INXS
MICHAEL HUTCHENCE: vocals
ANDREW FARRISS: keyboard, guitars
KIRK PENGILLY: guitars, saxophones, vocals
TIM FARRISS: guitars
GARRY GARY BEERS: basses
JON FARRISS: drums, percussion
INXS come on like the world's greatest radio station, a special frequency
where rock, soul, pop, funk and alternative - in no particular order -
come together to present a united cultural front, free of boundaries, free
of color lines, free of predictability.
Free. That's the operative word on WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE, the new
and stirring album by INXS. Experimental, freewheeling and striking, the
album honors the group's roots, anticipates their future and here and now,
revels in their caution-to-the-wind risk-taking.
Amicably parting ways with producer Chris Thomas (1985's LISTEN LIKE THIEVES,
1987's KICK and 1990's X), INXS produced the new album themselves in tandem
with Mark Opitz, who did the same honors for 1983's SHABOOH SHOOBAH.
"I'll be begging to swim that sea," sings lead vocalist MICHAEL
HUTCHENCE in "Taste It," and that sea is vast, mysterious, dangerous.
No fear-of-the-unknown for these guys.
From the psychedelic album opener, "Questions," they dive right
into "Heaven Sent," with its raging guitar lines and HUTCHENCE's
strangely compressed-sounding vocals. Then there's the menacingly rhythmic
"Taste It," "Not enough Time" and "Strange Desire,"
which, in typical INXS fashion, all sound alluring and dark (credit the
dual perspectives of ANDREW and MICHAEL, who write the bulk of INXS' songs).
Moving right ahead, there are the sweeping full-on orchestration of "Baby
Don't Cry' (that's a 60-plus-piece orchestra you're hearing), which, INXS
will proudly tell you, tips its hat to that buoyant era of 60's pop.
"It was actually my idea," says keyboardist/guitarist ANDREW
FARRISS, whose inventive arrangements are a crucial ingredient in the INXS
mix. "I claim responsibility for good and bad! I'm a fan of that era
of music, you know, with its brassy, almost jazzy 'up' things thrown in
here and there. I like that. And in some ways, I thought that approach
may suit the band. Because we don't really have any great attachment to
one specific era of music. We don't say things like 'We're really into
this' and end up only doing that. We've always said, 'Let's try a bit of
this.' We'll try anything. I mean, that's the beauty of the band."
Wait. Here comes the psychedelic stylings of "Back On Line,"
not to mention the raw crashing groove of "All Around," the compelling
sexual warfare balladry of "Men And Women" (sample lyric: ""Men
and women giving each other the sham") and the engaging irony of "Communication,"
which is about the great satellite dish in the sky, disorienting us as
it enlightens us.
The story of INXS begins in the pubs - sweaty, airless places crammed so
tight with people that "we'd have to suck away at oxygen canisters
in between songs just so we could keep playing," recalls HUTCHENCE.
The musical journey that followed resulted in a string of multi million-selling
albums and sold-out gigs in world-class venues like London's Wembley Stadium,
site of last year's long form home video, LIVE BABY LIVE (where nearly
75,000 fans wildly cheered them on) and one of the 15 venues where the
LIVE BABY LIVE album was recorded.
LIVE BABY LIVE documented INXS as one of rock's most powerful and convincing
live bands. The inclusion of one new studio track, "Shining Star,"
a bracing mix of the primitive and the modern, was the tip-off to WELCOME
TO WHEREVER YOU ARE's experimentation. At the moment is heading in a very
exciting direction," while GARRY GARY BEERS noted. "We're venturing
into new realms, pushing our own boundaries."
They weren't kidding.
As HUTCHENCE explains, "We decided to really just say, 'What are we?
Let's get back to basics again.' Like, what would happen if we were just
left on our own in the studio?"
WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE, points out ANDREW FARRISS, "basically
found its own direction, in a sense. I don't think we ever said, 'Well,
let's end up here.'" And INXS don't plan on ending up anywhere - it's
the journey, not the end result, that (these guys effortlessly mix the
primal with the poetic), but purely visceral on its own terms, too.
To understand the evolution of INXS - and what ultimately brought them
to WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE - you have to go back to the beginning.
"I grew up going to see groups like AC/DC play, but my hero at fifteen
was Curtis Mayfield," says TIM FARRISS, adding, "radio wasn't
segregated the way it is in America." HUTCHENCE pipes in: "We
don't have this musical apartheid you have in America with black radio
and classic rock and Top 40. In Australia, it's just the radio, AC/DC on
the same station as Aretha Franklin. That's why INXS has black roots mixed
in with the big guitars."
Pinpointing the group's early days, HUTCHENCE says, "Maybe people
were listening to soul in their record collections at home, but when they
went to pubs to hear music, they were hearing typical hard rock Australian
bands. But we always thought it was strange that nobody was up on that
stage playing the other soul stuff. And maybe people were playing it in
their garages, just like we did, but they always reverted to the pure rock
once they got onstage. But we decided to take our soul-influenced music
into the pubs, which was a big decision. Because the crowds at the pubs
can be deadly! But we got up there and we started playing this mix of power
chords and funk. That's where it really started."
Elaborates ANDREW FARRISS: "When Michael and myself were in high school,
we shared a common interest in music, of course. But I was also fascinated
with MICHAEL's interest in literature. To me, he was a little wacky for
that age. Because he was into poetry, and some of it was pretty mystical
and Eastern and kind of bizarre for a school kid."
"I Think the group as a whole has a good life education in different
culture," he adds. "MICHAEL and JON (FARRISS) lived in Hong Kong
for quite a few years, and MICHAEL just travels all over the place to poor
countries, and wealthy ones, and he sees these different things. I don't
think you can do that for a long period of time without absorbing a lot
of influences."
On the eve of the release of WELCOME TO WHEREVER YOU ARE - an album that
draws off INXS' rich legacy and puts a compelling spin on it - MICHAEL
HUTCHENCE was asked to ponder the proverbial rock question: How do you
want INXS to be remembered in the history books?
"As a very good pop group, at least! Because the bottom line is that
we don't get too precious about things - we are Australians, after all!
And that's good, it keeps us earthy. So when all is said and done, it's
hard to ask an Australian how he wants his work to be remembered. He'll
probably say, 'Who cares?' But as a band, I think we're going to be seen
in a somewhat different light as time goes by. People are going to find
more insight into it."
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