On the Road with Human Nature
AUSTRALIA'S HOMEGROWN HEROES AND HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES HUMAN NATURE HAVE REBOOTED THEIR ACCLAIMED LIVE SHOW PLANS, RETURNING TO THE AUSTRALIAN STAGE WITH LIVE 2022 REBOOTED – PEOPLE GET READY, AGAIN.
This new show has brought together the very best elements of the covid-postponed Good Good Life tour, and People Get Ready AAA tour into one new, amalgamated show - touring capital cities and regional centres across Australia right now. They've already soldout this month's Newcastle Civic Theatre performance on Friday, 22 July.
Human Nature began in 1989 in the suburbs of Sydney as 4Trax, a high school vocal group consisting of the same members that still comprise the group today, more than 30 years later – brothers Andrew and Mike Tierney, Phil Burton and Toby Allen. They got their big break with a Sony record deal (and a name change to Human Nature) in 1996 and released their first album, 'Telling Everybody', which quickly became one of the highest-selling Australian debut albums ever – eventually reaching 4x platinum status and selling over 300,000 copies. Since then, they have released 13 studio albums, four of which went to number one in Australia, garnering 27 platinum awards, 19 top 40 singles and five Top 10 hits worldwide, with album sales in excess of 2.5 million in Australia alone.
In 2005, they released an album called 'Reach Out: The Motown Record' which topped the charts, sold over 420,000 copies in Australia and was to alter the trajectory of their career. 'Reach Out' was followed in 2006 by 'Dancing in the Street – The Songs Of Motown II', which also hit the number 1 spot. The final album in their Motown trilogy, 'Get Ready', was released in 2007 and saw Human Nature joining forces with some of the stars of Motown, including Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Martha Reeves, The Temptations, and Smokey Robinson. The association with Smokey Robinson led them to a residency in Las Vegas at the Imperial Palace, where they performed five nights a week for four years. This was the first in a number of Vegas residencies that saw the band and their families living in the States for prolonged periods and building their global fan base.
Human Nature has toured with some of the music industry's biggest names, including Michael Jackson and Celine Dion, as well as performing to over a billion television viewers worldwide during the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. They also had the privilege of performing on the Oprah Winfrey Show during her Australian TV special. In 2019, each member of Human Nature was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame. Today, the albums and the hits keep coming, and these stalwarts of the Australian music industry continue to entrance audiences the world over.
We caught up with the band to ask them about touring, what's coming next and life in general.
The covid pandemic has obviously kept you guys off the road with postponed tour dates. So where did you spend the covid? Were you stateside or in Australia?
Andrew Tierney: It was a crazy time. I spent most of the time at my home with family in Vegas. We tried to do a few runs of shows, but each one got shut down, so that was tough. Instead, I channelled my creativity into writing my first children's storybook, which is out now called FINDING BUNNY … it's so cute! Between that, being a dad, and still always writing songs, it was a time to reconnect with what's really important, and I know I will never forget that.
We know that Phil Burton has decided to settle back in Australia and not return to the States for any Vegas residencies. So does that make this tour all the more special? Will he still record with you in the future? And what will he be doing here in Australia?
Andrew Tierney: I think the two years of uncertainty all together make this tour special, to be honest. We have done a handful of shows with the three of us in the States without him and have some more coming up this year. It's just a new phase for Human Nature, and we will, maybe more than ever, just take things one step at a time. We aren't sure what we will do next as a record. We are just enjoying knowing people are excited to see the live shows.
Phil Burton: Hopefully, you will see me popping up in various roles in the entertainment and media industry, whether it's stints on radio or TV or doing some small shows of my own. There will also be some Human Nature work for me, of course - we always have something exciting coming up in Australia, and there's never a shortage of planning jobs there. I'll be keeping busy for sure!
Any plans to return to Australia permanently like Phil has?
Michael Tierney: I always love returning to Australia, and it will always feel like home. At the moment, my daughter is attending school in the US, and we have more opportunities over there for performing also, so I'll be returning to Vegas at the end of this tour. Not sure what will happen in the future, but for now, I'm happy living with my family in Las Vegas.
Toby Allen: I want people to know how much I miss Australia. Living overseas for the past 13 years may have people thinking we've let go of Australia in some way. Quite the opposite - my time away has only deepened my love for home and also has me thinking about wanting my kids to be able to have an experience of life in Australia as I did growing up.
