘You’re a funny one. You can name the bass player on Neil Young’s you can tell me the track-listing on Bob Dylan’s but you can’t tell me the square root of 9’,” Hansard would later joke.
Born on the northside of Dublin in 1970, Hansard left school aged 13 and devoted his entire life to music. He began by busking on the streets of the capital, later striking up a friendship with other young musicians around Dublin, including Cork songwriter Fergus O’Farrell of Interference and Mic Christopher, late of the Mary Janes - both of whom would die young.
Going busking while a teenage had been the suggestion of a supportive teacher - who saw that Hansard had a gift. “He encouraged me to leave school. He said, ‘Take your guitar into town and start busking’. His thing was that busking was where you learned your skills. He said, ‘I can’t guarantee you’ll be famous, but if you start now, then you’ll always be able to live from your guitar’. And he was right. I have.”
Hansard did more than learn a crust from his guitar. As a star of The Commitments, frontman of The Frames, and as one half of the Swell Season with Markéta Irglová , Hansard would ascent to rarefied heights in music.
He first achieved fame with Alan Parker’s 1991 adaptation of playing the scampish guitarist Outspan. The role came to define him for many years and for a while it seemed he and the Frames would live forever in the shadow of Outspan, though he made peace with the character, as he would later tell the
“Outspan Foster has followed me around. It’s a wonderful caricature to be known as. And it was an amazing experience,
He was by that point already fronting The Frames, an indie band that ended up singing with ZTT, the UK pop label best known for Frankie Goes To Hollywood and which was the brainchild of music writer Paul Morley and producer Trevor Horn. It was an uneasy fit. While The Frames received acclaim for their 1995 album, mainstream success had appeared to pass them by. He was grateful to ZTT however for letting The Frames out of their contract so they could record their 2001 LP, That record that saw the group turn a corner and find their voice.
“Paul Morley had a brilliant mind – my god, what a mind .Some of the best conversations about career and stuff I’ve ever had were with him,” said Hansard. “Trevor was our producer and head of the label. Trevor was much more aloof. Trevor was a big smoker.
“He was always on the vibe. Paul was the guy you had a deep conversation with. When I delivered the demo for [the Frame’s 2001 lo-fi classic] to Paul, I said, ‘Look Paul – you know, and I know…that this band and these songs and this label are a not a good mix. Will you have a word with Trevor and let us go? This is where we’re at. He was like, ‘you’re right… you’re absolutely right’.”
The Frames were still a going concern when he was cajoled into starring as a down at heel musician in an independent movie directed by his old friend (and former Frames member) John Carney, after the film’s original star, Cillian Murphy dropped out.
It cast him opposite Markéta Irglová, with whom he was recorded as The Swell Season - and yielded the hit , a ballad inspired by the weather forecast and which won the Oscar for best original song. That accolade changed his life and he sometimes found it difficult to cope That was before a friend - Bruce Springsteen - took him aside and offered some advice.
“He said you’ve been in a band for 18 years. It’s you and them against the world. Suddenly the world takes notice. The light is shone on you. You’re no longer the guy who struggled,” Hansard told the “You’re the guy who has had success. The one who has success is a new person to you. The one who struggled suddenly has nowhere to go – his prayers have been answered. If you’ve been struggling for18 years, what do you do when success comes? You struggle: struggle is your mode. You’re figuring it out. Do yourself a favour. Mark your success. If you don’t, the day your ship comes in might be just another day at the office.”
In recent years, Hansard has toured with The Frames, but also focused on his solo career, releasing a series of well-received records. In 2022 he and his partner, Finnish poet, Maire Saaritsa, had a baby boy Christy, and divide their time between Ireland and Helsinki. He had been due to begin an Irish tour in October.
