Human Nature talk ARIA Hall of Fame induction and ‘uncanny’ coincidences
Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes your numbers come up. Human Nature, well, they’re on a dream roll.
At the 2019 ARIA Awards next Wednesday in their hometown Sydney, the veteran vocal group will earn one of the music industry’s highest honours with elevation into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
It promises to be a particularly special night for HN and its bandmates Toby Allen, Phil Burton, and brothers Andrew and Michael Tierney. The ARIAs on Nov. 27 mark precisely 30 years since their first performance as a group, at Bankstown Town Hall.
It’s an “uncanny coincidence,” founding bandmember Toby Allen tells TIO over the phone from Vegas. “We celebrate our anniversary every year on that night. It perplexes me how it happened that way. It’s a really happy coincidence.”
Induction into the HOF will cap a remarkable year for the four singers who, ten years ago, rolled the dice on a career move and left their comfort zone for the Strip of Las Vegas.
Ever since, they’ve been headliners in residency, performing five nights a week and earning whopping contracts for their talents.
In the decade since that move to the Nevada desert, they’ve racked up more than 2,000 shows. But they’ve stayed connected with home by making regular visits at year’s end to perform and see friends and family.
ARIA Awards
None of the lads expected the Hall of Fame to come calling. “It’s incredible,” admits Allen. “We’ve always said we do what we do because we love it, but moments like this, where you can be recognised by the industry you work in, it’s such an honour. To be able to enjoy getting appreciated and recognised like this while we’re still doing what we love doing is awesome.
“For a lot of people, they might have finished their careers and it happens after they’re done. It’s so special to get this while we’re still producing music and entertaining.”
On Friday (Nov. 22), HN will release the retrospective Sony Music set Still Telling Everybody – 30 Years of Hits, featuring two previously unreleased tracks, reworked cut of their early release ‘Don’t Say Goodbye’ and the Motown classic ‘This Old Heart of Mine.’
In the 30-years to date, they’ve released 13 studio albums, sold more than 2.5 million units and performed upwards of 4,000 shows. They’ll add to that list when they play seven dates in Melbourne and the Gold Coast this December.
It’s been something of an embarrassment of riches for the fourpiece who, earlier this year, received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019 for their service to the performing arts and entertainment field.
Allen and his bandmates are enjoying the kudos, but they’re not getting carried away with it. “Someone at Sony sent around an email congratulating us,” he said. “I jokingly signed off ‘Toby Allen OAM HOF’. It’s been a really wonderful year.
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.