Archived JD Media 2006

January 6, 2006

Brand New Decadence



INXS get back in the game with a new singer and a new album

THE tragic demise of Michael Hutchence belongs to the pages of mythic rock deaths. Names like Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Shannon Hoon and Jimmy Hendrix are examples of how excess can not only lead a musician to the tower of wisdom, but to a condition where that same wisdom says the only way out is to take the reaper's hand.


Michael Hutchence, singer of influential '80s outfit INXS, was nearly synonymous with the hedonism and excess that mirrored the band's name. At the height of his fame Hutchence dated Kylie Minogue and a slew of supermodels, was involved in lurid tabloid scandals and led a jet set life with all the trappings of rock and roll.

On November 22, 1997, Hutchence was found dead, hanging from the ceiling of his Sydney hotel room. INXS's last album Elegantly Wasted, released in that same year, seemed an apt if brusque testimony of everything that had led him to be swinging by his neck on that cold November morning.

The long-hinted-at solo works of Hutchence was released in 1999, mostly ignored by the public. Afterwards, INXS toured with session singers Terence Trent D'Arby and Jon Stephens for a bit, but by the end of 2003 it seemed the band was going to slink away to musical oblivion.

Few would have been surprised, and fewer still would have blamed them if their grief led them to vanish altogether. Their silence in 2004 seemed to confirm this. Then 2005 came and, with it, the unveiling of Rock Star: INXS.

Teaming up with Mark Burnett, the executive producer of such reality show giants as Survivor, Eco-Challenge and The Contender, INXS launched a search for a new front man. Globally televised and popularly acclaimed, Rock Star: INXS was an elaborate, gritty and gaudy audition that pitted thousands of singers from around the world, narrowing them down to a final 15 that would vie for the prime spot in the band's line-up.

The result? Canadian singer JD Fortune. "It's an understatement to say that this is a dream come true," says Fortune. "Growing up, INXS albums like Shabooh Shoobah, Listen Like Thieves and Kick were a huge influence. I'd listen to those songs and wonder what it would be like to be in this band."

The 31-year-old Fortune discovered INXS as a teen, after catching one of their music videos on TV he begged his grandfather to buy him a guitar. With it he taught himself how to play "Devil Inside." As a former Elvis impersonator who was living out of his car when he heard of the auditions, Fortune brings both a sense of verite and swagger to INXS; an acumen borne of conflict with the world that the soft, pampered bohemian Hutchence lacked.

"Not only was J.D. incredibly passionate about wanting the job," says Andrew Farris, keyboardist for INXS, "but he has this enigmatic charisma. You're drawn to him. As an artist, he thinks outside the square and does things that are a little edgy. I like that. He's also a storyteller--and you recognize that in another songwriter."

With still the same original line-up in Andrew Farriss (keyboards and guitars), Tim Farriss (guitars), Jon Farriss (drums), Gary Beers (bass) and Kirk Pengilly (guitars and sax), except for JD Fortune, INXS unveil their bid to capture new fans and bring their brand of dance-rock into the 21st century.

Switch is the eleventh album in the band's discography after an eight year silence, and their first on their new label Epic Records. "There's been so much change," says Andrew Farriss, "that it seemed appropriate to sum it up with just one word."

For the task of streamlining and updating the '80s dance-rock of INXS, the band worked with acclaimed producer Guy Chambers who had been with the likes of Queen and Robbie Williams. Andrew Farriss initially got in touch with Chambers to collaborate on songs for the album, but the two found that they also shared the same attitudes with regards to studio labor.

Tim Fariss agrees with his brother, "Guy has a vision of the whole album. He doesn't get hung up on putting everything into each song. He sees how they all fit into the whole."

With just six weeks to complete the whole record from the closing of the reality show to the album's release date, JD Fortune was quickly thrown into the musical whirlwind that is INXS.

Switch was recorded on an uber-tight schedule at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles. The band's typical work day would consist of recording basic instrument and vocal tracks in one studio, while overdubs for another song were laid down across the hall and rough mixes were being done in a third room.

"It was a challenge that we responded to very well," says Tim Farriss, adding that he's also found no end of amusement in watching a neophyte performer adjust to his new life as a rock star. "You forget that it's [JD's] first album, his first video, first photo shoot. These are all things we've done for 30 years and it's all new to him. JD brings a mix of innocence and knowingness into the process."

"In the past," exclaims saxophonist Kirk Pengilly, "You'd have time to listen to the songs and figure out what you're going to play." For Switch JD would hear the song and have to make up his part on the fly. "It was exciting," says Andrew. "It's the way they used to do things in the '60s."

The problem with Switch is that, after eight years, it's a mixed bag of goods at best. From the outdated party harty theme of Elegently Wasted, the glitzy search for a new lead singer and getting a new producer, we expected so much more. Or at least something entirely different, a departure or experiment on par with 1992's underrated Welcome to Wherever You Are.

Is all the hype commensurate to the product? In many ways, yes. Hot tracks abound as in the excellent hip bopping, bluesy trash of "Devil's Party." Fortune's vocal work is less decorative than Hutchence's and the music is as edgy as anything the early Stones has produced. He may not be the new Jagger but Fortune still kicks up some mean southern dirt and Memphis soul.

The smash hit single "Pretty Vegas," penned by Fortune during one of the reality show tasks, can probably epitomize INXS opening up to the faster than light carnival of the new century. Fortune is an excellent songwriter, spot on in his lyricism and wit, dangerous and charming at the same time. Plus he has an excellent, menacing drawl.

The album version of this song has an added interlude on half-time where Fortune sings "The party is over and the road is long / The party's over and we're moving on." With its catchy chorus and cautionary lyrics it's no wonder that "Pretty Vegas" debuted on Billboard's Top 100 at Number 37, the highest-charting single debut of INXS ever.

Strangely though, co-reality show competitors Jordis Unga and Marty Casey share lyric credits with Fortune on "Pretty Vegas." Viewers of Rock Star: INXS will remember the episode where a dispute in laying down lyrics for a new INXS riff led Fortune to separate from his assigned group and pen his own lyrics, thus producing "Pretty Vegas."

The sexy "Hot Girls" is very INXS with its sleazy bass line, crooning come-ons and Japanese words spoken by a girl. The riffing is a cross between '90s alt rock formula soft verse/ smithereens shredded chorus and sparse, catchy 80s note play. The band says that "Hot Girls" was inspired by the strip clubs near the Santa Monica Boulevard studios.

"Hungry" shows the compassion and insight that have made Andrew Farriss's new wave-infused rock songs life savers. The lyric are meaningful as in the opening phrase "The world is a hungry place/ And it's never satisfied." It's made all the more poignant by Fortune's grizzly, half-gloomy and half-optimistic vocal treatment. "Hot Girls" and "Hungry" is as good as it gets in the marriage of veteran musicians INXS and its new front man.

In some ways the hype has hurt INXS because Switch has its undeniable faults. The downside is that some of the experiments are really bad.

The ballad "Afterglow" skirts the dangerous country between trying to reach out with its moving melody and putting you to sleep. Some songs sound like a bad day at the carnival trying to combine diffuse genres and ending up with embarrassing lyrics as in "Like It Or Not" ("Like it or not/ Love is the God"), "Perfect Strangers" ("Thank you for spending one night with me"), "Never Let You Go" an awkward venture into reggae with silly declarations ("If someday I find the answer / Move down south and marry a dancer").

Then there's "Us," which seems like an incomplete song. Like the band got tired and slapped together this haphazard ineffectual call for positivity. Overall, they try too hard or just miss the point and vacillate between old synth, drum machine thinness and overdub overkill.

The surprise hit here is the ending ballad "God's Top Ten God's Top Ten" that features vocals by Fortune's co-reality show competitor Suzie McNeil. The song is both atmospheric and raw, with only a softly thumping drum and acoustic guitars. Rueful and introspective, this song balances all the tracks that come before and saves the album from a disappointing conclusion.

McNeil balances Fortune's procilivity for often harsh, over the top slickness and lends the song the soul it needs. This is what "Afterglow" and the other experiments lack - a core of honesty sung with the same nakedness, something that Fortune often dresses up or unconsciously masks, favoring vocal brawn over bleeding candidness.

A song like "God's Top Ten" is proof that INXS is ready to abandon the past and ease themselves out of nostalgia, out of grief and near musical oblivion. "They're coming back to claim what's theirs,' J.D. says of his bandmates. "They haven't finished being artists together in a band, and they haven't finished their journey. Now I'm a part of all of this, and I'm proud to be here."

http://www.mb.com.ph/I2006010653258.html

Wednesday January 18 2006

J.D. Fortune and INXS take to the stage, kicking off world tour in Vancouver

Neil Davidson
Canadian Press

New lead singer J.D. Fortune performs with his band INXS during the Penfolds Icon Gala Dinner at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles Saturday. (AP Photo/Branimir Kvartuc)

VANCOUVER (CP) - J.D. Fortune is still homeless. But now, as lead singer of INXS, the Canadian is looking at a few properties "here and there."

There is no rush.

Fortune, who famously once lived in his car during down times, will be on the road for some time to come as the veteran Australian band returns to the stage. The band's Switched On world tour was set to kick off Wednesday in Vancouver.

Fortune, 32, won the job in September by outlasting 14 others on the Rock Star: INXS reality TV show. It may have been a musical gimmick but it has paid dividends. The album Switch is a hit and INXS concert tickets are hard to come by.

Fortune has helped pump fresh blood into INXS.

The band has been without a permanent singer since 1997, when the charismatic Michael Hutchence committed suicide. While Fortune was seen as the Rock Star: INXS candidate closest to Hutchence in style, he says INXS allow him to be himself onstage.

"Not only does INXS allow me to be me, but they make me feel really good about me being me, which is something I have never experienced in my life, ever," he said in an interview on the eve of the tour.

Rehearsals have been gruelling - Fortune compares them to the basic training he went through during a brief stint in the Canadian armed forces. The work has paid off, he says.

"It's been such a mutual understanding, it's actually uncanny. We feel like we have been a band for 10 years."

Asked if being part of INXS has been what he expected, Fortune says: "That and more."

More responsibility. More notoriety. More appointments.

"Everything in my day is accounted for. There's never a moment where somebody doesn't know where I am, or what I'm doing. It's just sections of time. We all work together as a band and then outside of that band there's people that help us continue on being a band. They make sure we get here, make sure that this is filmed, that this is set up properly. It's sort of a really cool symbiosis.

"And it's actually kind of refreshing to wake up in the mornings and go 'it's nine o'clock and I know exactly what I'm doing until one o'clock the next morning."'

Despite the demands of the job, Fortune seems devoid of rock star attitude.

"Really nobody in the third row cares about anything except having a great time and that's really what our job is up there. It's the audience's time, it's not our time. Our time is when this is finished and we get a chance to relax and hang out together and enjoy our friends and family. But right now, we're here for the people, we're here to give them what they want and that's exactly what we're doing."

Fortune's respect for his new bandmates ("They are really hard to keep up with, they're the hardest-working band in show business") and their pedigree ("It really is a testament to see them on stage and go 'Wow, you're looking at a combination of 200-some-odd years of experience of rock 'n' roll on that stage"') is plain to see. And it's clear Fortune wants to repay INXS for their belief in him.

Along the way, he is still pinching himself.

"It's really a bizarre thing to go from being in bands where you're playing in pubs to like 15 people to being in INXS where you're playing in front of 15,000."

Fortune, who has roots both in Ontario and Nova Scotia, returns to Toronto for shows Feb. 6 and 7. The dates come almost a year after his Feb. 4 audition for the Rock Star: INXS.

In person, Fortune is remarkably friendly. In introducing himself, he uses both hands in a handshake, keeps eye contact and remembers his interviewer's name.

Tall and rail-thin with a mischievous smile, he draws a delighted gurgle from one female TV reporter when he remembers how she used to wear her hair.

When viewers first met him on the TV show, he was bold and brash. He says that was not the whole picture.

"Well, I think getting to know me on that show would be like saying 'I know Tie Domi personally by watching him play hockey.' I operated within the parameters of the competition. I won.

