Music
Q&A: Human Nature look ahead to their triumphant Australian return
Human Nature will swap the bright lights of Las Vegas for the home comforts of Australia next February, as they return with one of their biggest headline tours for some time.
The foursome make up Australia’s hugely successful pop vocal group, who’ve become one of the country’s greatest musical exports. They’ve sold more than 2 million albums and collected numerous awards, sold out countless tours and have held up a residency on the Las Vegas Strip since 2009.
Ahead of their Ultimate Jukebox tour down under, we catch up with Phil Burton and Mike Tierney to get the lowdown on the shows and to find out how they feel about returning to their Aussie fans. Oh, and the guys give us some all-important karaoke tips of our own and tell us what it’s like to be a VIP at one of their gigs.
Scroll down for the full interview and head over to Ticketmaster.com.au for Human Nature tickets.
How are you feeling ahead of your Australian tour?
“We are so excited for the tour! This is our biggest tour in quite a few years, so we really want to make it special for our fans. Touring Australia is by far the most enjoyable part of what we do, some of our Aussie fans have followed us from our first single! We’re getting ready at the moment to make our concerts a really fun night out for everyone.”
You’re no strangers to touring the world now, but what is so special about playing to home crowds?
“Australia will always be our favourite place to play because of the history we have with our audience. People who have grown up with us and seen us change over the years are always the most excited to come out and have a great time at our show. It’s also great to look out at the crowd and see a lot of familiar faces who have been at our shows and supporting us for so many years.”
How does an Australia tour compare to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas?
“Australia and Vegas are so different. They are both great in different ways, saying that, it’s really nice to get out of Vegas sometimes and Australia always feels like the perfect change. From the excitement, lights and overwhelming energy of Vegas to the natural beauty and calm of Sydney Harbour is always so welcome. Also, in Australia our tours always feel really authentic; like you are getting out to see your fans personally and thanking them for supporting you.”
We hear you’ve recently worked new songs into your set, including Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor, do you have a favourite female singer to cover?
“We have a lot of fun performing songs that you wouldn’t normally expect to hear us sing. It’s always good for a laugh, but also makes you realise how good those songs are. One of our favourites is still All About That Bass (Meghan Trainor); it’s fun to watch the crowd react to four men singing about how boys like a little more booty to hold at night…”
You cover plenty of boy bands too – Backstreet Boys, Beach Boys, Boyz II Men – but do you think we have a shortage of boy bands in music today?
“New boy bands really come in cycles, most recently One Direction have had a lot of success. The ones that stay together seem to still be popular and boy bands have really brought some fun and great songs to pop music over the years. I’m sure some new ones are just around the corner.”
What are your top three favourite songs to perform live currently?
“We have a lot of fun with the Sam Cooke classic Twistin’ The Night Away in our Vegas show – we get a couple out of the crowd for a dance-off and it’s always entertaining. We also love Runaround Sue as the crowd get a chance to sing along and it’s great to hear that from on the stage. Lastly we’ve really enjoyed singing Dancing In The Street again even though we’ve done it for a long time. Perhaps because we now do it towards the end of the show instead of as the first song, so our voices are all ready for the high notes and it doesn’t come as quite so much of a shock!”
When it comes to cover songs, do you have any karaoke tips for us amateurs?
“Pick a song everyone can sing along too, then it’s more fun for all. Also, confidence! Get up there and sing it like you wrote it. Don’t hold back!”
Finally, what can ticket holders expect from your Ultimate Jukebox tour?
“Just like all Human Nature shows, our main aim is for people to leave the show in a better mood than when they arrived. We like to fill our shows with a bit of everything – great music, good singing and dancing, a few laughs, so that’s what we’re striving to give everyone – and on a much grander scale than we’ve done for quite a while! It’s going to be a lot of fun. We also have some really cool VIP packages – VIP soundcheck and meet & greets that we will be previewing the live performance behind the scenes so we can’t wait to do these as well as the main stage show. See you there!”
Human Nature will tour Australia in February 2017, for full dates and to secure your tickets head to Ticketmaster.com.au.
