XL Music

Music: INXS hits the road, adjusting to its new sensation

By David Glessner
Monday, June 26, 2006

When Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars made his pitch for platinum-plated excess, he did so via an ad in a Los Angeles rag that announced; "Loud, rude, aggressive guitarist available." Now that's rock 'n' roll.

Australian dance-pop lotharios INXS, on the other hand, landed their new singer through auditions on a national TV show where the right pants could overpower the right pipes and the cheese factor could flavor Doritos. Not so rock 'n' roll.

Guilty pleasures are so named for a reason, and the 15 million viewers who tuned in to "Rock Star: INXS" last summer likely would feel no shame in favoring giddy 1980s nostalgia over earnest rock credibility.

Having settled on a 32-year-old homeless Elvis impersonator named J.D. Fortune, INXS quickly recorded a decent album called "Switch" and embarked on a world tour. With Canada's fortunate son taking center stage in place of late singer Michael Hutchence (who hanged himself in 1997), the band that scored such hits as "Need You Tonight," "Suicide Blonde" and "Devil Inside" is back with a new kick and a show at the Backyard on Tuesday.

Calling from a tour bus rolling across Canada, INXS guitarist Tim Farriss proves to be a good sport when heckled about INXS 2006.

Austin American-Statesman: What was J.D.'s most kid-in-a-candy store moment after joining INXS?

Tim Farriss: I don't even know where to begin (laughs). The most amazing thing is he's seeing things through our eyes and we're seeing things through his. We put 10 years on his age and he's taken 10 off ours (laughs). I'll settle for that.

J.D. was a dominant presence on "Rock Star: INXS" for many reasons, not the least of which was his ability to annoy.

(Laughing) He's an absolute sweetheart and he tries to annoy you. He's incorrigible, let's just put it that way.

Now that J.D. is part of the band, what is his most quirky habit that has come out of hiding? Does he snore, does he smoke too much, does he eat bad food?

All of the above (laughs). Actually, I can only remember a handful of times that I've seen him eat. He just has a passion for life that's hard to equate to anyone I've ever met.

You realize you guys are to blame for this new genre of rock 'n' roll reality show.

Yeah, I know. All we wanted out of the whole thing was a singer, and it was a good way to get someone else to pay for it. The interesting thing about North America is when we first toured here in 1983, we were enjoying the newfound success of music television. In some ways, we were one of the darlings of MTV. We would get off the tour bus in some of the most obscure places and people would recognize us. In a way, the "Rock Star: INXS" show was like second nature to us. It's better to be the first guy on the bus than the last. You get the best seat!

Now that you're out on tour, did J.D. have to sign a waiver agreeing not to steal your groupies?

(Laughing) He can have them all. He's doing a pretty good job of it.

What's the forecast for the band? Is J.D. a full-time, permanent member of INXS?

Absolutely. That's something we're really looking forward to because we'll actually get to make a record that's co-written by all of us.

Would you rush the recording again for the sake of spontaneity or would you prefer to have more studio time to polish everything to your liking?

That's a good question, because one of the great things about making the record the way we did was that we didn't have time to second-guess what we were doing. (We'll) probably do a little of both, depending on the producer. The great thing about this band is we work really well under pressure. We were prepared with about 80 songs during the course of the television show.

What would Michael Hutchence think of J.D. and the new album?

Actually, a lot of it is continuing his legacy. One of the songs on the record ("God's Top 10") is sort of a gift to his daughter Tigerlily, and "Afterglow" is predominantly dedicated to Michael. At the end of the day, in many ways, we're still continuing his legacy and J.D. is very aware of that. To me, "Switch" sounds so much like an INXS record it's really uncanny.