"Now afterwards, I'm still me. I've always said from the beginning of the show the only five friends I wanted to make on that show were sitting across from me every week and that was INXS. For me, being rid of Rock Star: INXS and now moving on with INXS, being rid of the TV show and moving on with the music, I'm exactly who I was before I started. I think the general public just saw me in competition mode to be where I am right now. I had to do what I had to do."

INQUIRER EXCLUSIVE


JD Fortune, rock star!

Editor's Note: Published on page A2-1 of the January 2, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.


MAH-GUN-DHANG UH-mahga," JD Fortune greeted us-much to our amusement-in an attempt to speak in Filipino.

The Canadian, who beat an impressive lineup of rockers in the reality TV show "Rock Star: INXS" to become the Aussie band's new front man, began learning the language while prepping himself for the INXS world tour.

The 11-week search ended in September. The tour starts Jan. 18.

JD said Philippine fans can expect the band here in late August or early September.

Currently staying in Sydney, Australia, JD spent the holidays away from his mom and siblings. But he was warmly welcomed into the families of his band mates.

In an exclusive phone interview with Inquirer Entertainment, the 32-year-old musician talked about quitting smoking, motor-biking with Tim Farriss, and getting mobbed by fans when he went to the mall to buy a toothbrush.

Have you adjusted to the rock star life?

I'm still just living the way I used to. I've wanted to do this since I was five. It just seems like it all fits, it all makes sense, and feels very natural. If you show me somebody who loves what they do, I'll show you somebody who never works a day of their life. I've always been a musician because I just feel music and write music.

Are you finally getting that eight-hour sleep you've been longing for?

I had a good three days when I had nothing to do [but] I made a mistake. I went to a mall and got attacked. There were hundreds of people that were just all over the place wanting pictures and autographs. I got really claustrophobic because I didn't have anybody with me. I had a hat and sunglasses on, but I still got recognized.

You should have known, from the experience of other celebrities.

I know... but I really needed a toothbrush.

Were you harmed during the incident?

Everybody kept their distance, but I did get a few people grabbing my butt and my crotch.

How did you get out of it?

(Laughs) I didn't! I just kept walking. I was actually staying just across the street from the mall [but] I got into a taxicab and went up the street, asked [the driver] to turn around and go back. I didn't want [the mob] to see me taken to the hotel because I didn't want anybody to follow me there.

Did people eventually find out where you were at?

The second night I was in the hotel, about 45 people showed up in the parking lot. The hotel manager called me and said, "It may not be a good idea if you go out right now."

Where do you live now?

I'm in a sort of furnished apartment in a building that overlooks the city. I just go to one place to eat and it's never really busy. I sit in the back and put a newspaper up, have my lunch and tea, and then go back upstairs.

How often do you see your family?

I saw them a couple of months ago and I can't wait to see them in February.

Where are you spending the holidays?

I'm with some of the band members and their families. I'll be in Sydney, Australia, until Jan. 11. I was going to fly my mom out here but she couldn't get off work. I miss her a lot.

Does INXS plan to continue writing songs or is the band focusing on the tour?

We'll be writing on the road. We've already started writing some stuff together. [There were songs] that didn't make it to the record because we didn't get to finish soon enough but we're looking at some songs that we started back in Los Angeles. I've also been writing almost everyday. On the [world] tour, we're mainly concentrating on [new INXS album] "Switch" and songs from the back catalogue.

How long is your contract with INXS?

It's an open contract.

Do you plan to stay with the band after the world tour?

I love INXS. It's my band! I'm not leaving INXS, no, [but] I'd like to write for some people who might not be well-known and give back to them the way life has been so kind to me.

Have you had people come up to you and say there's a bit of resemblance between you and [the late INXS front man] Michael Hutchence?

I think it's just rock n' roll and sexual energy. I've been really working on getting the TV show ("Rock Star: INXS") out of my body and getting back into just being a rock n' roll musician.

How does it feel to complete an album with INXS?

It was like trying to think of the name of an actor in some movie, or the name of something, and you can't remember. Then, just before you go to bed you go, "Aaah, that's what it is," and you get a sense of relief. The experience was so fulfilling and so warm that we actually want to do another one very soon.

You're now really part of the INXS family, aren't you?

Oh, yes. I was [supposed] to go to the movies today with Kirk [Pengilly] and his daughter. I'm going up to Tim's farm tomorrow. He's got motorbikes that we would ride around in the sun and do some jumping and stuff like that.

Describe what a regular day is like for you.

I get up at about 5:30 or 6 a.m. before it gets too hot, run for about 45 minutes and then come back, have a really nice breakfast, then do a little bit of meditation just to focus myself for the day. I usually end up calling up one of the guys and see what they're up to.

In the last couple of days, I've quit smoking. I hear the hardest is the first three or four days. I'm just trying to breathe and drink lots of water and get all nasty toxins out of my system so I can be really healthy for the tour.

Are you more relaxed and comfortable with your schedule?

I have no choice but to be relaxed because the schedule is really, really heavy. We're (INXS) touring for 18 months. We [even] need to shoot two more videos.

How many shows are you doing in Asia?

I think we're doing about 15 shows.

MiG Ayesa was recently in Manila and fulfilled his promise to kiss, hug and please his fans. What can Filipinos expect from you?

I promise that I will learn to say the most beautiful greetings and be able to carry on a good conversation [in Filipino]. I'm just learning to speak [the language] right now. I think it's a beautiful language. I was on the Internet [looking it up] and oh, my God, it's so beautiful!

INXS A new reality
By Steve Newton Jan 06

Publish Date: 12-Jan-2006

Before tackling their revved-up version of "Blinded by the Light", the members of Australia's newly revitalized INXS wisely donned the proper protective eyewear.

This time last year, few people knew the name of Canadian rock vocalist J.D. Fortune. A lot of them were familiar with INXS, but at that stage in the group's career--eight years after the death by apparent suicide of its enigmatic frontman Michael Hutchence--they wouldn't have equated it with instantly sold-out concerts and top-selling albums. Reality TV changed all that. After Fortune beat out 14 competitors in 2005's Rock Star: INXS series, earning the right to take Hutchence's place behind the mike, the Aussie sextet suddenly got huge again. Their show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Wednesday (January 18) sold out in five minutes, and the CD Fortune made with them, Switch, has already moved well over a million copies since its late-November release.

So who is this J.D. Fortune fellow, anyway? Turns out he's a single 32-year-old who was born Jason Dean Bennison and grew up in the tiny town of Salt Spring, Nova Scotia. He's been in bands--though none you've likely heard of--since he was 13. In the mid-'90s, he put his musical endeavours on hold and took a shot at acting, moving to Kitsilano for three months and unsuccessfully auditioning for roles in The X-Files and Millennium. As he relates on the line from 102-degree, "fucking boiling" Sydney, Australia--where he spent Christmas with his new bandmates and their families--Fortune was living out of his auto when he heard about the auditions for Rock Star: INXS.

"I was literally, like, sleepin' in my car," he recalls, "and when this advertisement came on the radio, something inside of me just went, 'This is what you're gonna do for the rest of your life.' It was really, really bizarre."


Fortune's premonition wasn't all that cosmic, though. He'd been singing since he was five, had developed a powerful stage presence over the years, and was determined to make his mark in the world of rock. "That's pretty much what I've always wanted to do," he contends. "Obviously, I didn't have any success until last year, but every job that I've ever had, or every career that I thought I was gonna embark on, it always failed to satisfy me the way the music did."

Fortunately for Fortune, a few years ago INXS guitarist-saxophonist Kirk Pengilly came up with the idea of having a televised global search to help his group find a replacement for Hutchence. The band eventually approached reality-TV guru Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice), and in 2005 the game was on.

Fortune sang about 20 songs during the course of the show, including Pink Floyd's "Money", the Box Tops' "The Letter", and the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreaming", all of which appear on the recently released Rock Star: INXS DVD. At one point the series featured a songwriting clinic, wherein each participant had to compose a melody and lyrics over existing music. Building on bed tracks provided by INXS keyboardist-guitarist Andrew Farriss, Fortune came up with "Pretty Vegas", and looking back, he cites his live performance of that tune--the hit leadoff single from Switch--as a turning point in his favour.

Fortune's days of living in cars are officially over--"Now it's just tour buses and airplanes"--but the immense boost dealt by the TV show isn't forever. Now that INXS has been given a new lease on life, it's on its own. "I signed a contract for the show," reveals Fortune, "but what happens now that I'm in the band is all the contracts are null and void. That was one of the perks of winning: the only thing I'm obligated to is INXS. So whether we do another two records or another five records, it's gonna be about us, it won't have anything to do with Rock Star: INXS."

For the time being, Fortune and his Aussie mates plan to ride that reality-TV rocket till the engine sputters. But he's convinced that INXS's current popularity is due to a combination of the show, the band's past successes--it has sold more than 30 million units, after all--and its new material. It also doesn't hurt that the group was the real deal to begin with. "People are attracted to something that's honest and genuine," he says, "and that's what the show provided and that's what the record provides and that's what this band has always been. It's just genuine. There's no hoopla."

------------------------------------------------------


J.D. Fortune sounds off on the things enquiring minds want to know.

On which Rock Star: INXS contestant he felt was his was biggest competition: "I'd have to say at one point I thought Suzie McNeil had a really good shot, but I think what ultimately happened is--not to sound chauvinistic, but I don't think I would have bought an INXS CD if there was a female on it. If a song's written from a male perspective about sex, it's almost uncomfortable to have a woman singing it. I wouldn't go audition for TLC, you know what I mean?"

On how he handled the constant pressure of competing on a reality-TV series: "Jim Morrison said, 'You never know when it's gonna be your last performance.' So I went on-stage and just gave it everything I had, every time, all the time."

On what it's like to be in a band that has always included three brothers: "That says a lot. I know family members that can't even sit in the same room with each other, let alone be in a band for 30 years."

On whether he feels other recording acts in need of new members will go the reality-TV route: "I hope so, because there's some bands that I'd love to see live with the right frontperson. The Clash, a couple of other bands. You know, I thought it might be a good idea to have David Lee Roth audition for Van Halen again on a reality show."

INXS A new reality Part 2

By steve newton
Publish Date: 12-Jan-2006

This time last year, few people knew the name of Canadian rock vocalist J.D. Fortune. A lot of them were familiar with INXS, but at that stage in the group's career--eight years after the death by apparent suicide of its enigmatic frontman Michael Hutchence--they wouldn't have equated it with instantly sold-out concerts and top-selling albums. Reality TV changed all that. After Fortune beat out 14 competitors in 2005's Rock Star: INXS series, earning the right to take Hutchence's place behind the mike, the Aussie sextet suddenly got huge again. Their show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Wednesday (January 18) sold out in five minutes, and the CD Fortune made with them, Switch, has already moved well over a million copies since its late-November release.

So who is this J.?D. Fortune fellow, anyway? Turns out he's a single 31-year-old who was born Jason Dean Bennison and grew up in the tiny town of Salt Spring, Nova Scotia. He's been in bands--though none you've likely heard of--since he was 13. In the mid-'90s, he put his musical endeavours on hold and took a shot at acting, moving to Kitsilano for three months and unsuccessfully auditioning for roles in The X-Files and Millennium. As he relates on the line from 102-degree, "fucking boiling" Sydney, Australia--where he spent Christmas with his new bandmates and their families--Fortune was living out of his auto when he heard about the auditions for Rock Star: INXS.
in + out


"I was literally, like, sleepin' in my car," he recalls, "and when this advertisement came on the radio, something inside of me just went, 'This is what you're gonna do for the rest of your life.' It was really, really bizarre."

Fortune's premonition wasn't all that cosmic, though. He'd been singing since he was five, had developed a powerful stage presence over the years, and was determined to make his mark in the world of rock. "That's pretty much what I've always wanted to do," he contends. "Obviously, I didn't have any success until last year, but every job that I've ever had, or every career that I thought I was gonna embark on, it always failed to satisfy me the way the music did."

Fortunately for Fortune, a few years ago INXS guitarist-saxophonist Kirk Pengilly came up with the idea of having a televised global search to help his group find a replacement for Hutchence. The band eventually approached reality-TV guru Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice), and in 2005 the game was on.

