Jon Farriss | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jonathan James Farriss |
| Born | 10 August 1961 Perth, Australia [1] |
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| Years active | 1977–present [1] |
| Formerly of | INXS |
| Website | jonfarriss |
Jonathan James Farriss (born 10 August 1961) is an Australian drummer and founding member of rock band INXS.
Jon Farriss was born to Dennis and Jill Farriss, and is the second youngest of four children: brothers and fellow band members Andrew and Tim, and younger sister Alison. [1]
Farriss is known for integrating traditional rock drums with more funk- and dance-influenced beats, as well as acoustic drums, sequencers, and pads. Examples of these techniques can be found in such songs as "Need You Tonight" and "The Stairs".
Farriss auditioned to be in the band Guinness with future INXS band-mates Kirk Pengilly and brother Tim, but was rejected for being only nine years old at the time. [2] His first band was playing with a Christian choral group at age eleven years old. [3] He played with bands such as Top Kat, [1] Blackwater, and Fish. [4]
Farriss has also been credited with backing vocals on many of INXS's earlier albums. Among his song writing credits with INXS (mostly collaborations with Michael Hutchence) are "Red Red Sun", "The Gift", "Deepest Red", "Faith in Each Other", "Back on Line", "Never Let You Go" (with Fortune) and the hit "Disappear".
He wrote and performed the song "You Never Used to Cry" on the soundtrack for the 1984 film No Small Affair.
Jon appeared on stage with Ringo Starr in February 2013, during Ringo's All Starr Band performance in Sydney. With Ringo singing, Jon played Ringo's drums to The Beatles' song "With a Little Help from My Friends". He was also invited and recognised on stage by Nile Rodgers in Sydney's iconic Opera House, where Nile recalled, "My inspiration to work with INXS was after seeing their drummer Jon Farriss perform live, when the band were playing on a festival with Hall & Oates."
2010 saw Jon as co-executive producer on INXS's tribute album, "Original Sin". He co-produced several tracks on that album featuring artists including Rob Thomas, Ben Harper, Tricky, John Mayer and Pat Monahan. [5] "The Original Sin Project has been a great thing not only for us to have experienced in the studio, but it has also been great taking some of the songs on the road and mixing them in with the normal songs we usually play." [6]
Farriss produced Richard Clapton's Glory Road in 1987 [7] and played on The Great Escape in 1982 as well as performed on drums on three tracks. Farriss co-produced Jimmy Barnes' Love and Fear [8] and performed drums, programming, bass, keyboards, backing vocals.
Farriss co-executive produced the 2010 tribute album Original Sin which features covers of INXS songs, with each song using a guest singer.
Farriss said, "A lot of artists have covered INXS music, the likes of Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Snow Patrol, countless others, and we thought, 'Why don't we do that?' Why don't we start doing a remixed, re-imagined cover album but with our own songs", he said. "And that's how it started."
Contributors included Rob Thomas, Ben Harper, Train's Pat Monahan, Nikka Costa and numerous others. [9]
Farriss co-executive produced the album with Chris Murphy. Farriss stated, "There's a pretty stringent gallery of ears that has to pass through the band, including myself. I'm extremely critical of everything. But throughout the project, the more and more it became clear that part of my task as executive producer, along with Chris Murphy, was to sort of integrate producers and, when necessary, co-produce songs. At the end of the day, you can't do everything by yourself. It's a team effort. [10]
Smokin Joe (feat Viv Richards) [11] was released in March 2015 on Farriss' independent label Drum Opera. Farriss teamed up with one of cricket's greatest players of all time Viv Richards on the soul infused track which features the spoken word of Richards. Farriss executive produced and co-wrote the track with Walter Brandt, Farriss also performed on drums, percussion and programming.
On meeting Viv Richards Farriss recalls "Viv was such a charismatic and affable guy. We hit it off straight away and it wasn't hard to recognise his love of music. [12] Given these parallels, and my desire to hear him on a track, I approached him to see if he was interested in doing something musically, and thankfully he said yes".
"I was very excited yet slightly nervous to work with Viv. I knew this was an uncharted area. But the goal was to have fun – I had no pressure on myself or expectations of it being a chart success or fit into any specific genre or live anywhere in particular, other than in people's hearts" says Farriss of their first meeting in the studio.
He was married to actress Leslie Bega from 14 February 1992 to 1999.
In 2006, he married his long-time girlfriend Kerry Norris in a small beach-side ceremony. The couple's first child was born in 2008. [13] Their son was born in 2010.
The West Australian Music Industry Awards (WAMIs) are annual awards presented to the local contemporary music industry, put on annually by the Western Australian Music Industry Association Inc (WAM). [14]
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Farriss Brothers (Jon (Andrew and Tim) | Hall of Fame | inducted |
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lead singer, and lyricist of the rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. The band sold over 50 million records worldwide, making them one of Australia's highest-selling music acts of all time. They were also inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.
INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as the Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney. The founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarist Tim Farriss, lead singer and main lyricist Michael Hutchence, and guitarist and saxophonist Kirk Pengilly. For 20 years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
Full Moon, Dirty Hearts is the ninth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 1 November 1993, through East West Records in Australia and in the United Kingdom by Phonogram's Mercury Records label. and by Atlantic Records in the United States. It was followed by the Dirty Honeymoon world tour of 1993–1994.
Kick is the sixth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 19 October 1987 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The album was produced by British producer Chris Thomas, recorded by David Nicholas in Sydney and Paris and mixed by Bob Clearmountain at AIR Studios in London.
Garry William Beers, known as Garry Gary Beers, is an Australian musician and was the bass guitarist for the rock group INXS.
Listen Like Thieves is the fifth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 14 October 1985. It spent two weeks at number one on the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. Considered an international breakthrough album for the band, it peaked at No. 11 on the United States Billboard 200, No. 24 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums and in the top 50 in the United Kingdom.
Welcome to Wherever You Are is the eighth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, which was released on 3 August 1992. With grunge and alternative music breaking into the mainstream, INXS tried to establish a new direction for itself, incorporating sitars, a 60-piece orchestra, and a much more "raw" sound to their music. In its four-star review of the album, Q called it "... a far more engaging and heartfelt collection than anything the group has put out in recent memory ... It rocks," and listed it as one of the 50 Best Albums of 1992. It was the first album by an Australian artist to debut on the UK Albums Chart at number one since AC/DC's Back in Black, released in 1980.
Elegantly Wasted is the tenth studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 15 April 1997, and is the final album recorded with lead singer Michael Hutchence before his death in November that same year.
The Swing is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 21 March 1984. It peaked at number one on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart for five non-consecutive weeks from early April to mid-May 1984. The lead single "Original Sin" was recorded in New York City with Nile Rodgers and featured Daryl Hall on backing vocals. Overall, the album featured a slightly harder-edged sound than their previous releases.
X is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band INXS, released on 25 September 1990 through WEA in Australia, Mercury Records in Europe, and Atlantic Records in the United States and Canada. The follow-up to the massive seller Kick, X scored hits with "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear". Both singles were later used in the soundtrack to the 1991 American teen comedy Mystery Date. Two other singles from X were "Bitter Tears" and "By My Side" but they had less chart success. A fifth single, "The Stairs", was only issued in the Netherlands to coincide with the release of the Live Baby Live album.
Shabooh Shoobah is the third studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on 13 October 1982. It peaked at No. 5 on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained on the chart for 94 weeks. It was the band's first album to be released worldwide and appeared on the United States Billboard 200 and on the Hot Pop Albums Chart. The album spawned four singles, "The One Thing", "Don't Change", "To Look at You" and "Black and White". It was produced by Mark Opitz for WEA Australia with most tracks written by band members Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence.
INXS is the debut studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released on Deluxe Records in Australia on 13 October 1980. The band recorded the album in midnight to dawn sessions during 1979 to 1980 after performing, on average, two gigs a day at local pubs around Sydney. All tracks were credited to band members, Garry Gary Beers ; brothers Andrew, Jon and Tim Farriss ; Michael Hutchence ; and Kirk Pengilly. The album was co-produced by the band and Duncan McGuire. It spawned the single, "Just Keep Walking", which became their first Australian Top 40 hit. INXS peaked in the Top 30 of the related Kent Music Report Albums Chart. The album did not appear internationally until 1984.
Underneath the Colours is the second studio album by Australian rock band INXS. It was released in Australia in 19 October 1981 on the Deluxe Records label and reached No 15 on the Australian album charts.
Switch is the eleventh studio album by the Australian rock band INXS, and their last to be composed of entirely new material. It was released on 29 November 2005 and produced by Guy Chambers. It was their first full-length studio album since the 1997 death of vocalist Michael Hutchence, and the only album to feature singer J.D. Fortune.
Andrew Charles Farriss is an Australian rock musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist, backing vocalist, and main composer for rock band INXS. Farriss released his debut studio album in 2021.
Richard Clapton is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are "Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and "I Am an Island" (1982). He reached the top 20 on the related albums chart with Goodbye Tiger (1977), Hearts on the Nightline (1979), The Great Escape (1982) and The Very Best of Richard Clapton (1982). Clapton's highest-charting album, Music Is Love (1966–1970), peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Chart.
Timothy William Farriss is an Australian musician, founding member and the lead guitarist of the rock band INXS.
Kirk Pengilly is an Australian musician and member of the Australian rock group INXS. Kirk plays saxophone and guitar, and also performs as a backing vocalist.
Original Sin is the twelfth and final studio album by the Australian rock band INXS. It was released on physical media on 16 November 2010 by Epic Records, Atco Records and Polydor after having been released digitally on 28 October 2010. Original Sin features covers of their earlier songs, with each song featuring a guest singer. J.D. Fortune, who was the winner of the Rock Star: INXS competition and featured on the band's previous album Switch, performed lead vocals for the 1990 track "The Stairs", being the last contribution from Fortune before his departure in 2011.
"Simple Simon" is the debut single by Australian rock band INXS, released in May 1980 via Deluxe Records.
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