J.D. Fortune
TM - Hi, this is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix and we are here with J.D. Fortune, thank you for having this interview with us today we appreciate it.
JD - Thanks for having me.
TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour?
JD - They can expect mayhem and it is going to be great, there will be a lot of reconnection with the music that was responsible for changing the world at one point, that's the amazing rock band INXS and I am proud and honoured to be doing the tour. I am looking forward to coming back down again.
TM - What can fans expect from your setlist?
JD - I don't want to give too much away, but we are touching on a little bit of everything but let's just say we are going down memory lane and touching on the hits. I had the privilege of being able to co-write INXS last original record with them, which is a big honour for me. We will be doing some songs off the "Switch" album, like "Afterglow" and "Pretty Vegas". I also have a couple of originals that i wrote that I am going to play on acoustic guitar. We are going to tear the place of part with the rest of the set, and it is going to be good, I'm excited.
TM - How did you come to join INXS?
JD - There was a TV show 20 years ago in 2005, and there was a worldwide search and I think 50,000 people tried out and I was the last person standing. I have been honoured ever since to be in that situation and I co wrote that last album "Switch" with them, which was an honour. I am grateful that I have enough fans who want to see this and want to come and see me and want to reconnect with me when I get back down there. We are going to have a great time with the music. Music only gets better with age and INXS music will be around longer than you think
TM - Are you working on any new music?
JD - I am working on an album right now with Shoebox Studios, that is going to be coming out next year, along with my Telltale book of everything that happens when I was in the band, it is going to be a good read. My new stuff is a bit more country rock like Johnny Cash meets AC/DC type of thing. I will be putting that out hopefully next year when I get back there in 2026. I will be able to see you and connect with you.
TM - If you could have any band play one of your songs what band would it be what song would it be and would it be in your style or their style?
JD - I would love to play with INXS again but I know they aren't playing right now, but that's cool. If they were available definitely INXS. I think I would have to pick another aussie band, I would pick AC/DC. I was fortunate enough to meet Brian Johnson from AC/DC but I would love to play with AC/DC any day.
INXS Lost a singer and Brian replaced Bon Scott and bon is a legend. When I was in primary school I got the dirty deeds album and my grandmother heard big balls, she came running in and took it off the thing and put it on top of the refrigerator. For the rest of the summer it was like Mecca and I was like i need the album, i just needed to hear it as a young lad who was on his way down the rock and roll corridor.
TM - What's your favourite memory watching someone else perform live can you tell us a story?
JD - I was 10 years old and I went to my very first concert "Duran Duran" and I happened to be in the video for their song "The Reflex". I went there with a baby sitter and when you see that video there is a crowd shot, I am somewhere in that crowd. Simon Le Bon came out on stage and said we are shooting a video and everyone was like yeah and I got back to school and was like I'm in a "Duran Duran" video and everyone was like shut up your not in a "Duran Duran" video. There was no way that you could see me because I was smaller than everyone else and down there somewhere in the crowd. I would love to re live that memory because when I saw those guys on stage, I was like I want to do this so badly.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
JD - I love them and thank you so much for your support. Get ready for some Mayhem when I get down there because it is going to be rock and roll all over that place thank you for this interview.
TM - Thank you.