Fortune sang about 20 songs during the course of the show, including Pink Floyd's "Money", the Box Tops' "The Letter", and the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreaming", all of which appear on the recently released Rock Star: INXS DVD. At one point the series featured a songwriting clinic, wherein each participant had to compose a melody and lyrics over existing music. Building on bed tracks provided by INXS keyboardist-guitarist Andrew Farriss, Fortune came up with "Pretty Vegas", and looking back, he cites his live performance of that tune--the hit leadoff single from Switch--as a turning point in his favour.

Fortune's days of living in cars are officially over--"Now it's just tour buses and airplanes"--but the immense boost dealt by the TV show isn't forever. Now that INXS has been given a new lease on life, it's on its own. "I signed a contract for the show," reveals Fortune, "but what happens now that I'm in the band is all the contracts are null and void. That was one of the perks of winning: the only thing I'm obligated to is INXS. So whether we do another two records or another five records, it's gonna be about us, it won't have anything to do with Rock Star: INXS."

For the time being, Fortune and his Aussie mates plan to ride that reality-TV rocket till the engine sputters. But he's convinced that INXS's current popularity is due to a combination of the show, the band's past successes--it has sold more than 30 million units, after all--and its new material. It also doesn't hurt that the group was the real deal to begin with. "People are attracted to something that's honest and genuine," he says, "and that's what the show provided and that's what the record provides and that's what this band has always been. It's just genuine. There's no hoopla."

------------------------------------------------------------------
J.D. Fortune sounds off on the things enquiring minds want to know.

On which Rock Star: INXS contestant he felt was his was biggest competition: "I'd have to say at one point I thought Suzie McNeil had a really good shot, but I think what ultimately happened is--not to sound chauvinistic, but I don't think I would have bought an INXS CD if there was a female on it. If a song's written from a male perspective about sex, it's almost uncomfortable to have a woman singing it. I wouldn't go audition for TLC, you know what I mean?"

On how he handled the constant pressure of competing on a reality-TV series: "Jim Morrison said, 'You never know when it's gonna be your last performance.' So I went on-stage and just gave it everything I had, every time, all the time."

On what it's like to be in a band that has always included three brothers: "That says a lot. I know family members that can't even sit in the same room with each other, let alone be in a band for 30 years."

On whether he feels other recording acts in need of new members will go the reality-TV route: "I hope so, because there's some bands that I'd love to see live with the right frontperson. The Clash, a couple of other bands. You know, I thought it might be a good idea to have David Lee Roth audition for Van Halen again on a reality show."


INXS plays the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Wednesday (January 18).

San Franscio Jan 06

Because so few people actually watched the reality TV show "Rock Star: INXS," in which the nearly 30-year-old Australian band searched for a new lead singer of roughly the same vintage, it seems only appropriate to give a fresh introduction to prizewinner J.D. Fortune. The 32-year-old Canadian not only beat out a bunch of other aspiring rockers but also put up with Dave Navarro every night to become the replacement for Michael Hutchence (who died under mysterious circumstances in 1997). Cue sold-out tour dates, respectable sales for the new album, "Switch," and single "Pretty Vegas" making the highest-charting entry in the band's history. We caught up with Fortune by phone in Sydney, just before the band started its tour. INXS plays Jan 23. at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.

Q: Was INXS your favorite band growing up?

A: Yeah, INXS, AC/DC and Bob Marley were pretty much my main influences.

Q: Why would you ever want to take the place of one of your idols?

A: I don't really look at it in that respect. Nobody is ever going to replace Michael, and who would want to try? That's bizarre. But at the same time, I totally understand as a musician when you're not finished being creative. You've got five guys who have backed each other for nearly 30 years and they just haven't finished their musical journey. I'm just honored to be a part of it. I'm busy trying to fill my own shoes.

Q: Did they really have to do a reality TV show to find you?

A: There are many ways to skin a cat. If you're going to do a global search, it's newsworthy. And if you're going to put it on television, it's entertaining. I could've done without the reality TV portion and just stuck with the audition process. For me, it wasn't about being on a TV show. It was about becoming a member of INXS.

Q: The other members of the band are mostly old and Australian. Do you have anything in common?

A: It feels like we've been a band for 10 years. All the inside jokes we have were created in the last four or five months. It's pretty cool, actually.

Q: Do you think people will still care about the band after they forget about the TV show?

A: Yeah, I think the next album is going to be even more intense than this one. We had just under five weeks to record, write, produce and deliver this record as a completed package. We've started writing here and there and talking about the next record. I think that once it comes out people will go, "OK, it's for real."

Q: Since you've been in Australia, have you lived out your other lifelong dream of hugging a koala bear?

A: No, but I have seen some of the most beautiful women on the planet walking around. Literally, I'm rehearsing 11 hours a day and it's like, "Oh, J.D., would you like to go out for a glass of wine?" I go, "I'd love to as long as you've got time between 7:30 and 8 a.m. Sorry." That's the most ironic thing. The lack of time. I thought it was going to be this thing where I get out of the limo, walk in, do a couple of tunes, everybody freaks out, point to a couple chicks and go. But it's more like getting in bed at 10 p.m., up at 6, interviews and off to rehearsal.

Q: Have you gotten mobbed yet?

A: Yeah. It's pretty funny, actually. Well, not funny. It's flattering. There have been some moments where it's like, "OK, how do I get out of here?" I don't get too freaked out about it. I just remember the bigger picture and where I was this time last year. It makes me really appreciate it.

Q: What about unexpected phone calls from ex-girlfriends?

A: No, although this girl I dated a few years ago, the night I won (she) called our mutual friend up and goes, "I f -- the lead singer from INXS!"

Q: Wow. That's almost better than winning.

A: Yeah. All is fair in love and war.

The fortunate one

By NIKI CHEONG

Unlike winners of other reality talents shows on television where you only get one chance - whether it's one album for the Idols or a one-time contract for the models, Rock Star: INXS plays to a different tune. The winner and now, lead singer of the legendary Australian rock band INXS, J. D. Fortune seems to have it all sorted - he is in the band for good, with all the strings attached.

His win is the real deal, folks, and it seems like he is all geared up for it.


New lead singer of the Australian rock band INXS, J.D. Fortune, has had to shape up for the band's latest tour.
"I'm a permanent member of the band," he confirmed. "We're in this together - all of us."

It was hard not to ask that question. After all, since the death of original frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997, the band has performed with a string of singers. Names such as Terence Trent D'arby, Suze Demarchi and even Australian rock star Jimmy Barnes have joined INXS band members Kirk Pengilly, Garry Beers and the brothers Fariss - Andrew, Jon and Tim - as guests.

In 2003, New Zealand-born Jon Stevens was officially named a member of the group, only to leave a year later. Soon, Rock Star: INXS was born, and J.D. Fortune was victorious.

Naturally, the next question in mind was how it feels like stepping into the shoes of someone like Hutchence?

"Filling in my own shoes is hard enough," Fortune said over the phone from Sydney, Australia.

"Nobody's ever going to replace Michael."

Well, Fortune should try telling that to his legion of fans around the world who followed his ups and downs on the show (and who are probably too young to remember Hutchence). After all, his first single with the band Pretty Vegas made it to the top half of the Billboard Top 100, while most of the concert dates INXS has announced are completely sold out. That, and the fact that he seems to be recognised just about everywhere.

"I went back to Canada and we had a meet-the-fans gig, and 5,000 people showed up!" he said. "In Canada, they just freaked out. It was the same in LA, New York, I'd turn my back and there'd be 30 people with autograph books."

Indeed, it seems that life has changed for the young Canadian. Even opting for the low-profiled baseball cap and sunglasses, it only takes one person to go "Is that J.D. Fortune?" and five people will go up to him and say how much they loved him on the show, he explained.

"And I'm just thinking ... I've got to go pee, man."

So he took some advice from the veterans in the band like what Andrew told him, "just keep walking".

"But I'll be honest with you," he said. "I do kinda enjoy it because I've never had anything like this before."

No doubt, nothing that has happened in the life of this former martial arts trainer and Elvis impersonator could have prepared him for this. His brushes with fame in the past came only in small doses. While living in Toronto, he landed a management deal which almost got him a recording contract, then as Jason Dean. When the deal fell through, he fronted a Canadian rock band called Juice, which was signed to BMG.

But when he said, "I'm 32, I've had a lot of experience with sex, drugs and rock n' roll", it was hard not to believe him.

Now, though, it's "more about the music and connection with the fans" for him.

This isn't hard to believe too, especially after Fortune explains the sacrifices he had to make.

"I had to give up smoking and fatty foods," he said. "For the tour, I've got to be in really great shape."

For those of you who have watched the band's music video for Pretty Vegas and think that he doesn't look like he needs much work (Fortune spends half the video either topless or with his shirt unbuttoned), Fortune has this to say: "Oh my god, I worked out for two weeks for that video." Enough said.

Now, all he has to do is keep the cigarettes, unhealthy food and alcohol away, and he should be sorted for the tour.

"Out of 34 days, we're performing for 32. That comes up to about 350-odd shows for the whole tour," he explained.

"But I can't wait for the tour to be over and 'retox'."

In the meantime though, he's just going to enjoy the experience.

"For me," he continues, "I'm just the same guy from a small town in Canada with really big dreams.

"I'm still dreaming."

INXS kicks of their 16-month tour in Vancouver, Canada on Jan 18 before heading to America and flying off to Australia in March. They return to tour the whole of Canada in April and May before heading over to Asia sometime in the second half of the year.

"Yup, we are coming to Malaysia," Fortune confirmed. "We're planning for sometime in September ... we're currently getting all the various facts and figures

Who Magazine article

Quote:

"We were looking for someone who had it all," INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly says of the Sydney band's global search for a new singer. "Charisma and sex appeal and a great singer-performer - someone who walks in the room and everyone notices."

Some many think that's asking just a bit too much, but not the single JD Fortune, the former army private who beat some 30,000 contestants to win the reality-TV show Rockstar: INXS and become the new voice of Australia's world famous rock band. "I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think I could accomplish what I wanted to do," JD says matter-of-factly. Not that his rise to success has been easy. Describing Rockstar: INXS as "like being in an aquarium and everybody is watching and poking on the glass and you're just trying to do your business and swim," JD was as much relieved as excited about his victory over the 14 final contestants on Sept. 20. "I feltl ike everything just fell off me, all the negativity, all the crap I've ever been through, and I was able to step into this," he says.

Born Jason Dean Bennison in Ontario, Canada, JD took his mother Sandra's maiden name after his parents split. "When my dad left, I had to be like a husband to my mother and a father to my sister (Sarah, now 25)," says the 32 year old singer. "My mum was working three jobs and I'd take my sister to school, cook her dinner and make her breakfast. So right now, this is a chance for me to be a kid."

One with ready-made playmates. The members of INXS - Farriss brothers Jon, 44, Andrew, 46, and Tim, 48, plus Kirk Pengilly, 47, and Garry Beers, 48 - "are literally like the brothers I never had and I always wanted," says JD.

Growing up in Nova Scotia, JD dropped out of school at age 14 and fronted several bands before joining the Canadian army in 1995. But after two years he grew disillusioned and, facing the prospect of serving in Bosnia, wanted out. When he was refused a discharge he "bought some marijuana and lit it up in the barracks and they kicked me out." JD's focus on a music carreer never faltered. "I'd miss duty to go play rock and roll," he says. Trying to break into the music scene, he worked as an Elvis impersonator and joined several bands before hearing about Rockstar: INXS. At his audition in Toronto in February 2005, "He definitely impressed us," says Kirk. "There were quite a few girls, and we were always intrigued to see which ones they thought were good looking. JD was one that all the girls were just like, "Oh yeah."

Sex appeal was a big part of the attraction of original singer and co-songwriter Michael Hutchence, who committed suicide in a Sydney hotel room in 1997. Since then, several singers have worked with the band including (briefly) Terence Trent D'Arby and ex-Noiseworks frontman Jon Stevens. "I don't think anybody can ever replace Michael," says JD. "But this is a very family-oriented band and very welcoming, so they've helped me make that adjustment and take a step from one way of living into another." Drummer Jon says JD's enthusiasm has reinvigorated INXS. "It's just like a piece of the jigsaw that slots straight in - he's basicallly brought so much more magic."

