Andrew Farriss' New Single Come Midnight

I had a chat with Australian songwriter and musician Andrew Farriss today about his upcoming single, Come Midnight. I've listened to the track many times and it's definately a catchy tune, in fact it's stuck in my head as I type this. There is a distinct INXS sound to it, and that's hardly surprising considering Andrew was the main song-writer for the band. In fact, Andrew penned this song back in the day of INXS and always had it in the back of his mind. That thought eventually became forefront of his mind thanks to his wife, Marlina, who had the tune on rotation on her phone instead of an alarm.

Come Midnight itself is an ode to Andrew’s wife Marlina and the love they share, his admiration for her. It is a nod to the inspiration she is in his life and the support she has been for him. Marlina was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 a year after the two got married and battled through the stage four diagnosis. The track highlights how midnight is the time when you reflect on the people who are the most important to you.

Andrew's music has taken on a country flavour and he told me that he became interested in country music when he would research how music was created and shared in the 1700's and 1800's especially in America. He's also inspired by the country music greats, such as Johnny Cash. The country transition was also brought about by wanting to know what it was like back in time before technology and get to the grass roots of music. Andrew says he's not against technology; "technology is great where we are with medicine and how younger artists can use technology to make music" but he's intrigued on what it was like before a world filled with technology and how musicians created and shared their music.

I laughed when we were discussing how he decided on a music career and as it turns out his uncle, Chris Ryan, left a piano in the family home so Andrew learnt to play it and write music, but what made me laugh was when he told me he took the piano apart to see how it worked! #GENIUS

Come Midnight is the first solo release ahead of a full-length album. Recorded between his home-studio and Nashville, it embodies the old-school country vibe that Andrew envisioned.

After having the opportunity to speak with Andrew, I can tell you he suits the country persona; he's a top down to earth bloke! For the past two and half decades living on the land, on a functioning cattle and grain farm in North-West New South Wales. In the upcoming album (released in 2020) many of the tracks are based on his own life and personal experience.

Come Midnight is released to radio on Friday 9th August 2019.

ABOUT ANDREW FARRISS

As the main songwriter and a founding member for international icons INXS, Andrew Farriss is considered one of the world’s best musicians. With them he shared success of more than 50 million records, Grammy nominations and an induction into the ARIA Hall Of Fame. Outside of INXS, he is revered in industry circles for his songwriting nuance, having written, produced and performed music for acts such as Yothu Yindi, Tom Jones, Tania Kernaghan and Jenny Morris to name a few. It didn’t matter what the genre, it was always about the music. This attitude saw him inducted into the Australian Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame.

Since the age of 9 when he first learned to play piano, and later taught himself to play guitar, Andrew has never stopped writing his own material, both lyrically and musically, working in all facets of the industry. He has been an integral force of many artist’s careers throughout the years and is continually sought out for his approach to songwriting, in all different genres. His early musical influences include blues, funk, country, bluegrass, jazz – particularly Ray Charles – hip hop, and classical music, and, The Beatles – who were the first band Andrew ever saw live in London at the age of 5. He is considered a pioneer with combining analog synthesizers and sequencing early digital samplers with rock and funk music, integrated with his songwriting and programming rhythm grooves. In recent years, he has been co-writing with some of the biggest names in Nashville, including the likes of Grammy-award winning songwriters Gordon Kennedy and Paul Overstreet, as well as veritable country music songsmiths Frank J Myers and James Dean Hicks, Bruce Wallace, Phil Barton and Kylie Sackley to name just a few.