Talk about INXS in the past tense and Andrew Farriss will correct you pretty damn quick. The band's keyboard playing and principal songwriter is still dealing with grief after the tragic events of last November 22, but determination has been central to the INXS manifesto since the band's first gig as The Farriss Brothers in Sydney's northern beaches in August, 1977. With the possible exception of AC/DC, they're Australia's most successful rock export: 20 million albums sold, audiences of more than one hundred thousand, innumerable global tours, hits, awards and an unimpeachable position in Australia's rock & roll history - despite the critical backlash of recent years which virtually defines our industry's tall poppy blues. For the 39-year old middle Farriss brother, it all began with a wobble board and a Beatle or two, eventually spawning 10 INXS albums plus multiple production credits including Jenny Morris, Yothu Yindi and Gun. It ain't over yet.

What's your earliest memory of Australian music?

Rolf Harriss. My dad was English so he took us on a trip back there as very young children in 1964. We went to see the Cilla Black Show and Rolf Harriss was doing a painting. My mum's sister knew Rolf from Perth so we went and met him afterwards. I think George Harrison was there too, which is weird to think about now: Me as a tiny boy standing there in my shorts and little black shoes talking to a Beatle.

What about the first Australian record you bought?

The first album I bought, I think, was Abbey Road. I was totally infected by the whole Beatlemania thing but I remember, in amongst all that, this thing called Australian music. I remember figures like Billy Thorpe and Brian Cadd, bands like Zoot. I liked the Masters Apprentices and also Bakery, a local Perth act from the late 60's.

The Farriss Brothers moved back to Perth for 10 formative months in 1978. What was significant about that time for INXS?

Perth in 1978 was run by agents who wanted to please publicans by giving them Top 40 jukebox bands so their customers could drink without thinking too much about what they were watching. We were also seeing this very frustrated, struggling artist element trying to interest people in their own music: bands like the Expression, a very embryonic Eurogliders, there was [blues guitarist] Dave Hole... I was a big fan of the Elks, fronted by Terry Serio. Michael used to pay a lot of attention to what Terry was doing at the time. I remember vividly reaching a point where we were developing our own music, turning into INXS. When we weren't playing a gig, we were rehearsing, so we were literally living and breathing this thing and we began to develop more and more original material. Some of it was absolute garbage, some of it was OK. Another thing about 1978 was that disco was huge. Now is seems quite funny and cute but back then it was all perfectly serious. I remember, thinking that you were either blues or disco or rock. There was very little in between. We chucked'em all in together and that was what we developed into our own sound.

I first saw INXS at the Ainslie Hotel in Canberra in 1980, just prior to your first album. The band's sense of purpose and direction was already very strong. What kind of ambition lurked in your minds at that time?

To eat! After the free and easy lifestyle of Perth, we felt very much alone in Sydney. Most of what we did was engineered towards survival. And I know that for most young bands today, it's exactly the same story. I remember trying to hold down a job as a car detailer. We'd play a gig in Newcastle, load up the truck, drive home, I'd get two hours sleep and then fall asleep at work.

Do you recall the moment you felt you'd turned the corner and were no longer living hand to mouth?

A couple of things happened very quickly. In the beginning of '79 we got offered a show supporting the Angels at the Royal Antler in Narrabeen. We went down quite well and Tim got a call from the agency who booked the show saying they were interested in us but on these terms that they laid down. Tim said, "Get stuffed," and hung up. He turned to meand said, "I've either done something really stupid or really smart. I hope that phone rings again or else we're all gonna starve." Sure enough, the phone rang.

U2's manager Paul McGuiness said recently that U2 hated playing pubs, that they always wanted to play arena's. What made INXS go back to playing pubs after your breakthrough Wembley Stadium gig (to 75,000 people) in 1990?

Wembley was interesting for me. There were about 200 hundred people backstage, some quite well known. I don't handle social situations very well at the best of times so I went looking for a place to have a beer and a cigarette and the only place I could find was the toilet. It was funny to realise that whether your playing a tiny pub or Wembley Stadium, you still need to sit in the toilet to drink a beer in peace.

After Wembley we identified that we were in danger of running out of places to play. Touring on that level becomes almost masochistic. You're a human being. It becomes ridiculous. We started asking ourselves if this is what we really wanted to do. One of the great luxuries of becoming successful is being able to do whatever you want, and we wanted to tour smaller venues. It backfired on us a bit in some places. In England fans were complaining they couldn't get in to see us. The Americans didn't understand either. They thought it was a sign of failer to play small rooms!

INXS have witnessed the tall poppy syndrome at very close range. Do you see it as a distinctly Australian phenomenon?

I think you find it to varying degrees in any country but it has different ways of manifesting itself. A lot of the reason INXS paid so much attention to America is that Americans like success. People aren't cynical about it.

As mega-stardom set in, INXS were perhaps perceived back home as having abandonned their Australian identity to become an international band. Was that the case?

Absolutely not! What I find stomach-lurching about that suggestion is that we must have done 5,000 interviews overseas, explaining patiently to people that we are Australian, and in fact mentioning many Australian acts who we very much hoped would try and do what we were doing. Divinyl's were having a go at the time. The Angels came over. I was frustrated that Midnight Oil didn't have a go at it earlier. I think if they had, they could have been much more successful than we were.

I think it's appropriate to mention that Michael was deeply proud of being Australian. Underneath everything, he loved being an Aussie.

Michael was one of the great rock&roll stars of the past 25 years. What was it that made him that? And why do you think Australia breeds so few of them?

Australians come from a background of not wanting to give in to authority and being very wary of people who are rich and powerful, not letting people get too big for their boots. I actually love that about Australians. They don't let people turn into monsters.

What was unique about Michael was that a lot of his childhood was spent in Hong Kong, so he had that different outlook. Michael had something a lot more organically mysterious about him. He had something natural that enabled him to communicate with people on stage. And his Australian side helped him put himself into perspective. As an Australian, at the end of the day you have to be able to have a laugh at yourself. If you're on a rollercoaster, that's your brake. For [rock stars] in America, that rollercoaster gets oiled. There's no brakes. I don't know where they get their control from.

Do you feel INXS will be fairly recognised in the future for their role in Australian music?

A couple of years ago when we were being dismissed a lot in Australia - "They're over, they've had it" - Tim took his son James to see the Smashing Pumpkins at the Hordern Pavilion and they played two INXS songs. James said, "Gee Dad, thanks for getting them to do that," of course Tim was as surprised as anybody. I must admit, tributes to Michael [on the Popmart tour] make me feel very happy. I don't want to have to tell people what our acheivements are. People will understand eventually what INXS did. I think in our own small ways, INXS helped develop trends in popular music. And I think that's great.