Almost Human was a rock band from South Australia active in the late 1970s. The band was formed by Bassist Luis Sanchez who was just out of school.
Almost Human recruited vocalist Damien Kelly, Drummer Chris Tucker and a short while later brothers, Andrew & Chris Tenant. David Kennedy later re-joined the band after a short early stint, replacing Andrew Tenant. This line up remained unchanged for many years.
Biography[]
Almost Human was formed in the late 1970s after meeting at high school and like so many other bands at that time, were influenced by bands such as Kiss, Alice Cooper, AC/DC & Status Quo.
After playing a few small gigs, the Humans started writing original songs in the same vein as the bands that they admired and had grown up with. In the early eighties, British Heavy Metal hit Australia and Almost Human immediately found it's place. The line-up at this point in time consisted of Damien Kelly, Luis Sanchez, Chris Tucker, Dave Kennedy and Chris Tennant (The Superjesus). By this time the band was starting to draw large crowds. The Australian pub rock scene was booming and like many Australian rock bands before them, the pub circuit was where they honed their skills.
Almost Human played and toured extensively supporting international acts such as Cheap Trick, The Angels, Sweet and Whitesnake. However in the late eighties, drummer Chris Tucker moved to Perth and was replaced with new drummer, Howard Kehl. A short while later, guitarist, Chris Tennant resigned. Instrumental as a songwriter, Tennant went on to form the band The SuperJesus with Sarah Mcleod.
It didn't take long before Kennedy replaced Tenant, a new rhythm guitarist, Michael Dryden was found and the band surged forward again writing and performing. Kennedy and Kelly wrote the song 'Hold On' which charted for over 28 weeks. Hold On received regular airplay on both commercial television and radio stations. It also showed that the band could continue writing and were capable of crossing over from the heavier live shows to music that was a bit more mainstream. However, in 1993 after playing hundreds of shows and having been together for over 14 years, the band called it a day. They played their final show at The Venue, Adelaide SA to a full house.
After another 14 years the band reformed. Their new line-up included new member, Adam Keane (Ex- Master of Puppets) on guitar and the original drummer Chris Tucker back on the drums. Each member brings a new set of skills to the table that allows the band to operate autonomously in the areas of songwriting, recording, design and marketing.
Although they have a repertoire of over 50 original songs, the primary focus has been to write new material. Almost Human has already written over 10 new songs and are currently working on their second CD.
Members[]
- Michael Dryden - guitar
- Howard Kehl - drums
- Damien Kelly - vocals
- David Kennedy - guitar
- Luis Sanchez - bass
- Chris Tennant - guitar
- Chris Tucker - drums
- Adam Keane - guitar
- Scott Bradley - guitar
Discography[]
Singles
- Hold On - (1987)
Albums
- One - (2004)