As soon as the TV show wrapped, the band hit the studio to record Switch. Released on Nov. 27, the album reached 18 in the ARIA charts before dipping to 33 last week. "We worked around the clock to get that done," says Jon. The pace is unrelenting. INXS begins a world tour this month in the US before coming back to Australia later in the year. "It is hard work," says JD. "But worth it - I don't want to go back to where I was."

LIME magazine Feb 02

http://www.lime.sg/2006_02/entertainment.htm#4
*XS Baggage*

Would you take a seat that belonged to a dead man? INXS's new frontman believes that his role is not jinxed.
By Anne Ng

When INXS's charismatic frontman, Michael Hutchence ended his own life nine years ago, it caused a bit of mayhem. The cause of death for Michael's death is debatable. Some say he died from Autoerotic Asphyxiation, a practice of self-strangulation during masturbation, others say it was suicide. Wrought with shameful controversy, INXS took an indefinite break. In 2005, they returned to the rock circuit with reality series, Rock Star:INXS.
The 11-week worldwide manhunt for a new lead saw an Elvis impersonator from Ontario winning the title. We spoke with JD Fortune and found him to be in a very flirtatious mood. As it is with most newbies, he really wants you to like him.


LIME:Since the death of Michael Hutchence, superstitious people say that the frontman role is jinxed. What do you think?

JD Fortune: I'd say that life is too short so make sure it ends well. If you believe in superstition, you should also believe in good fortunes. I think action and reaction. The band has done nothing to make anything negative come my way. Because i gave up somking and don't do drugs, i think we're going to have a really, really long and prosperous career.

Are you entitled to royalties from the 30 million album sales INXS have rung up?
No, only from this record on so we gotta make sure we sell lots of them! I have to pay for my mum's house 'cos she's living in a really small house in the country in Canada. She's very cold and needs lots of wood for her stove.

When you took on your stage name JD Fortune, did you know Lady Luck would shine on you one day?
Maybe. My mum is Sandra Fortune and she comes from a line of Fortunes. When i was 5, i told my parents i wanted to be famous and they said, 'Good luck'.

At which point of the competition did you think you might just win?

I knew in my heart that it was pre-destined. I really believed that i was the person for INXS. Michael Hutchence is a genius and he's responsible for some of the greatest music that's ever been put out. I'm just really honoured to be a part of INXS.

If Elvis Presley were still alive, do you think he would be impressed by your impersonations?

Not really! Haha. I never really took it seriously. I never walked around dressed up like Elvis, like the real impersonators do. It was more of a hobby to pay the rent here and there. I'm a big Elvis fan so it was cool to be able to do that.

You're a vegetarian and a martial arts instructor. Does that mean you don't have any vices?

I drink light beer once in a while with friends. But i'm not a big drinker and i just gave up smoking. I'm too busy to do any drugs. I guess music is my drug! I also have one other drug - girls named Anne.

Woah! Your guitarist, Tim Fariss says you're 'slightly dangerous', just how much?

He's lying. I'm really dangerous. The most dangerous thing i've ever done was leaving the military. i made them kick me out. I don't believe in fighting and war. I became a man of peace and they thought that was very dangerous. I don't understand war at all. They should ask little kids to go to political leaders of the world and ask them why they're fighting. Let them explain it to a child so we'd all understand.

Is your no-violence mantra a result of martial arts training?

Well, i started training 'cos i was getting beat up a lot in school. Because i was different. I went to a school that had a lot of athletes and i was playing guitar and singing. Now, with the [martial arts] knowledge that i have, i have to be responsible with it. I have to cherish the gifts given to me like pieces of my own body and soul. If you use them in a negative way, you're actually no better than the person instigating a fight. My mind has become my most lethal weapon and that's what i'm working on every day - to refine it to a point where maybe i can figure out a way to not have wars anymore.

With pop punk bands ruling the scene, do you think INXS's brand of music will sit well with the young audience?

I think we will give them an option. In the desert, people only eat sand 'cos there's no water. If you provide something different, they might try it.

Are you saying the audience stupidly takes whatever the media throws at them?

I genuinely think that if something is honest and sincere, the audience will know it. People can only be fooled for so long; eventually, they'll get tired and will find something else. I think INXS has been around long enough and they warrant a second listen.

You and Andrew co-wrote INXS's latest hit, 'Pretty Vegas'. Is it true that men won't last a day in Vegas?

I don't think it's about winning., it's about risk. When you risk something, you feel alive. Playing cards and losing money - that's about as far as most people on Earth are willing to risk. If you want to really risk something, you should risk your heart. That's what INXS and i did and look what we got on the other end.

Would you take the risk of having a quickie wedding in a Vegas chapel?

Only to you, Anne! Haha!

On E-Talk Daily, Feb 06

Interviewer:
"So on the road, it seems that you guys have all become a family, that you all became close."

JD:
"Oh definitely, it's an amazing feeling, we're like brothers."

Interviewer:
"So you are now a spokesperson for Gillette razors, does the new brand you're promoting actually work?"

JD:

"Oh yeah, when you're on the road, and you're in a rush they work wonders. They actually cut pretty good when there's no water....I mean, you get off the bus and you're told, 'Ok, you've just arrived and you're playing in an hour...'"

(Interviewer talks for a bit)

Interviewer:
(teasing) "Now did you ever used to pencil in the fake facial hair to make yourself look older?"

JD:
(laughs, so cute, lol) "Yes! I was 12, and I was trying to get into that Prince movie, you know, Purple Rain?...well, I drew on a mustache and walked up to the guy, and he was just like, 'Sorry dude.'"

Interviewer:
"And you will be doing a second leg of the tour in other parts of Canada?"

JD:
"Yeah, we're announcing it today or tomorrow, not sure yet. But it's great because they're [INXS] are the newcomers now, so on the bus I can show them Canada [laughs]. I'll be going [gestures with arms, points in several different directions] Hey, did you see that wheat? Oh, look over there, it's wheat! Hey did ya SEE the wheat?!" lol....

People Magazine Online Feb 06

CelebrityQ&A

****** Sorry there was a photo of the happy couple but try as I did I could not get it to save for upload here.******* Meesh.


J.D. Fortune & Estella Warren
The INXS singer and the actress talk about meeting cute on a video set

Wednesday Feb 01, 2006 10:00am EST
By Cynthia Wang

Estella Warren & J.D. Fortune
CREDIT: JEFF KRAVITZ / FILMMAGIC


J.D. Fortune has quickly learned the perks of being a rock 'n' roll star. When the 32-year-old singer - who won the chance to replace the late INXS vocalist Michael Hutchence on the reality show Rock Star: INXS - wanted actress Estella Warren, 27, to play his love interest in the group's sexy "Afterglow" video, he got her. The duo (who both hail from the Toronto area) quickly became more than costars - they're now dating. PEOPLE was at the L.A. video set the day they met and got the scoop on their instant romance.

J.D., you requested that Estella appear in the video?

J.D.: I remember seeing Estella twice on a Canadian talk show and I was really, really hoping she would do the video because we are both Canadian. It's kind of cool because that camaraderie right from the beginning made it not an "L.A. experience." When we met, I was like, "Oh my God, thank you is not even enough."

Estella: We do have a lot in common. He said, "Oh, I used to live in Mississauga. Do you know where Webb Drive is?" And we just went from there - "Oh, did you go to this mall?" Our favorite store was Le Chateau and ...

JD: No, your favorite store!

Estella: My favorite store was Le Chateau (laughs)! Well, he won't admit it but it really was his, too. Canadians have this weird way about them where we really stick together. I am a huge fan of INXS, but when I found out that J.D. was the new singer and was Canadian and asked if I would be in the video ...

JD: Begged! Begged! Begged!

Estella: I was absolutely flattered.

How is J.D. as an actor?

Estella: He's actually really good. I'm surprised!
J.D.: Me, too, actually. I realized through the process of this whole thing that I'm not really a rock star at all. I'm just a guy from this small town and have a sense of humor.

Estella: I don't believe a word of that! He is so a rock star, but he's humble and he's beautiful and stunning and sexy and very natural and very talented.

J.D.: Well, she's just really been helping me out a lot. You've been such a treat today, today, eh?

Estella: We're really comfortable together and we joke around.

J.D: I was really, really nervous. But after the first scene, it was like, "Okay, this is hot!"

Estella: Hell, yeah!

Play Magazine Feb 06

Posted by FanofTalent


By: Steven Douglas Losey

J.D. Fortune epitomizes what a rock star should be, could be and would be. Quicker then you can say RockStar INXS, his magnetism, his swagger his vocal chops and his stage presence won the Canadian singer bragging rights as the lead singer with the band INXS. The beauty of it all is that INXS wasn't some garage band made for TV. This is a group that has sold thirty million records and scored number one songs in four different continents, something very fortunate for Mr. Fortunate. Fortune doesn't hold his tongue. He doesn't fold to political correctness. What he does do is tell it like it is and strive to keep it real. He recently participated in X-BOX Live on January 17th , where he took on gun toting challengers via Halo 2. Now Fortune sits in Australia preparing for holiday as he and his mates rehearse for their upcoming tour.


Interviewer: Earlier in the competition did you want to bash anyone in the face?

JD:
Oh ya man, there are a few people there that I could have lived without. I wasn't particularly fond of Heather and Daphna, nothing against woman but they were just the cackling duo like the Macbeth Witch's minus one. I could have done without all the crying. I walked in one day and two guys were crying. One was rubbing the other ones shoulders and they were both sobbing in tears. It was like 'what the ......'

Interviewer: Are you naming names?

JD:
Well, let's just say one was a hair raising performer and the other was a hot bogey on my tail.

Interviewer: What was the moment that you said, "this baby's mine."

JD:
I think it was right after I sang What You Need. It was the very last thing that I did. It just felt right. We just felt like a band on stage. I'd watched Marty's performance with the band and it was more like the Marty Casey show. I mean such is life. He's that type of personality so all the power to him but when you're in a band, that's what it is a band effort.

Interviewer: How does a cat from 2006 mesh with a band started in the 80's?

JD:
There are a couple ingredients there. One, the songs in the back catalog are really relevant today. We always have war, we always have homelessness, and famine and disease and those topics transcend time unfortunately. The other ingredient is that music's a language. If your nine or ninety and speak it fluently your able to carry on a coherent conversation. To be honest with you I find it hard to keep up with those guys. They're the hardest working band in show business. They've actually set my standards higher.

Interviewer: What's the deal with your prominent tattoos (forearms) that say 'Human Beings.?'
JD:
What happened was, I was at this party but I just got a job writing music for a kids TV show. I cancelled out on my first writing session because I was at this party. I was just hung over and I couldn't go in. I lied and I said there was a death in the family. I told them it was my Grandfather. What happened was, three weeks to the day my Grandfather died, pretty much in my arms. One of the last things he said to me before he died was, 'always be a human being.' That's why it's on there. I'm earning each one of those letters as I go.

Interviewer: That's something to strive for dude, really cool.

JD:
I had to tell my Grandma the same thing I just told you. It was pretty rough.

Interviewer: Do you think you have to go through those kinds of trials to make good music.
JD:
I think all art comes from suffering? I mean suffering is creation. On the other hand you need gratitude as well. I think art is a combination of the two, being grateful for your suffering I guess and learning. Everybody's artistically inclined in their own way, whatever they do. Weather its building balls out of rubber bands or being mathematically or mechanically inclined. Whatever you love to do, if you can find a way to do it for a living you'll never work a day in your life. There's an art to every skill. Writing music is just an extension. It's another facet, another medium of art.

Interviewer: What do you bring to the table as a human being?

JD:
I think some key ingredients like honesty and integrity. I've got my act together at thirty two. If this would have happened when I was twenty I'd probably be dead or in jail. I bring possibility. I bring a new beginning. For them, they make me feel really talented. They've upped the standards for me.

Interviewer: What do you bring to the table musically?

JD:
Some street sense, some edge, from what I've been told by a lot of the crew they've had with them is that it's been a long time since a lot of these guys have smiled and laughed. We just friiggin laugh all day long. We're loving it. It's just amazing. Some of the things that come out of our mouth would be great for a family show.

