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 cliché’d 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’
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 ever an opinion, it’s always an observation. You know, leave it up to the lister 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

Listen to clips from the band Click below

Afterglow

Gods Top Ten

Hot Girls

Pretty Vegas