Silverchair

Silverchair is the youngest ever rock band to achieve success in Australia. They arrived in the public spotlight as if from nowhere, and proving they had more than youth on their side, their success spread almost as instantly to America.

As with many overnight sensations, there was in fact a significant period which preceded our discovery of the group that became silverchair. Daniel Johns and Ben Gillies were writing rap songs together in primary school. At High School now, in 1992 they formed a group with schoolmates Chris Joannou and Toby Finnane. Toby left the group when his family left Newcastle for a year in the UK. Called Innocent Criminals they played cover versions of their own heavy rock heroes like Soundgarden and Helmet, which they combined with the songs by bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple whose records the teenagers found in their parents' record collections.

In 1994 when all three remaining members of the band were 15, they submitted the song 'Tomorrow' to a competition run by SBS-TV's 'nomad' program, being run in conjunction with Triple J. The prize was the chance to re-record their song at the radio network's studios and having the 'nomad' crew produce a video clip for their song. 'Tomorrow' won over 800 entrants and the airing of the subsequent video in June initiated a fierce bidding war from record companies keen to sign the group. It was at this point of their career they chose to change their name. When the video was aired in June, they had become silverchair. The "chair" came from the You Am I song 'Berlin Chair'. The other half of the name came from the Nirvana single 'Sliver', but the word had accidentally been written down as "silver".

No-one was more surprised than the band itself when 'Tomorrow' became the first Australian-made No.1 hit in more than two years, and the follow-up 'Pure Massacre' succeeding it to No.1. It was not exactly the kind of career silverchair had in mind for themselves. They wanted to play rock, not be popstars. As a kind of statement, they recorded the first album in just a week. 'Frogstomp' also went to No.1

Silverchair didn't have a chance to get carried away by their instant success. They were fitting performances in between their attendance of high school, and were distracted from the Australian achievements by their progress in America, where they were taking off almost as quicky. 'Frogstomp' reached the top ten in the US and went on to sell two million copies.

The group's youth was proving a double edged sword. It was clearly contributing to their success but was also being used against them. There were people who dismissed them as a novelty act, "Nirvana in pyjamas". With their second album silverchair attacked their detractors head on, going straight for the Nirvana territory rather than avoiding it, and calling the album 'Freak Show'. The album and its lead single, 'Freak' both made No.1 at home. In America their record company opted to release 'Abuse Me' as the first single, and the band felt that as a result, while selling respectably, the album didn't sell as well as it might have.

Throughout that journey the pressure was very much on Daniel Johns, not just as lead singer and guitarist, but main songwriter. That pressure would now begin to take it toll. Daniel fell into a period of depression and bolemia. He tried to solve his problems with psychiatric therapy and self-analysis. In what was supposed to be a period of rest for the whole band Daniel spat out over a hundred poems in a matter of three months. He picked his favourites and turned them into the songs that became the third album, 'Neon Ballroom'. Daniel had never intended to use his problems for inspiration, but in the end the music was the best way to unburden himself. 'Neon Ballroom' took six months to record. The album's passion and musical sophistication proved to the world that silverchair were a force to be reckoned with for some time.

In the end their "overnight' success freed silverchair from all the barriers that might have faced another band in the same position. They were able to keep the industry at arms length while concentrating on what mattered, developing their stage craft and their musicality. 'Neon Ballroom' was the point where Daniel Johns and silverchair came into their own.

At the end of 2000, after three successful albums, silverchair parted company with Sony and announced the launch of their own label, Eleven (a Spinal Tap reference) through EMI in Australia. Sony issued 'The Best Of, Vol.1', a two CD retrospective, one disc comprising the singles, the other the B-sides and soundtrack songs.

At the end of 2000, after three successful albums, silverchair parted company with Sony and announced the launch of their own label, Eleven (a Spinal Tap reference) through EMI in Australia. Sony issued 'The Best Of, Vol.1', a two CD retrospective, one disc comprising the singles, the other the B-sides and soundtrack songs. 2002's adventurous 'Diorama' was their first release under the Eleven banner. The album's promotion around the world was hindered by Daniel contracting a rare form of arthritis which forced the cancellation of live performances until March 2003. The end of the tour brought rumours of a possible end to the group, as Daniel Johns threw himself in to recording and touring with the Dissociatives, teaming Johns with dance artist and Silverchair remixer Paul Mac.

Daniel Johns had married pop singer Natalie Imbruglia in December 2003. Silverchair itself was taking a hiatus of undermined length. Nothing was discussed, the end or when they would resume. Daniel needed to restore himself to health. All three band members needed to take a 'breath' after a whirlwind existence from adolescence to adulthood.

Three years on, on January 25, 2005 Silverchair took part in Sydney's Wave Aid fundraising concert for tsunami victims. It's all it took for the band to remember what they enjoyed about playing music together. More than that, Midnight Oil's performance at that concert convinced Silverchair that they should continue. Daniel Johns had spent the previous eighteen months writing new songs that now became the basis for Silverchair's fifth studio album, 'Young Modern'.

The Dissociatives experience had caused Daniel to wonder whether he wanted to be in a rock'n'roll band any more. He now realized how he could have both the band and the freedom to express himself and experiment. Once the 50 odd songs he had written were honed down, the band was recorded as a band in an LA studio with live takes, and then the songs were embroidered with harmonies and added instrumentation and for three songs orchestral arrangements from the celebrated Van Dyke Parks, recorded in Prague with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

In April 2006 'Young Modern' debuted at number one in Australia, becoming Silverchair's fifth consecutive No.1 studio album the only Australian band to ever reach five number one albums, surpassing Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil, who both have four Australian No.1 albums to their credit. With 'Young Modern' their first self-funded album Silverchair now planned to re-establish themselves internationally with individual record company deals in separate markets. Meanwhile in Australia the album and single each won three awards at the 2007 ARIA Awards, taking Silverchair to a total of 19 wins, the most successful act in the history of the ARIA awards, one more now than John Farnham. Later Daniel Johns would become the first person ever to win three Australian performing Rights Awards in one year. Johns was named APRA Songwriter of the Year. 'Straight Lines', was named Song of the Year, and 'Straight Lines' was also awarded for the Most Played Australian Work.

In August 2007 Silverchair embarked on a nationwide tour with Powderfinger titled the Across the Great Divide tour, starting in Silverchair's hometown Newcastle and Powderfinger's Brisbane a couple of days later. The tour embraced 34 concerts in 26 towns lasted over two months with an estimated 220,000 people in attendance and aimed to promote the efforts of Reconciliation Australia, a foundation helping to improve the welfare of the indigenous Australians. A DVD featuring the Melbourne concert and a 90 minute documentary was released in December.