Interviewer: What percentage of people do you believe when they say "I knew it would be you from the very beginning?'

JD:
About 30%.

Interviewer: Well let me say that, "I knew it was you from the very beginning!'

JD:
Make that 31%.

Interviewer: What has blown you mind since your membership in the band?

JD:
I've been saving my itineraries every day since the show ended. We literally started in the studio the very next day and then we did fifteen hours of press. I've saved every single piece of what I was supposed to be doing or what did or where I was. At one point, we were interviewed in ten minutes increments. I didn't realize how much effort and responsibility I was going to have. I thought I was going to come out of this, they were going to throw me half a pound of weed, and say lets record. I thought it would be a week off, go see my folks, whatever. It just hasn't happened that way.

Interviewer: You really put your stamp on the cut Afterglow with some Bono type vocal nuances. Was that generally difficult considering most of the songs were already written when you joined?

JD:
Well, Andrew's telling me that this is a song he wrote a couple days after Michael Hutchence had died. Here I am having to sing it in front of them. I'm in the booth with incense and candles. Their all outside listening. I think I did that in two takes.

Interviewer: What are a few of your favorite moments on the disc?

JD:
Without a doubt the song Never Let You Go. I did that in two takes as well. My sister and her husband showed up from Florida and they came into the studio. I was sitting there singing. I wasn't really getting it. It had been along time since I'd hung out with my sister or saw her and her husband and how happy they were. I just lifted right up and delivered what could have been my best vocal performance.

Interviewer: It's nice to share success with people you love.-

JD:Totally.

Interviewer: What about Pretty Vegas?

JD:
I walked into the studio the day after I won. There's a closed door. You couldn't see inside the studio. There were four vocal booths being used simultaneously. We were recording four different songs at once. The first booth that I walked into they said, 'you're going to go in here and record our first single. I didn't know it was going to be Pretty Vegas. I opened up the door and there was a megaphone sitting on a chair in the studio. That was a pretty cool surprise.

Interviewer: What was you inspiration for picking up a megaphone in the first place?

JD:
Honestly, they didn't have money or time on the Rock Star set to get a pedal or do an EQ effect that I wanted. We only had an hour to rehearse those things. I said, I'm looking for an AM voice effect, can you get me a megaphone? The first time they came in they had this plastic crap that looked like something you would use at a nursery school to get kids to come in. It fit in one hand and you squeezed it. I said, no, no, no. I want a bull horn. Then they came in with the one that I used on the show and that was it.

Interviewer: I noticed it got a redecorated for the next show.

JD:
Ya, I glittered it all up. It was border line for me but it was all good.

Interviewer: Will it bother you if people are still asking you questions about the show in 5 years?

JD:
It's really weird man, this whole reality television thing, I've had some time to digest what's going on. I think there was a level of integrity on this show that sort of separated us from the other crap that's out there like people screwing each other over on an island for a million bucks. I wasn't playing a character on the show. I wasn't like Dr. Rick or anything. I think that's what's kind of cool about it but at the same time there were people that never even heard of INXS and all of a sudden it's J.D. Fortune and there saying, "I watched your show all summer.' So I guess in answer to your question as long as people use tact and aren't like, 'there's the guy from that show.' Hopefully we'll have continued success with the music, so much so that it will be like, 'oh, wasn't he on a show somewhere at sometime?'

Interviewer: Hey, you're all right no matter what Marty says.(lauging) Hey thanks bro and as they say in Australia, 'good on ya mate.'.

Interviewer: What are the two most retro cuts spinning in your iPod?

JD:
Oh wow. I'm embarrassed to admit these.
Oh, quit it!I can't lie to ya. I've got Michael Jackson's "The Wall" in there. Most retro would have to be 99 Red Balloons.

INterviewer: Wow dude, that took a lot of guts!

JD:
I'm not rock and roll. I'm sorry!

INterviewer: How about the heaviest?

JD:
I'd have to say Murder in a Rue Morgue by Iron Maiden and T.N.T. by AC/DC.

Interviewer: What about country?

JD:
Dave Gunning

Interviewer: How about a cut that people would say 'crank it brother!

JD: 'How about Sunshine of Your Love or Low Rider.

INterviewer: You can't go wrong with either

JD: Amen!

Interviewer: What are your gaming habits?

JD: Well, I'm in between systems right now. I didn't have a lot of money about a year ago. I actually had an XBOX and a Play station but I ended up selling them both for food.
You always want to live next to a musician where you can get cheap stuff all the time!Serious, that's hilarious. I do love racing games though or strategy games where you're trapped in a space station and you have to get out. Or you're a prisoner somewhere in World War II and you have to plot your escape against the evil clutches of the Third Reich.

The Wave Magazine feb 06

J.D. Fortune goes from reality television contestant to arena rock superstar.
By Tom Lanham

J.D Fortune is the biggest thing since... the first incarnation of INXS. Not that the kooky Canuck is complaining, mind you - the guy did work his ass off night after night on last year's addictive Rock Star:INXS reality series. As you may recall, Fortune won the show's grand prize: A frontman gig for the famed Aussie outfit, singerless since the passing of Michael Hutchence nearly 10 years ago. In a final showdown before a viewing audience of 15 million, Fortune defeated his remaining competitor, Lovehammers lead singer Marty Casey, but had no time to savor the victory - he and the band headed straight to the studio to record a comeback album, Switch, and Fortune's own serpentine anthem, "Pretty Vegas," which quickly became the highest-charting debut single in INXS history.

Phoning from the group's home base of Sydney, the stocky vocalist hasn't quite adjusted to the limelight. "I went to see a movie last week," he explains. "And I had my baseball cap and sunglasses on, and literally an inch-and-a-half of beard all over my face. And I came out and there were four photographers going, 'J.D.! J.D.! Look over here!' And the next thing you know, there are 50 people going, 'Why is this guy being photographed? Oh! It's J.D. Fortune from INXS!' So I started walking down the street, and I look back and there were all these people following me." Talk about a new sensation.

The Wave: I heard you and Marty Casey actually risked your gigs on the show to sneak out of your walled Rock Star mansion and go drinking at some Hollywood bar one night.
J.D. Fortune: Yeah, that was pretty fun. It was nine at night, and about a week before I'd mentioned the idea to Marty. I said, "Listen, dude - I'm jumpin' ship here, man, I'm takin' off. This is bullsh-t!" And he was like, "I dunno, I dunno." So, I actually must've caught him on a good night, 'cause we were both just bored out of our skulls and I said, "You wanna?" and he went, "Alright." It was that fast, man - we took off. It was real Steve McQueen style. But my theory was that the show wasn't called Church Star, ya know? So there were a few times at that place where I just kinda thought, "Man, c'mon, gimme a break - do you want rock 'n' roll or do you want The Partridge Family?"

TW: As legend has it, you were downright destitute when the Rock Star offer hit. Exactly how poor were you?
JDF: We're talking searching through my car four or five times a week for extra change that may or may not be there, like, "I think I saw a dollar under here two months ago." That kinda stuff. It was really, really bad, man. And, yeah, I was living in my car for a little while, a coupla months. Me and my dog, Presley, the pug. You've gotta pick your spots where you stay, so thank God my car was mobile. You don't get a great sleep, but it beats spending $150 for a hotel room for the night, ya know?

TW: What's the skimpiest meal you and Presley were forced to eat?
JDF: I have this great recipe for a [sandwich] made out of two crackers and some peanut butter. A jar of peanut butter is $3.99 and a box of crackers is $2.99, so for seven bucks you can pretty much eat for a day. Often, that's what I was eating for two or three days in a row - peanut butter and crackers, and the dog [did], too. Presley's still around; my mom's looking out for him in Nova Scotia now.

TW: But you were actually almost ready to chuck your music career, too, right?
JDF: Oh, yeah. I was right there; I was so there. But I was like, "Okay, what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna save up some money, maybe borrow from some friends, to drive to Nova Scotia." Because it normally costs about $250 in gas, and I didn't really have that, and my mom didn't have it, either. So everyone was like, "Okay, do your little audition and we'll see you back here in a few days." At one point, I was at my friend's house a few days before I flew out to L.A. to start competing on the show, and I said, "You're gonna be sitting here in your living room and you're gonna go, 'He f---ing did it!'" And after I won, the first person I called after my family was that friend, and he was in tears going, "Holy sh-t, dude - I'm sitting here on my couch and I can't believe you f---ing did it!'"

TW: One of the best moments was when you covered Elvis' "Suspicious Minds."
JDF: That maybe wasn't the best choice of song, but what's really funny is, I've got a copy of the series now on DVD, and I was watching it, sitting here smoking a joint, and one of the comments that [judge/emcee] Dave Navarro made during that performance of "Suspicious Minds" was "J.D., I don't think that doing the Elvis song is something that would necessarily further you in this competition." And I swear to God, I had this joint in my hand and I went [makes a loud inhaling sound], "I beg to differ, Dave!"


http://www.thewavemag.com/pagegen.php?page...articleid=25678

Toronto Sun Feb 2006


Fortune hits big time with INXS
By JANE STEVENSON -- Toronto Sun

VANCOUVER -- Canadian J.D. Fortune essentially won the life lottery when he became the new singer of Aussie dance-rock veterans INXS, who play a sold-out two-night stand at Massey Hall starting tomorrow night.

Just ask guitarist Tim Farriss, 48, who has become like a big brother to the 32-year-old Fortune.

"I think that what J.D. won, with this whole thing, is the lifestyle," Farriss tells the Sun inside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, just hours before the group launched their world tour in front of sold-out crowd on Jan. 18. "You know, he went from living in his car to the penthouse apartment at the Intercontinental overlooking Sydney Harbour. The whole thing for him must be a serious, serious life change."

Fortune, a native of Mississauga who was raised in New Glasgow, N.S., before returning to Ontario at age 15, truly finds himself in an enviable place.

His rags-to-riches journey began after winning Rockstar: INXS, the popular summer reality series produced by Mark Burnett, who was in the audience for the band's world tour opener.

The reality show found the band looking for a replacement for their late, great frontman, Michael Hutchence, who committed suicide in 1997.

As the now familiar story goes, Fortune -- a former Elvis impersonator -- says he was living out of his car under a bridge near Cherry Street and Lake Shore Blvd. E. in Toronto when he first heard about the Rockstar: INXS auditions.

"It was really bizarre, just down on my luck, in a bad way, and then this all came about," says Fortune, seated beside Farriss and his brother, drummer Jon Farriss, 44

"I'm going to take the band there (in Toronto). When we went to shoot some of the stuff for the TV show, to show where I was from, as we were driving one of the producers from L.A. said, 'Is it true that you lived under a bridge?' And I said, 'When we get there there's going to be four broken Corona bottles and Viscount cigarette butts everywhere.' We pulled up and there were these four broken bottles."

Not surprisingly, Fortune says the two-night stand at Massey Hall will have very special meaning for him.

"Other than playing Nova Scotia, Toronto will be the most electric for me because it'll be a mark of closure and then we can continue on," he says. "I think out of the (2,800) or so people per night ... half of that's my family. It's almost a year to the day that I auditioned for the show. On Feb. 4 I auditioned, and we're playing Feb. 6. So, for me, it's going to be very (full-circle). Kind of the end of the journey into the beginning of another. It just kind of closes a chapter. I think, for me, that'll give me complete closure of what actually took place in the last six months was huge. These guys weren't lying. This is the greatest thing that could happen to anybody. And it just keeps getting better. We've become closer friends. I've become a much better musician. I feel like they're my brothers."

After being named the new INXS frontman, Fortune immediately went into the studio to record the group's latest album, Switch. The disc spawned the band's biggest-ever hit in North America with the first single Pretty Vegas, which Fortune co-wrote on Rockstar: INXS.

The tour is also going well, with shows selling out in minutes and additional dates added in several markets. Details of a new Canadian tour will be announced Tuesday at the Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto with the entire band present.

INXS also plays what's being called "a passport party" tonight in Windsor, Ont., as part of the Super Bowl festivities in Detroit, with E.T. Canada providing highlights during the pre-game show.

