Jon Farriss
| Jon Farriss | |
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Jon Farriss working in the studio on October 2014
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jonathan James Farriss |
| Born |
10 August 1961 Perth, Western Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer, mixing |
| Instruments | Drums, Vocals, Various Percussion, Keyboards, Samplers |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Associated acts | INXS, Toto, Rob Thomas, Ben Harper, Richard Clapton, Jimmy Barnes, Nikka Costa |
| Website | [1] solo website |
Jonathan James Farriss (born 10 August 1961, Perth, Western Australia) is the drummer, and founding member, of the Australian rock band INXS.
Jon Farriss was born to Dennis and Jill Farriss, and is the second youngest of four children: brothers and fellow band members Andrew and Tim, and younger sister Alison,.
Farriss is known for integrating traditional rock drums with more funk and Dance influenced beats as well as acoustic drums and sequencers and pads. Examples of these techniques can be found in such songs as "Need You Tonight" and "The Stairs". Jon Farriss revolutionized the concept of hybrid drumming before it was even technically possible and had to make much of it up as he went along, utilizing early sequencing and sampling technology in the 80s that is now widely used today.
Farriss auditioned to be in the band Guinness with future INXS band-mates Kirk Pengilly and brother Tim, but was rejected for being only nine years old at the time. His first band was playing with a Christian choral group at age 11. He played with bands such as Top Kat, Blackwater, and Fish.
Farriss has also been credited with backing vocals on many of INXS’s earlier albums. Among his song writing credits with INXS (mostly collaborations with Michael Hutchence) are "Red Red Sun," "The Gift," "Deepest Red", "Faith in Each Other," "Back on Line," "Never Let You Go" (with Fortune) and the hit "Disappear".
He wrote and performed the song "You Never Used to Cry" on the soundtrack for the 1984 film No Small Affair.
Jon appeared on stage with Ringo Starr in February 2013, during Ringo’s All Starr Band performance in Sydney. With Ringo singing, Jon played Ringo’s drums to The Beatles’ song "With a Little Help from My Friends." He was also invited and recognized on stage by Nile Rodgers in Sydney’s iconic Opera House, where Nile recalled, "My inspiration to work with INXS was after seeing their drummer Jon Farriss perform live, when the band were playing on a festival with Hall & Oates."
2010 saw Jon as co-executive producer on INXS’s tribute album, "Original Sin". He co-produced several tracks on that album featuring artists including Rob Thomas, Ben Harper, Tricky, John Mayer and Pat Monahan.
"The Original Sin Project has been a great thing not only for us to have experienced in the studio, but it has also been great taking some of the songs on the road and mixing them in with the normal songs we usually play."
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Wikipedia