Talk to us about family, being on the road, the challenges and the joys…
Phil Burton: Being on the road has changed so much for us since we started - on our first tours, we would more than likely head out to a club after every show for an after-party. We all had partners who would often travel (and party) with us, but we were all 10 feet tall and bulletproof back then, of course, so we could bounce back and be ready for another show very quickly. These days we are all more "experienced", shall we say, so the partying has basically disappeared - and I don't think any of us miss it that much if we're honest! Now we are more likely to be calling home to speak to the kids before bedtime. Our families still come on the road with us a lot, and it's lovely to share the experience with them.
Andrew Tierney: This tour is very intimate and relaxed, which is so fun to perform. We get to bring the audience into our world and our lives over the past three decades - tell some stories and sing our much-loved songs. I'm really enjoying doing the new songs, actually - it feels like creatively, we still have something to say, which is awesome.
Have you guys had a chance to explore Newcastle before? Any Newcastle stories to share?
Michael Tierney: Yes - we've been to Newcastle many times and always love doing shows there. Walking around Newcastle Beach and enjoying some of the great beachside cafés is always one of my favourite things to do.
You guys do a lot of covers – in your own wonderful style, of course – but do you ever want to step away from that?
Toby Allen: We started our career releasing original songs, and yes, we've made quite a departure from that over the last 15 years. In the last couple of years, it has been very exciting to revisit recording original songs with our Good Good Life EP. The pandemic hasn't made it the easiest to release these songs as we would normally, but we are lucky to be able to include them in our national tour. It feels awesome to be changing our musical direction yet again, and I know our fans are also energised by our new music.
Which is your all-time favourite Human Nature album, and why?
Toby Allen: That is a tough question. Our first album holds a special place in my heart because it gave us such an amazing introduction to our Aussie audience, and so many of the songs on it, we still love performing to this day - 25 years later. Reach Out the Motown Record also is a favourite. It really changed our career in such a big way. Not only because it was such a well-received album, but it also opened the door to our 13-year run of shows in Las Vegas.
You guys are like the quiet achievers of the Australian music industry – inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame, awarded Medals in the Order of Australia, and multi-platinum albums over a long career – how has the music industry changed since you started out? Did you ever think you'd be doing what you're doing? How is it different to your original dreams?
Phil Burton: Awards are always a strange thing. You never work hard with the end goal in mind being the receiving of an award. Having said that, when the awards come, they are a wonderful surprise and something to cherish. The music industry now is almost unrecognisable from when we started. The internet changed the entire game. I think we were lucky to start our career before then, as the sheer breadth of choices people have to listen to now has made it so much harder for good artists to have their work discovered amongst all the mediocre stuff that floods the market.
It's pretty amazing that we are still going strong and still loving what we are doing after 33 years - I'm sure looking back, our original dreams were to become global superstars. We may not have gone all the way to the top, but we have had some amazing success; we've travelled all over the world and performed in some iconic venues with some of the biggest artists in history and had a great time doing it. Also, who knows? If we'd managed to reach the peak, we may have burned out a long time ago and wouldn't still be doing what we love today.
Michael Tierney: I'm proud of all the things over the years, personally (my family) and professionally. Getting presented with The Medal of the Order of Australia was a very proud moment for me and made me appreciate what we've contributed to the Australian entertainment industry. It feels great to be still out now performing and doing what we love.
Who inspires you and why? Musically and in life….
Toby Allen: There are a lot of people who inspire me. Obviously, music has been a huge inspiration over the years, with artists like George Michael, Michael Jackson and Donny Hathaway being some of my favourites. But behind all of that is my family. My husband Darren is a uniquely gifted artistic force. He is constantly working on various projects ranging from more traditional theatre to more obscure endeavours. His drive for his work comes from a passion for art that informs, surprises and nourishes the community, often providing a voice for emerging artists and those with important stories for us to hear.
Our kids, Harvey and Roxane, are no less a force of their own. They constantly surprise me and teach me important lessons in understanding the importance of imagination, and they continually inspire me to be the best version of myself I can be.
What advice would you give to young performers just starting out?
Phil Burton: Make sure you find yourself a good team to work with you. It's not as easy as it sounds. You need people around you who you trust and who see themselves becoming successful WITH you (not by using you to feather their own nest). Always allow yourself to be guided by those people, but never lose sight of who you truly are in the process. The most important thing is the ability to look back and know that despite the result, you really believed in what you were doing.
After this Australian tour, three out of the four of you are scheduled to do a Vegas residency from August through to November. What's in store for Human Nature after the Vegas residency?
Andrew Tierney: One day at a time. I'm hoping the tour and shows will inspire new creativity in me as a writer and us as a group - so that being said, we'll have to keep you all posted.
Human Nature is performing live at the Newcastle Civic Theatre on Friday, 22 July.
Visit www.civictheatrenewcastle.com.au for more information and tickets.
And for more info about the tour, visit www.humannaturelive.com/tour