Commercial and critical benefits aside, Fortune's presence in INXS has reminded the band's five other members of just what a choice gig they have.

"J.D. just reminded us of just how great music is and how wonderful and lucky we all are to be in a band," says Jon Farriss. "He's so genuinely into the music that sometimes it's almost embarrassing, because he says, 'Oh, my God, I love this song so much.' And that sort of enthusiasm makes you appreciate, 'Isn't it wonderful to have that singer, who is just so in love with the music and so respectful and proud.' It's a little a bit Kumbaya what I'm saying, but in a way, there is a level of camaraderie and respect."

Speaking of brotherly love, while there was no spoken tribute to Hutchence during the world tour opener, the new song Afterglow, written in his memory, did seem to poignantly mark his absence.

Tim Farriss says the real tribute to Hutchence is that they're continuing on as a band.

Adds Jon Farriss, "Just by moving forward is in respect to Michael because the band's moving on and playing the songs he wrote. The legacy of what we did with Michael can never be taken away."

For those attending the concerts, there's another bonus for fans of Rockstar: INXS as co-finalist Marty Casey and his band The Lovehammers are the opening act.

In fact, at the world tour opener, the reception for Casey was just as loud and enthusiastic as it was for Fortune. Not that the former competitors are sharing tour buses or anything.

"We're very fortunate to have the Lovehammers opening up for us," Fortune says. "They've got other things they've got to do and we respect that. I lived with the guy for 31/2 months. We're good with the living stuff. I just want to see him on stage now."

Prior to the Jan. 18 tour launch on the West Coast, the band hunkered down in their hometown of Sydney to rehearse for about nine days at the Enmore Theatre, performing on the last rehearsal day for about 200 people.

"Basically it turned out to be a gig for our friends and family which was actually really nice," says Jon Farriss. "We made it really clear, 'This is a rehearsal.' In fact, they were basically a fly on the wall so we could stop and say, 'Let's fix this' or, 'Let's change this.' It was extremely raw."

Adds Tim Farriss: "It was very relaxed. We came out sort of telling jokes, there were no lights and no PA. Kind of, '(Bassist) Garry (Beers), did you just fart?'"

"And Garry did fart, I think," Jon Farriss adds with a smile.

In all seriousness, nine days may not seem like a lot of time for tour rehearsals, but the band -- who formed in 1977 -- like to keep it loose and spontaneous on stage.

"We ordinarily never really labour too much over rehearsals," Jon Farriss says. "Because most of what our show's about kind of happens on stage, develops organically, and we don't sort of mark spots on the stage and go, 'At this point of this song we do this.' It just sort of flows. So I suppose, like every tour we've ever done, it kind of just develops."

Adds Tim Farriss, "You know, we're not The Eagles. We're not going to do exactly the same thing every night. And that's really exciting. We've been playing together so long, that it's a great opportunity to do that."

Rehearsing in Sydney in January meant Fortune also spent the December holidays Down Under at Tim Farriss' house with his family.

And yes, the locals were nice to him.

"It was great," Fortune says. "Oh my God. Everybody was so, so accommodating and really warm -- pardon the pun, it was 110 degrees everyday.

"It was really cool, just walking down the street, it was like, 'Hey J.D.! What's up dude?' It wasn't like any sort of weirdness."

What INXS played at their world tour opener on Jan. 18 in Vancouver:
Suicide Blonde
New Sensation
Devil's Party
Mystify
Disappear
By My Side
Afterglow
Taste It
Original Sin
Hungry
Never Let You Go
What You Need
Need You Tonight
Pretty Vegas
Kick
Devil Inside

ENCORE
Stairs
Never Tear Us Apart
Don't Change
O Canada (J.D. Solo)

COUNTING HIS STARS: April 06 JD Fortune can't believe how lucky he's been after winning a reality television show to become the new front man for rock band INXS.
Reuters

Fortune favours the brave
17 April 2006
By ELLEN DAVIES

Only a year ago, JD Fortune was homeless and jobless, living out of his car in Canada just to make ends meet.


He had 80 cents in his pocket and his dog was hungry. He was hungry.

His car was broken down but at least the radio worked.

It was then that JD heard on the radio that INXS were holding auditions to find a new singer for their band.

He tried out, and the rest was captured on reality TV as the world watched JD Fortune win the prize of being the new lead singer for INXS.

It was a role that had been left largely unfulfilled since the death of Michael Hutchence nearly 10 years ago.

Singers had come and gone but no one had become a real part of the band.

And for the members of INXS, Rock Star wasn't just a reality TV gig - they wanted to find a permanent singer to join their band and be a part of the legacy.

Bass player Garry Beers says they've found it in JD.

"We tried different singers, it didn't work out. It never felt like a band," Garry told >Sunday News.

We kind of figured the only way to complete a band was to discover someone who made the decision to join a band.

"The best way was a worldwide search adn the only way without costing a fortune was to do it through TV."

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe group didn't want someone who was on a reality TV show for exposure or to further their own career. They wanted someone to join the INXS "family" for good.

The band has been together for more than 20 years, and with three brothers in it - Andrew, Tim and Jon Farriss - it really is a family.

That appealed to JD - real name Jason Dean Bennison - who grew up in a dysfunctional family.

"That's what kept me going through the show - the sense that I'm not just joining the band, I'm going to be invited to this circle of individuals who really understand each other," says JD.

"It's like, 'I know what you are going to say'. For me it was a huge honour to sit down in Australia at Tim Farriss' Christmas lunch table and then to Andrew's the following day and meet theri friends and family and be part of it.

"My family was sort of estranged growing up. I had my mom who supported me. I rarely saw my father and his side of the family."

Despite losing Hutchence and struggling for a decade to find a permanent singer who fitted the band, INXS never really considered splitting up.

"there were moments when you thought,'Is this really worth it?' Garry said.

"But we are a family and family don't stop being family because someone dies."

INXS singer Fortune to move to Sydney

Tuesday Apr 11 2006 16:25 AEST
Canadian rocker JD Fortune is looking to set up camp with the rest of his INXS bandmates in Australia.

The 32-year-old says he is looking to buy a place in Sydney and base himself there permanently.

"I'm already doing it right now. I am looking to buy," said Fortune, who grew up in Nova Scotia and whose real name is Jason.

"I'm looking for an apartment in the city close to the movies and the shops and restaurants. I love this place."

Fortune became the new INXS frontman after a reality TV search last year, replacing Michael Hutchence, who took his own life at a Sydney hotel in 1997.

INXS original members Kirk Pengilly, Tim Farriss, Jon Farriss, Andrew Farriss and Garry Beers, along with Fortune, will embark on their first Australian tour in August and September.

"We were scheduled to play our last official Australian tour a couple of days after Michael died so we had to cancel that," said Jon Farriss.

"Before that, we hadn't played in Australia for a couple of years so it has been a really long time since we have done a full-blown Australian tour."

INXS formed in 1977 and went on to sell more than 35 million albums worldwide with hits such as New Sensation, Devil Inside, Disappear and Need You Tonight.

The band has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity since Fortune came on board.

They released their new album, Switch, in November, and the single Pretty Vegas was a chart hit.

While the group are enjoying some successes, the journey has not been without its troubles.

Former management team David Edwards and Michael Murchison are suing the group for more than $7.5 million, claiming they were sacked by INXS without being paid.

The matter will be heard in the NSW Supreme Court in May.

"Any sort of situation that is acrimonious is a shame but unfortunately out of respect to both parties I can't really talk about it," said Jon Farriss.

"I guess it is just a shame really."

Meanwhile, on the relationship front, Fortune says he and actor Estella Warren had broken up.

The pair dated for three months and met on the set of the video shoot for the bands single Afterglow.

"We were (dating) but it was too hard with her doing film stuff over in Europe and America and my touring," said the newly single Fortune.

May 06 Coming home with INXS

Pictou County-raised J.D. Fortune leads Aussie pop sensations to Halifax

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Entertainment/501162.html

The big detail that stood out for me was:
"I'll call some people and go, "Nyah nyah nyah.' " he laughs. "Oh, I'm joking. But I have bought some land in Nova Scotia, and I'm going to go out there and see if I might build a house on it.

"It's near Truro, hopefully I'll get to enjoy it soon.

Human Being story
July 2006

Earlier this year we met J.D. Fortune, the lead singer for INXS, at a local coffeehouse. We were sitting in a corner talking about all kinds of stuff in our life when J.D. saw the kids and came over and introduced himself. Before we knew it two hours had passed! We spent that time opening up with each other about our lives and beliefs while sharing all kinds of stories. He quickly became a friend even before we knew who he was. It was awesome finding out he was the singer for INXS after talking with him for awhile, thus making our friendship feel authentic instead of star struck. He exchanged his information with us and told us to call him in June because INXS was playing a concert here in Austin and he wanted us there with him. So we called him up and he asked us to meet him backstage. On the way out to the concert we caravanned with the opening band ~ Scott Stapp from Creed! The drum player was in the front seat and threw the 'rock on' hand to us!

When we got to the venue we waited for J.D.'s bus to arrive so we could hang with him again. We've all fallen in love with him and the new Switch CD and think of him as Family. He has been so generous sharing things with us like video games, clothes, books, and jewelry and even called us while on stage in Ohio. When his bus finally pulled in he was standing in the window waving to us while we are all were chomping at the bit to get to him. He stepped off the bus and waved us down past the security guards to come see him! We threw our arms around each other and hugged like crazy. It was like getting to see a Family member after being away from each other for awhile. In fact it was just like that, because he is easy to love and loved us back. He was excited to take us onto the bus and show us where he has been living all this time. On the bus we got to meet and spend some time with Kirk Pengilly and Tim Farriss, original INXS band members who were just chilling on the couches and recognized us from JD's conversations. JD gave us a tour of the bus showing us all the cool things on board and we sat on the couches talking with JD, Kirk, and Tim before being ushered off as VIPs to the backstage. We were also given comp tickets to the show and thoroughly enjoyed Scott Stapps performance from the front.



After Scott's performance we were asked backstage by the tour manager who let us know that JD thinks the world of us (wow!). Scott's band was coming off the stage and we learned that Scott had actually picked the band from Austin out of the local scene! We talked with the guitar player extensively (right) who bears a striking resemblance to Vallejo's Omar Vallejo so much so that Greg probably looked like an idiot when he first came off the bus and he was excited to see Omar. Greg got to explain the idiocy to him after his show...

We also talked with him about Scott and the media ~ as expected, Scott's a great guy from the people that know him and has been depicted wrongly in the media. Scott and his band's music and performance were PHENOMENAL!! His new music is great and his show was hi energy and well done. If you were into his Creed stuff (or just like killer rock music) ~ check out Scott's solo project and CD.



We were really treated like Family by the crew and the band. JD gave the kids all kinds of stuff he gathered from the road and introduced us to everyone backstage. We caught up with band and were invited to hang with them till they walked on stage. These guys have got to be the coolest guys in rock n roll! We managed to squeeze some personal uninterrupted time with J.D. to share the story of the very cool UnpluggedFamily that we love so much. We told him how much his song Afterglow means to our two Families and asked him to sign a picture we were planning on sending to them celebrating the life behind this song. He knew just what to write and made it special for us. He is one of the most selfless and thoughtful people we have ever met and feel fortunate to have him as such a great friend.



This is the piece of art the kids made for the UnpluggedFamily that J.D. signed for them. 'Dear Justis Live to remember, remember to live. Love, your friend in time J.D.'



Right before the band took the stage J.D. hooked Austin up with a big job for the opening of the show ~ dropping the Kabookie! That's right! The Kabookie is the giant curtain that goes up in front of the stage and drops at the opening of the show. Austin's job was to be on stage with the band behind the curtain and as it drops he pats the Kabookie forward keeping it off the equipment. When it's done he grabs a section of it with the other roadies and hauls it off the stage. Think Austin has a taste for the Kabookie. He was thrilled when he came off of the stage and even had an insightful little chat with J.D. onstage in the few seconds before the Kabokie dropped. Austin told us he looked back at J.D. on stage right before the show started and wished him luck. J.D. smiled and told Austin 'luck has nothing to do with it, there's no such thing as luck. It's what you create and put into it, what other's around you like friends, Family, and God believe in as well.' Then the curtain dropped and he kicked 4,000 fans ass for two hours and left them begging for more!!! That's who J.D. is. That's what he is all about. The real deal. A bona fide Rock Star. A Human Being.



