Garry Gary Beers From INXS On This Month’s Groove – The No Treble Podcast

“Wait… did I miss something? Why is there an article about a bass podcast on Six Pixels of Separation?”

Here’s why:

In the late nineties my first job was as a music journalist (actually, my first interview was with Tommy Lee from Motley Crue right before the band released Dr. Feelgood).
I spent many years interviewing musicians and artists for local weekly alternative newspapers, national and international magazines (and even published three music magazines – before we had the Internet).
I also studied and played the electric bass (in high school and post-secondary) and always felt like bass players never really had a chance to tell their stories.
So, about ten years ago, Seth Godin introduced me to Corey Brown (founder of No Treble – one of the world’s biggest bass platforms – and he also worked on Squidoo with Seth).
From there, Corey and I decided to try this monthly podcast where I would interview bass players and talk about their music, art, creativity and more.
I’m hopeful that these conversations will inspire your work, creativity and innovation as much as they do for me…

Garry Gary Beers from INXS and AshenMoon is this month’s conversation on Groove – The No Treble Podcast.

You can listen the new episode right here: Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #135 – Garry Gary Beers.

Garry Gary Beers has spent decades laying down some of the most recognizable basslines in modern rock. As the bassist and founding member of INXS, Garry helped shape the sound of a band that sold more than 70 million records worldwide and created songs that remain embedded in global music culture… tracks like ‘Need You Tonight’, ‘What You Need’, and ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ that fused rock, funk, new wave and pop into something unmistakably their own. Born in Australia, Garry came up absorbing a wide range of influences, from Motown and The Beatles to Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, long before he picked up the bass himself in his late teens. That curiosity about tone, groove, and the role of the bass inside a song became one of the defining elements of INXS’s sound and a huge part of what made the band feel rhythmically alive. In this episode, Garry reflects on those early days… discovering bass through cheap transistor radios, the slow build of INXS across multiple albums before the global explosion of Kick, and the creative experimentation with instruments, fretless basses, and studio gear that helped shape the band’s identity. We also dig into the craft of songwriting and why truly great songs still endure across generations… because, as Garry points out, a great song is simply a great song no matter the era. The conversation also explores what it means to continue creating music decades into a career, the changing culture of music listening, and the tension between artistry and technology in an era increasingly shaped by algorithms and AI. Along the way, Garry shares what he’s been working on lately, including his new band AshenMoon, whose haunting reinterpretation of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ showcases his signature melodic sensibility in a fresh setting, and his growing passion for building his own instruments through GGB Basses… handcrafted bass guitars designed around the tone and feel he has spent a lifetime chasing. It’s a thoughtful, funny and surprisingly reflective conversation with one of rock’s most influential bass players… and a reminder that groove, great songs, and musical curiosity never really go out of style. Enjoy the conversation…

What is Groove – The No Treble Podcast?

This is an ambitious effort. This will be a fascinating conversation. Our goal at Groove is to build the largest oral history of bass players. Why Groove? Most of the content about the bass revolves around gear, playing techniques, and more technical chatter. For us, bassists are creative artists with stories to tell. They are a force to be reckon with. These are the stories and conversation that we will capture. To create this oral history of why these artists chose the bass, what their creative lives are like, and where inspiration can be found.

Listen in: Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #135 – Garry Gary Beers.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends).