Niall Horan x NJHNEWS
Follow Niall Horan: Twitter | Instagram
Follow NJHnews: Main Twitter | Media Account | Radio Account | YouTube | Spotify | Website
PRE-ORDER HEARTBREAK WEATHER // OUT MARCH 13th
‘Fan Account of the Month’ (#FAOTM) is a fan-appreciation series on UMUSIC!
At UMUSIC, we acknowledge and value the efforts of fans from around the world. The passion, dedication, and love fans have for their favourite artists is something the team at UMUSIC has admired for a long while. For this reason, UMUSIC has decided to feature a fan account every month. This will give our UMUSIC community the opportunity to learn about different fandoms, their hardworking members, and more about the artists!
Fan account: A social media account created by a fan dedicated to a particular piece of pop culture. This series will focus on fan accounts dedicated to artists.
Update account: A fan-run social media source for fan accounts. An update account serves as the main source of updates on a specific artist. An update account will gather all media, promotional items, and information on an artist and share the information with other fans. Think of update accounts as a constantly updated Wikipedia for fans. This series will also focus on update accounts, which are simply larger fan accounts.
Read our May Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our June Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our July Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our September Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our October Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our November Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our December Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our January Fan Account of the Month here!
Read our February Fan Account of the Month here!
March’s fan account of the month features a Niall Horan fan account: NJHNEWS! The account is run by Laine from America, a fan who has stanned Niall since the early One Direction days. Laine also receives help from Marsha – another Niall stan from America that co-runs the Niall radio promotion account. Running NJHNEWS is one of the many ways Laine is able to show her love, appreciation, and admiration for the ‘No Judgement‘ singer.
The team at UMUSIC asked Laine questions pertaining to Niall, his second studio album: Heartbreak Weather, and fan culture. Below are a collection of her answers:
Why are you a fan of Niall?
Bottom line? He’s earned it. Niall’s guileless, hardworking, kind, generous, humble, and SO talented. He’s eternally grateful and appreciative of everything but especially for his fans and he always has been. A lot of artists say they love and appreciate their fans but Niall goes out of his way to make sure we feel appreciated. He takes time for us and keeps us updated on what’s going on with him.
When he released his first album, Flicker, he did the Flicker Sessions so that fans could hear it before everyone else. He is always true to himself and speaks out about social issues that are important to him. He supports charities and has organized the Horan & Rose charity event since 2016. He ran a charity drive for his birthday to help the victims of the Australian bushfires and he spent it with children from Rays of Sunshine for which he is an ambassador.
I’ve been his fan for almost 10 years and watched him become an amazing man and an authentic artist. I’ve literally grown up with him. He’s an endless source of joy and happiness in my life. He makes being a fan easy.
Can you describe your journey supporting Niall from his One Direction days and into his solo days?
The very beginning of my journey was a friend telling me about The X Factor UK. She sent me the most recent episode to watch and it happened to be the one with Niall’s audition on it. He was so charming and I absolutely loved his voice. It was the beginning of an adventure that’s lasted ten years and counting and one I’ve never regretted. I was a huge supporter of his all through One Direction. When they announced their hiatus I was gutted but hopeful that that was not the end of my “Niall” journey. He didn’t disappoint.
When ‘This Town‘ came out every concern I had about my future as a Niall fan disappeared. It was beautiful and heartfelt. The more Niall updated us the more excited I became for his upcoming album. My best friend and I had a little party complete with a cake when Flicker went #1 on the Billboard 200. I was lucky enough to see him during the Flicker World Tour. I don’t have words to describe what that experience meant to me. This past year watching the updates to his new album, Heartbreak Weather, has me even more excited than I was for Flicker. It’s really been a pleasure supporting him for all these years and I’m jazzed to come up with new and fun ways to help support his career for the foreseeable future. As long as he continues to make music I will happily continue to be one of his biggest fans.
How would you describe Niall Horan fans and the wonderful community you’ve all built?
