janesaddiction.org

Jane's affection

Nathan Davies, in STM Entertainment
June 19, 2009 10:00pm

ERIC Avery is about to join bandmates Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins on stage.

But, first, the bass player with Jane’s Addiction, the influential alternative act, has a round of media calls from Australia to field.

Things didn’t go well the previous day, with the notoriously petulant Navarro cancelling all Australian interviews. That was followed by a hastily drafted email from the band’s Australian tour promoters outlining a long list of questions that journalists should not ask band members.

Apparently drug abuse, infighting, the pressure to follow up two successful albums, band wives (including Carmen Electra), and the fact Navarro once hosted the US reality TV program Rock Star were off the agenda.

It’s an unusual request, but hardly surprising given the history of the band that burned so brightly then collapsed in 1991 under the pressures of drug abuse and personality clashes.

Things don’t seem to be going too smoothly for Jane’s Addiction version 2009 either, with internet chatrooms and music news sites awash with rumours that rifts between band members were still wide open.

“I’m not going to tell you it’s been all smooches and hugs,” Farrell has said. “But it shouldn’t be, because that would be a bore. “If my band didn’t have issues, if they didn’t throw tantrums, I would think I was with a bunch of suckers. As long as they can handle it, I can handle it.

“I just talked to Eric man-to-man. We’re different people, that’s OK. He serves a different purpose. He’s got a different frequency he operates on. I don’t care that we butt heads as long as, when we hit the stage, we blast on people.”

The band has been touring with Nine Inch Nails and frontman Trent Reznor has reportedly been forced to act as a referee between fighting JA members on more than one occasion.

Avery, who declined to join his old bandmates in two previous reunion efforts, admits tensions have been running high.

“It feels complicated,” he says with a laugh when asked how it feels to be back with his old band members. “Good, but complicated. As long as we’re playing live shows and touring, it feels good.”

Avery says he “wasn’t interested” in a Jane’s Addiction reunion until an invitation from Britain’s NME magazine to receive a lifetime-achievement award got them all on stage for the presentation.

“That’s what got me involved again, and I was nicely surprised by the reaction,” he says. “Because of the connectivity of the internet I was able to read directly (the reaction) that people had to the idea of all us playing together again.

“I thought ‘OK, this has picked up some energy, so let’s investigate this a little further’.”

Avery was surprised by the affection people still have for the band.

“Here we are going into a year of terrible recession and you’re asking people to spend their money to hear songs that are 20 years old. At the end of every night I feel a real sense of gratitude that people are showing up for us,” he says.

But he knows better than to claim that Jane’s Addiction are permanently back together.

“I’m taking it leg by leg,”he says. “I’ve signed on for this and to tour Australia and a one-off here and there. If we get to the end of that, great. We’ll reassess things then.”

Avery, who last toured Australia as a member of Garbage in 2005, says he is looking forward to returning Down Under.

“On a personal level, I really love the country,” he says. “I really wanted my wife to see it, so she’s going to come for the duration of the tour.”

As for what audiences can expect to hear at the show, Avery says the set list will be made up of songs from the albums Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual. Looks as if anyone hoping for tracks from Strays, the album made without Avery, might be in for a disappointment.

Jane’s Addiction play Metro City on Aug 1.
Tickets $82.50 +bf from Moshtix and BOCS.