In the dressing room backstage after the show, the whole Family was so high on life! J.D. gave us such an incredible evening filled with love and energy. He shared everything he had and so much more. He cares tons about Family that he makes sure we have everything we need. His life is filled with abundance that he has created and believed in for so long and has no problem opening up and sharing all he has with anyone. We are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished that he is truly one of our greatest friends we have ever had. We already miss him. Oh, and this picture was not intended to be a flipping off one, Jenn was in motion doing something else and well...forget it...no explanations...it was a great night...We love you J.D., Kirk, Tim, John, Andrew, Gary and all the touring crew that made this one of the most memorable nights of our life!



On our way out from the concert and the band on their way to some of the last shows before heading back to their homes! You can see all the goodies the kids scored out of J.D.'s closet! He loaded them up with all kinds of cool stuff they were thrilled to get! Thanks for everything J.D., amazing...



Right on.

We immediately resolved to become a closer Family, updated our Family pic and our minivan stickers..

August 2006
http://showbizandstyle.inq7.net/entertainment/entertainment/view_article.php?article_id=15500


By Fran Katigbak
Inquirer

Published on Page D3 of the August 16, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

"I LOVE this band! I love this band!" declared INXS front man JD Fortune, leaping onto a couch a la Tom Cruise during a press conference in Edsa Shangri-La Hotel on Monday.

"I'm like Tom Cruise and they (INXS) are my Katie Holmes," said the Canadian singer who beat an impressive lineup of contenders in last year's reality TV show "Rock Star: INXS" to become the Aussie rock band's new lead singer.

Last night's concert at the Araneta Coliseum was the group's first in the Philippines in its 30-year history.

"I draw my strength from these five talented musicians, brothers I have onstage," said the 31-year-old rocker of bandmates Andrew Farriss (keyboards/guitar), Tim Farriss (guitar), Jon Farriss (drums), Garry Beers (bass), and Kirk Pengilly (guitar/sax/vocals).

"I have this other family on the road," JD gushed. "My family of birth is really happy about my family of choice."

Hutch's around

The original INXS members agreed that JD's enthusiasm had invigorated them, but that the spirit of Michael Hutchence, their first front man, had definitely stayed with them. "Hutch" had died in 1997, an apparent suicide.

"There's no way we can dispute that [Michael's still around somehow] because we grew up together as kids," said Andrew. "But JD's our guy [now], so ... we're a family again, INXS as one. That's the most important thing."

After the long hiatus, has the band experienced changes in the concert circuit?

"It's a lot harder getting through airports," joked Andrew.

Aware of their influence on audiences, INXS has become keener on social awareness as well.

The youth all over the world, JD said, routinely receive a lot of "unpleasant" messages via media, especially television.

"Every time I turn on the TV there are people yelling and fighting," the rocker said. "To me, it's a rock star's obligation [to call attention to these]. If you make yourself count, then all of this stuff goes away."

JD, who penned the hit "Pretty Vegas" along with Andrew Farriss, and "Rock Star: INXS" finalists Marty Casey and Jordis Unga, has been pursuing another cause--helping less-known artists create music.

Paying forward

The musician said he had taken a "small step" towards giving back some of his good fortune by supporting his stepbrother, who is forming a new band.

"When this tour is finished, just like Andrew, Garry and everyone in the band, I plan on focusing some of my time on bands that need a break," said JD.

"We're lucky that any good music gets on the radio nowadays; everybody out there has got a record. We are so blessed [that Filipinos] have enough interest for us to come here."

August 2006

JD Fortune: 'How I Won Over Hutchence Family'

The new INXS frontman says meeting Hutch's brother was initially a scary experience...

New INXS frontman JD Fortune has revealed to MTV.co.uk that his first meeting with a member of Michael Hutchence's family initially went down like a lead balloon.

The singer who won his place in the band via reality show 'Rock Star: INXS', explained, "I met his brother Rhett in Australia a while ago and it wasn't pleasant. He was wearing a t-shirt saying, 'That's not my brother'.

"His friend had a t-shirt on which said, 'Mock Star: INXS'. I had to say something, so was like, 'You don't know me, I don't know you. We're just humans.'

"Something changed after that and by the end of the night it was a different story. Rhett took the t-shirt off and bought another one. He hugged me and said he was sorry."

The new-look band, who played a sell-out Shepherd Bush show last night (October 12) are gradually winning over the hardcore INXS-ers who initially slated them for replacing Hutchence with a reality TV show contestant.

"I think reality TV cheapens everything - I'm not a fan - but I tried to see past the audition process," JD said. "I went there because of Michael Hutchence and INXS.

"I want to pay homage to Michael but I'm not trying to recapture the past. I'm trying to fill my own shoes."

The band's new tune 'After Glow' is released on November 6.

Melbourne Sunday Herald Sun 17th September 2006


FORTUNE FAVOURS AUSTRALIAN HOME

INXS's new sensation JD Fortune is lighting up Australia in his role as new frontman during the band's word tour and he says a permanent move here isn't out of the question.

"Ooooh yeah, man, I could settle here for sure," he said. "And, actually this has been a really wicked experience to be able to sample it. And don't forget I was here for eight weeks on a promo tour where I got to experience Manly, Coogee Beach and went out to Bondi, Melbourne - all over the place, it was cool."

Fortune says Australia has been the highlight in a world tour that started in January. He says he's more nervous playing in the band's spiritual homeland than in anywhere else.

"I'm not just trying to blow sunshine up your ass because you're Australian and all, but this leg of the tour has been outstanding," Fortune said.

"Every night we play I get...it's hard to explain. In Canada it was a nervous pride thing and in the States it was more of a case of, 'Are we gonna make it out of here alive?'. Here, it's a mix of pride and being aware that some of these songs are ingrained in the fans' DNA; the band us part of their life.

"To be a guy from small-town Canada, living out of his car a year and a half ago to playing with one of the greatest rock bands in the history of rock 'n'roll. This is an honour. I come from a place where courage is rewarded and it took a lot of courage to do what these guys did (using Rockstar to discover him), They could've ended their careers right there on the spot (after Michael died). So I feel pretty well connected with Australians and with the guys, we're just like one big happy, freakin' rockin' family rolling down the road here. It's cool."

And his favourite INXS song that he loves to perform?

"Taste it, because it features everybody in the band - it's really great. Or Original Sin. They hit back to back in the show and it's crazy."

But there's also the occasional flipside, including a few moments when lyrics have slipped his mind.

"It's funny you should mention that," he says with a giggle. "It happens when I least suspect it - I'll be getting involved with the crowd and singing along and stuff. And it's like my Grandfather used to say 'If you're gonna make a mistake, make a fuckin' b ig one', so the mistakes that I've made haven't been just forgetting the words, but forgetting whole parts of the song!"

Speaking of songs, the band is already tossing about ideas to start on a new album after this tour.

"Yes between Andrew Farriss and I, swe've got like a juggernaut of muscial brainwaves constantly flowing back and forth, it's non stop, so we actually have to find a way of putting it all down. But that will come later because the last thing the world needs is another road record".

http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity_interviews/JD%20Fortune%20Up%20close%20-24844.html


JD Fortune Up close

16th October 2006 13:33:46

With INXS back on tour and new member JD Fortune filling the huge void left by the charismatic Michael Hutchence First's Liz Frost caught up with JD Fortune on his way to catch a flight home.

As JD was on a tight schedule with his flight ready to board at any moment I dived in with the questions not wanting to miss any time with the INXS new lead singer, as he reveals why he was living out of the back of a car, and the Army and what that was all about.


How are you
Actually I'm suffering from a little bit of laryngitis, just getting over it!

Were you a big INXS fan before the competition
I was probably the biggest fan in Canada! I had all their records. In fact I brought all their vinyls to the show in case I didn't win so they could sign them.


When did you first hear about the competition
It was early January 05. I heard an advertisement on the radio. I was couch hopping and living out of my car and heard it on the radio and I was like, literally, I think I can win this.


Why were you living out of your car
I'd just invested as a working partner. I was living out the back of the store and then when the business didn't take off after about 6 months, we literally just shut the doors and so I packed up as much of my stuff as I could in my car and I really didn't know where I was going. I was still writing music, so I basically had my dog and my guitar twenty bucks and some clothes and stuff. It's almost a little cliche but it's the truth.


Tell me about the moment you heard you'd won
That was 20th Sep last year, it was like every promise that had been made to me by some shady manager, just didn't matter anymore, you know every time I had my heart broken in the business or been an inch away from being able to grab the ever elusive proverbial brass ring you know, it all just sort of knocked it off my shoulders and I was able to step forward and say 'Hi, my name is JD Fortune'

** Article Continues Below **
** JD Fortune Up close Article Now Continues **

What does JD stand for
Jason Dean

How did it feel stepping into Michael's shoes
I think the whole reason I was asked to be in the band was because the band knew deep down inside that I wouldn't try to do that. I'm my own person and the fact that I'm called everything from a character to a scallywag. I try to just be true to myself. I'm always trying to worry about how I can work on tools that nobody can take from me like integrity and honesty and that's really helped me define who I am. So I'm just trying to fill my own shoes and in the meantime I get to sing some great songs.

Was it difficult finding a balance between the old INXS and the new
Because it's genuine. I mean, we're not like an INXS tribute act, we're progressing forward and writing new songs and we have this record which is coming out October 16th. That is definitely the defining factor. If we were to come on the road and do just back catalogue stuff I never would have joined because that would have been a digression. I really wanted to be in a band that was gonna write music that people didn't just listen to but heard. I mean we're not curing cancer or anything, we're still just the entertainment. I have some songs where you know, if I'm feeling blue I'll put on some Johnny cash, funky, bob Marley, great mood INXS.

Do you get on well with the other band members
Oh yeah, It's like the brothers that I never had. I feel like I've taken them under my wing, if that makes any sense. They'd been numb for so long after Michael died and for men that are in their mid forties, I feel like I'm their little shot of energy that they needed.

I heard you joined army? What was all that about
To be honest with you, I ask myself that question all the time. I guess I was 19, I wanted something in my life to work. I thought what better place to get discipline than the military. But when I got there I realised you can't attain peace by constantly preparing for war. It's like a mother constantly slapping her child and saying "Hey, I told you never hit your sister!"

How does your own music differ from the INXS music
I have to say that mine is more of a street awareness coming from a more personal observation than a global one. INXS got to tour the world for the better part of 15 years, so their songs are more about global observation. My stuff connects with people because I'm talking about stuff that affects us all on an intimate level, you know, Depression, joy, sex, abuse or addiction.

Do you write from personal experience
Of course, but I don't give my opinion, because I don't think songwriting is about opinions it's about observation. That's why songs like 'Take a walk on the wild side' or anything David Bowie's ever written or the Stones is never an opinion, it's always an observation. You know, leave it up to the listener to make up their own mind.

What's the most bizarre thing that's happened to you
Playing in Jakarta on stage with armed guards and we were told "If anything is thrown up on stage, kick it off because it might be a bomb. There were guys with machine guns on the side of the stage so instead of watching the crowd you were watching them. The last thing I wanted was to die. I mean dying on stage would be a beautiful thing, but I'm not ready to go. I really shouldn't have said that. Hang on, I'm just going to knock on wood.
(Knocks on wood)


If you weren't a singer what would you be
I'd be a critic. No, just kidding. I think I would probably go into maybe race car driving. I like driving fast. Not endangering people on a highway, I mean on a track. That would be great.

So no boring accountant job for you
Well everybody is a rock star in their own right. My grandfather was an electrician and he was the rock star of his own field.
With that JD flight was called for boarding and with a some quick pleasantries the man charged with the responsibility of lead singer of INXS and replacing one of rocks most famous sons dashed to catch the long flight home,

INXS and its fans are in safe hands

From the Canadian Press Oct 2006

J.D. Fortune leads veteran rockers INXS through Canadian shows


http://othernews.ca.myway.com/article//20061023/21150019.html

23 Oct, 8:40 PM


TORONTO (CP) - INXS front man J.D. Fortune has been through a lot since he won the job on "Rock Star" last year.