There’s a running joke that Niall’s fans are the most “unproblematic” and that’s a fairly accurate assessment. It’s an amazingly supportive group. We support Niall and all his endeavors (Charities, projects….yes…even golf.) along with each other. I think you can ask every opener he’s ever had on tour. We support them too. The whole community isn’t just about being a fan. It’s also friendships. I see that all the time. Friends coming together. Being a UA I’m in a unique position to see tons of interactions in the comments of posts and watching the fans support and lift each other up is a beautiful thing.
Has Niall ever interacted with your account?
Yes. Niall has retweeted a number of posts and he just commented on one the other day.
Has your account participated in or started any fan projects?
In the past we have had fans take over our Instagram and post videos of the concert. We’ve helped organize buyouts. Gifting. We’ve helped organize and run lots of Streaming Parties including the one that we were involved in with @ZenFloof for ‘No Judgement‘.
Do you have any expectations for Heartbreak Weather?
I don’t really think there’s a ton of fan theories. Niall’s done quite a few interviews leading up to this release and went into great detail about the songs and his writing process. After hearing the first three songs I’m seeing so much excitement for the new album.
I think I speak for all of Niall Nation when I say…we’re positive it’s going to be amazing. The bar for Flicker was high but we’re all 100% confident he’s going to exceed it with Heartbreak Weather. I think the song I’m most looking forward to is ‘Black And White’. Niall’s had a lot to say about it and I’m really excited to hear it.
Thoughts on Niall Storm?
Legend!
What’s your favourite Niall moment?
The one that stands out to me the most was when Niall was interviewed for Access Hollywood and he was asked how he felt about ‘This Town’ being streamed almost 60 million times and he misheard and thought it was 16 million. His reaction when the interviewer corrected him was priceless and just shows what a humble man he is.
Close second: The RTE concert special in its entirety. The music and the interview. It’s perfection.
What makes Niall different from other pop stars in the world right now?
There are a few things. I’ll start with the fans. He is very good to us. He’s sent food and drinks to people camping out for performances. He’s always telling us to be careful and look out for each other. If it’s feasible he always takes time to get pictures and sign autographs with us. Sometimes journalists, interviewers and paparazzi can be a bit disrespectful of his fanbase and he’s always quick to call them out on it and defend us. He takes time almost daily to talk to us, interact with us and keep us up to date on what he’s up to.
He’s very vocal about the things that he’s passionate about. Whether it’s music, golf, social issues. I appreciate that. He’s tweeted about the abuse that women receive online, about votes concerning women’s issues, and his golf management company held a tournament where women received equal pay and exposure. It was the first of its kind in the UK.
Last but not least is the music. He’s so authentic in the way that he approaches it. There’s beautiful melodies and real instruments. He talks passionately about it. In an age where music is written, recorded and released in a rapid fire way…he takes his time and makes sure it’s what he wants to put out into the world. He feels like his contributions to music aren’t just a way to make a living but a representation of him. I don’t mind waiting for over 2 years for a new album because I know it’s going to be high quality and exactly what Niall wanted to share with us.
If you could say one thing to Niall, what would you say?
It doesn’t seem adequate, but, thank you. The journey from 2010 till now has been wild, fun, inspiring, emotional, and really fulfilling. He’s always been a ray of sunshine during times that didn’t always seem very sunny. His voice and his music have been the soundtrack to my life. I’ve made lifelong friends. People I would have never known if not for him. And I’m excited. I know it’s been almost 10 years but it somehow feels like just the beginning. When you follow someone from pretty much the beginning of their career you get invested. I feel proud of him which is weird since we’re the same age…but I do. I can’t wait to make more incredible memories.
Are there any other Niall accounts you recommend?
I really like @nhstreamteam, @ZenFloof, @niallnationuk and @niallerdiaries on Twitter. They’re always upbeat, supportive, and work hard to keep everyone updated and motivated.
I don’t want to leave Tumblr out so I’d recommend @dailyniallnews they are always on top of everything.
The UMUSIC team would like to thank Laine and all of the Niall fans for the hard work they put into their accounts. Your dedication, hilarious posts, and community do not go unnoticed.
Keep checking our social media for the fan account of April!
If you know of a fan account that deserves to be nominated for this series, don’t hesitate to tweet us: @umusic #FAOTM