For ARIA award-winning songstress Deni Hines, it took a while for the performance gene to kick in. But when it did there was no turning back, as Michael Romei discovers.

Deni Hines in the recording studio. (Image: Courtesy of D Hines)

Deni Hines is a consummate performer. From a distance I see her perched on the base of a road traffic sign opposite Fox Studios, her almost Amazonian stature unmistakable to those passing by. Decked out in an eclectic array of pastel coloured clothing, eyes hidden behind oversized sunglasses, she sits contently and sips her beverage. Then it’s as if she’s given her performance cue.

“Sweetie,” Hines crows as she sees me approach, arms extending to envelope me in a hug. “Come into my office and grab a seat,” she says playfully as she sits back down, her electric tone matching her eye catching ensemble and sharp accessories. When she smiles I see the glint of a diamond that has been fused to her tooth.

As Hines, 37, shifts into gear for her first show of the day, it becomes difficult to imagine this veteran of the Australian music scene and daughter of show-stopping Marcia Hines as anything other than a natural-born performer. But Hines insists this isn’t the case, describing herself as “a quiet little mouse” in her youth who never had any aspirations of entering the music industry.

“You’ve got to remember that as a child of my mother I’d seen some of the good stuff and I’d seen some of the bad stuff that Mum had gone through as well,” Hines reflects, her speech racy and slightly theatrical. “I thought, well there’s no way I want do this.”

“I wanted to be a coroner. I did work experience in a morgue. Autopsies and brains in buckets, it was great! That’s what I wanted to do, and I literally fell into singing. Literally fell into singing, and I like it, and I didn’t have to study for six years!”

But though she was determined to follow a different path to her mother, Hines still began performing at an early age when she was discovered singing in the kitchen by 80s funk group Wa Wa Nee. She was immediately commissioned to perform with them on tour the next week, which Hines decided not to tell her mother about.

“I didn’t even tell mum I was singing. I was going to school and then driving down in the car to Melbourne with Wa Wa Nee on the weekend, and going back to school on Monday. Then one day mum got this phone call saying ‘Oh, saw Deni in Melbourne, she’s quite a good singer!’ And mum was like, ‘Really?! I didn’t even know she could sing!’.”

This began a series of backing roles for Hines, including supporting Kylie Minogue and Jimmy Barnes. Then in 1991 she recorded several songs with the Rockmelons, with “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “That Word (L.O.V.E.)” becoming top five hits. In 1995 she began her solo career, enjoying more chart success with her album Imagination and single “It’s Alright”, which was recognised with an ARIA award. This was met by Hines with mixed emotions.

“When I got my ARIA years ago, somebody was dumb enough to say to me, ‘if it wasn’t for your mother you couldn’t have got your ARIA’. And I thought to myself, stuff you, that’s me on that single! That would have only worked if I didn’t have any talent. But I’m still here 17 years later, and I’m still singing.”

Overcome by what she labels the “Hines syndrome”, Hines responded by moving to England for three years in 1997. She says it was a positive move, as she was treated as any other singer. “That was cool, because I knew I was on an even playing field… It was great to go over there and be totally self-sufficient and really grow up”.

Deni Hines performing on stage. (Image: Courtesy of D Hines)

Hines is now in “round two” of her career. Most recently she has worked with James Morrison to produce a jazz album, and says she would like to do further collaborations with him, perhaps concentrating on soul music. Among her many aims is winning a Grammy, and with it US recognition. But she also admits to being “scared” of the country and how difficult it is to break the market, particularly with the industry in its current mode.

“Labels aren’t spending the money and taking the risks that they used to… they’re very cautious about what they’re doing. Good business sense, but it’s a high turnover… I don’t know if these days they are prepared to pump money into [new artists] unless there’s a TV show to spin them off on. Cos that seems to really work. That’s a guaranteed hit.”

Asked to assess her career to date, Hines is proud of her achievements, but admits it’s in her nature to want more. “I don’t ever enter anything to fail, and I don’t think I’ve fully succeeded yet. I think I’m doing alright, but if I could actually have a flash to my last breath on this planet, and see what I’ve done… I haven’t even begun yet.”

As the interview begins to wrap up, the conversation shifts to tattoos, diets and politicians. Hines discusses these with enthusiasm, but the intensity level drops somewhat. There comes a point when she finally removes her mirrored sunglasses, looks around and tells me about growing up in this area, attending concerts in what is now Fox Studios and rollerskating in Centennial Park. She is never more real than in that moment.

Suddenly, she sees someone crossing the road and hurrying towards us. She tells me it’s a writer from a vegetarian magazine. Sliding the glasses back on, she kisses me goodbye. Act two is about to begin.