The band split with its U.S. label, and Fortune says the fear of losing it all struck him part way through his first world tour. The lanky singer was back in his hometown of Westville, N.S., on Monday to reconnect with family and friends, but admitted he's come back to Canada a different man.

"It changes you so much," Fortune says by phone of the band's whirlwind tour that's already taken him through Australia, New Zealand, India and the United Kingdom.

"I still have the same values and all that but I've seen so much. ... What keeps you focused is just fans and your family. I know where I come from and more importantly, I know where I'm going and I can't get there if I let it all fall apart around me."

Maintaining a sense of humility has been key to keeping it together, says Fortune, the photogenic performer who won the right to lead the Australian band in the reality TV show "Rock Star."

After winning over the band members - brothers Jon, Andrew and Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers - Fortune says the battle to win fans was nerve-racking.

During its heyday in the late '80s INXS was synonymous with its charismatic front man, Michael Hutchence, who died by suicide in 1997. Many fans expressed anger when the band announced it would turn to a television reality show to replace him.

Hutchence's legacy followed the band wherever they went.

"We spent the first six months trying to prove to everybody that we were a band," Fortune recalls of those early performances.

"Funnily enough, it was all the markets that we were afraid of, being kind of aggressive towards us, that actually just opened up their arms and said, 'Come on in' - that being Australia and the U.K."

Perhaps the toughest challenge came from a run-in with Hutchence's brother, Rhett, who reportedly showed up at a show in Australia wearing a T-shirt that read: "That's not my brother."

"That was just sort of a weird time for everybody," says Fortune, noting he's now on good terms with Rhett.

"The band hadn't seen him in 10 years and it was just a weird thing for everybody, but you know what, he's a perfect gentleman and I would have a beer with him any day."

"You could spend your whole life just sort of spinning wheels round and round and you're not going to get anywhere, so we just sort of buried a non-existent hatchet to begin with," he said.

Hurdles continued earlier this year when the band's label Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG, dropped the veteran rockers after releasing their first album with Fortune, "Switch," last year.

Fortune describes the parting as a two-way split but refused to elaborate on what led to the falling out.

"We wanted to have us heard more by the people that were sort of ultimately responsible for making decisions," he says.

"We wanted more face time with them and we weren't getting it so we just decided, 'Hey, do what you need to do.' "

Fortune says he takes nothing for granted, noting a brush with ill health had brought to the fore how quickly success can evaporate.

He says he fell ill with bronchial pneumonia in the U.S. Midwest last year, but due to a misdiagnosis he pushed through three shows with a 102 temperature.

"It was pretty full on," he says. "I kinda saw my whole career just falling apart in front of me and I was kinda like, 'Oh no. Please don't let this happen.' "

Luckily, it took him just four days to recover, and Fortune says he's grateful for all he's won.

"You work hard to work hard. If you start taking it for granted it just disappears like you wouldn't believe."

INXS plays a handful of Canadian dates beginning with a two-night stint Nov. 9 in St John's, Nfld.

The show, featuring a mix of old and new hits, later moves to the Ontario communities of Sudbury (Nov. 12), Hamilton (Nov. 13) and Oshawa (Nov. 14) before heading to the United States.
[b]

Nov 2006.


Cheers: to "lights" out. Three of Canada's tobacco companies have agreed to drop the terms "light" and "mild" from cigarette labels after striking a deal with Canada's Competition Bureau. Anti-smoking activists have pointed out for years that the words are both meaningless and dangerous, because they suggest that the cigarettes might be less harmful than their regular counterparts. And while we're talking about smoking, how come the lead singer of INXS gets to smoke while he's singing at Mile One? Bad enough that the band kept fans waiting outdoors for over an hour for their first show, and then wouldn't let the Fog Devils collect their hockey gear for a practice at another rink -- but then concert-goers also had to see a second-hand mope light up.


And Here is the article that started it all!!!!

The Telegram (St. John's)
Provincial, Saturday, November 11, 2006, p. A5
Controversy
Singer caught lighting up at public arena

When INXS lead singer J.D. Fortune lit up on the Mile One Centre stage Thursday night, it ignited a stink that went beyond cigarette smoke.

Fortune was clearly smoking in a photograph on the front page of The Telegram Friday.

Inspectors from the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corp. (NLC) sent in two inspectors and forwarded a report to the Department of Health and Community Services, which is responsible for enforcing the no-smoking ban in public buildings.

The issue of smoking was discussed with Mile One officials, said Steve Winter, president of the NLC.

Inspectors were told the singer was informed that smoking was prohibited and went ahead and did it anyway.

Darryl Johnson, director of environmental health with the Department of Health and Community Services, said Friday there would be no charge or fine based on Thursday night's smoking incident.

The first time is treated as an educational opportunity to promote compliance, he said.

"We don't recommend the laying of a charge right away," Johnson said.

But NLC inspectors were to be on site at Friday night's concert to ensure there was no repeat performance, and that liquor laws were abided by as well. If smoking occurred again, the department would seek legal advice on any evidence that was gathered and might consider charges.

Mile One general manager Lisa Neville said all performers are informed they aren't supposed to smoke.

"Sometimes with these artists, when they get up stage they takes these things on themselves. We don't promote it, we don't condone it," Neville said.

She said once Fortune was asked to stop, he did.

Neville said the tour managers and promoters that the centre deals with are well aware of the no-smoking requirements.

When Donna Payne saw the picture, she was outraged.

The Mount Pearl mother has a child who is severely allergic to smoke. Her daughter had considered going to the concert, but changed her mind.

"I'm happy you guys ran the picture. It shows he is guilty. It shows Mile One is guilty," Payne said.

"If he is smoking, that sends a message to everyone in the audience: smoking at Mile One Centre is OK."

Payne complained to the government.

"Here Mile One Centre just changed its name to get its public image up. I'm just shocked," Payne said.

"Here they are saying, 'We're a family centre.' I'm just disgusted they would allow someone to do that."

She said she won't be attending any events at the facility in the future.


Illustration(s):

INXS singer J.D. Fortune is shown holding a burning cigarette during the band's Thursday night performance at Mile On e Centre - Photo by Keith Gosse/The Telegram

****** Meesh's artisitc licence****

November 27, 2006

INXS frontman pens new album

By KAREN BLISS -- For JAM! Music

J.D. Fortune, lead singer of INXS.
Canadian INXS frontman J.D. Fortune, who only got three co-writes on the band's 2005's album, "Switch," because of time constraints, has been busy writing the follow-up after he had a dream about going to Hell.

"It sparked an entire concept record and I wrote 11 songs about this journey that I took to Hell and back," says Fortune, laughing.

Fortune says the first song is called "Angel Skin" about a man descending to the depths of hell with another man and telling him what brought him there.

"It turns out it's actually the Devil that he's telling the story to," says Fortune. "The Devil is so moved by how the guy ended up going to Hell that he says, 'You don't really belong here,' and sends him to Heaven."

Fortune then recites a lyric: "Underneath this burning suit, you're made of angel skin."

"It's going to be pretty intense. It's going to make 'Pretty Vegas' look like a walk in a park," says Fortune, referring to the first single from "Switch," which he co-wrote on the "Rock Star: INXS" TV talent show, seeking a replacement for the Australian band's original singer Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997.

Fortune says another one of his new songs is called "Death Of An Elephant" about how your heroes can fall, but they're still the same people. "Sometimes meeting your heroes isn't all it's cracked up to be or sometimes you're more impressed (by them)," says Fortune.

"But it's not just heroes," he adds. "It's the guy or girl that acts selflessly and does not expect to be rewarded. Heroes never know that they are; they just are. It's that dichotomy between good and evil within all of us. We are all God and we are all the Devil."

Other songs are untitled or have working titles such as "Lullaby," "Everybody Says Goodbye" and "Product Of The System."

Fortune says these songs are for a new INXS album and not for a solo album.

He wrote them on acoustic guitar and then played them into a small recorder and "kind of beatbox the beats that I hear with it and hum the bass lines," he explains.

Because of the nature of the subject matter, he's asked if he envisions that the music will go from dark to light, ending with some kind of glorious gospel number?

"Kind of (my) 'Hallelujah?' Definitely - and then I plan on dying," he jokes.

Fortune has already played the rough demos to his INXS bandmates - guitarist/saxophonist Kirk Pengilly, guitarist/keyboardist Andrew Farriss, guitarist Tim Farris, drummer Jon Farriss, and bassist Garry Beers. "They're loving it, absolutely loving it," says Fortune.

Fortune doesn't know when the band will get in the studio and this entire concept might change by then.

INXS is touring right through to next summer, including Europe and the U.K. in June ("I think we're playing Wembley in London") and a big concert in Australia in August. "So right now, it's still full-on," Fortune says, although he does get a break in January and February.

Fortune has also auditioned for a part in "The Dirt," based on Mötley Crüe's self-penned book, "The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band." The film will be directed by Larry Charles ("Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"), and is due out in 2008.

"I'm up for a role of a heroin addict, which could be interesting for me considering I don't really party anymore. A needle has never touched my arms I'm glad to say, so it will be acting," says Fortune.

"It's just like anything. You've auditioned and then you put it out of your mind. If you get it, you get it and if not, whatever. I didn't want to be one of those typical, 'Oh, I think I can act, so let's try that.' It's not that at all. I just happen to really believe in the story."

Fortune, who has a great story of his own - from oh-so-close record deals and a hand-to-mouth existence to winning the televised competition to front one of his favorite bands - is also protecting himself by buying back the masters for some of his early demos, recorded from around 1999 to 2001.

There had been many lucrative offers from companies to put out the songs, but the person who owns them is honoring his relationship with Fortune by selling them back to him.

"I've got to wait because my hands are tied while I'm out on the road. I can't sign anything via fax because it's not legal. I have to sign real copies of it," says Fortune.

. "I want to own the masters outright, so 10 years from now I can put out a Canadian content compilation, or not even release them. Who knows? If one day, there's a young singer-songwriter who needs advice, maybe I can point them in the right direction and use those songs as an example? I love listening to old demos of somebody sitting in their basement going 'Shit that sucks; let's try this.'"

Fortune also sees it as a good thing that INXS is no longer signed to Burnett/Epic. The band can work on getting a more attractive deal, since Burnett Productions - which owns the Rock Star reality television property - does get a significant piece of the pie, which lessons the financial appeal for Epic and worldwide distributor Sony BMG Music.

"There's something to be said for sticking to your artists and believing in them, and right now, w're taking Europe and Asian by storm, and we've had offers to go back to India and play to like a hundred thousand people.

"We're working with some really great people right now and we're just in the middle of doing our own label with a company out of the U.K., so that's going to be really huge for us," says Fortune, not able to name the company just yet.

"We'll be our having our eye closer on our career, as opposed to having a bunch of 'yes' people around us, going, 'Yeah, yeah, we'll do that,' and 'Yeah yeah, we'll do that.' And we're out touring and nothing happens, and we're like, 'What the hell? 'Oh, it's too late now, sorry. We didn't tell you?' 'Ah, no you didn't.'

"I'm sorry, I'm just kind of paraphrasing the whole thing," says Fortune.

"By the way, Sony BMG Canada has been our biggest champion. Love them to death. It has nothing to do with Sony worldwide and Sony in Australia, Denis (Handlin), the president there, I'm his biggest fan."

"Switch" has scanned just under 170,000 units in Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan Canada. Worldwide sales are under one million.

INXS has played some great gigs the past year, including to 70,000 people in India, according to Fortune, but there's one gig that will top them all, if it goes through - in space.

Virgin Group entrepreneur Sir Richard has formed Virgin Galactic, a space tourism company, which aims to send civilian passengers into suborbital space by late 2007 (for $200,000 U.S. a seat), and Branson wants some live music onboard.

"He's looking to put a band up in space to do a 45-minute set, going around the world doing six orbits around the planet and then coming back down, but, man, I'm afraid to fly," says Fortune. "I'd be on so much Xanax, I don't even think I'd be able to speak (laughs)."