Silverchair
Silverchair are an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV show Nomad and ABC radio station Triple J. The band was signed by Murmur and were successful in Australia and internationally. Silverchair has sold over 10 million albums worldwide.[2][3]
For the 1953 C. S. Lewis novel, see The Silver Chair. For other uses, see Silver Chair (disambiguation).
Silverchair
Innocent Criminals (1992–1994), The George Costanza Trio (1996), Short Elvis (1992, 2006)
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
1992–2003, 2005–2011
Silverchair have won more ARIA Music Awards than any other artist in history, earning 21 wins from 49 nominations. They also received six APRA Awards, with Johns winning three songwriting awards in 2008. All five of their studio albums debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart: Frogstomp (1995), Freak Show (1997), Neon Ballroom (1999), Diorama (2002), and Young Modern (2007). Three singles reached the number-one slot on the related ARIA Singles Chart: "Tomorrow" (1994), "Freak" (1997), and "Straight Lines" (2007).
Silverchair's alternative rock sound evolved throughout their career, with differing styles on specific albums growing more ambitious over the years, from grunge on their first two albums to later works displaying orchestral and art rock influences. The songwriting and singing of Johns had evolved steadily while the band had developed an increased element of complexity.
In 2003, following the release of Diorama, the band announced a hiatus, during which time members recorded with side projects the Dissociatives, the Mess Hall, and Tambalane. Silverchair reunited at the 2005 Wave Aid concerts. In 2007, they released their fifth album, Young Modern, and played the Across the Great Divide tour with contemporaries Powderfinger. In May 2011, Silverchair announced an indefinite hiatus.
History[edit]
1994–1997: Formation and early grunge releases[edit]
Silverchair's founders, Ben Gillies and Daniel Johns, attended the same primary school in the Newcastle suburb of Merewether.[4] At "age 11 or 12", singer-guitarist Johns and drummer Gillies rapped over an electronic keyboard's demo button under their first band name, The Silly Men.[5][6] As teenagers, they started playing music together more prominently—in one class, they built a stage out of desks and played rap songs for their schoolmates.[7] When they moved on to Newcastle High School, fellow student Chris Joannou joined the pair on bass guitar. In 1994, they formed Innocent Criminals with Tobin Finnane as a second guitarist, but he soon left.[8][9] They played numerous shows around the Hunter Region in their early teens; their repertoire included cover versions of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath.[10][11] In 1994, Innocent Criminals entered YouthRock—a national competition for school-based bands—and placed first ahead of older competition.[12] The band recorded demos of "Acid Rain", "Cicada", "Pure Massacre", and "Tomorrow" early in the year at Platinum Sound Studios.[8]
In April, the band's mainstream breakthrough came when they won a national competition called Pick Me, using their demo of "Tomorrow".[8][11] The competition was conducted by the SBS TV show Nomad and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) alternative radio station Triple J.[8][11] As part of the prize, Triple J recorded the song and ABC filmed a video, which was aired on 16 June.[8][9] For the video's broadcast, they had changed their name to Silverchair (styled as silverchair until 2002).[8][10][13] In a 1994 interview with Melbourne magazine Buzz, the band claimed the name derived from a radio request for "Sliver" by Nirvana and "Berlin Chair" by You Am I being mixed up as Silver Chair.[10][14] It was later revealed they were named for the C. S. Lewis–penned novel The Silver Chair from The Chronicles of Narnia series.[15][16] Johns later said of the fake story in a July 2007 interview: "We can't just say it's the name of a book and [that] we were looking for name of a book and thought that sounded good, so we thought we'd come up with a story..."[17] Aside from Innocent Criminals, the band has used The George Costanza Trio and Short Elvis as aliases.[13][18][19]
Following a bidding war between rival labels, Silverchair signed a three-album recording contract with Sony Music subsidiary Murmur Records.[8][10] Initially, the group were managed by their parents.[20] Sony A&R manager John Watson, who was jointly responsible for signing the group, subsequently left the label to become their band manager. In September, their Triple J recording of "Tomorrow" was released as a four-track extended play.[8][21] From late October, it spent six weeks at number-one on the ARIA Singles Chart.[22][23] In 1995, a re-recorded version of "Tomorrow" (and a new video) was made for the United States market, becoming the most played song on US modern rock radio that year.[9]
Silverchair's debut album, Frogstomp, was recorded in nine days, with production by Kevin Shirley (Lime Spiders, Peter Wells) and released in March 1995.[24][25][26] At the time of recording, the band members were 15 years old and still attending high school.[9][24] Frogstomp's lyrical concepts were fiction-based, drawing inspiration from television, hometown tragedies, and perceptions of the pain of friends. The album was well received: AllMusic and Rolling Stone rated it in four and four-and-a-half stars, respectively, praising the intensity of the album, especially "Tomorrow".[24][25]
Frogstomp was a number-one album in Australia and New Zealand.[22][27] It reached the Billboard 200 Top 10, making Silverchair the first Australian band to do so since INXS.[9] It was certified as a US double-platinum album by the RIAA, triple-platinum in Canada by the CRIA, and multi-platinum in Australia.[8][28][29] The album sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.[9][11] Paste magazine called this album the "last stand" of grunge.[30] As Frogstomp and "Tomorrow" continued to gain popularity through 1995, the group toured the US, where they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers in June, the Ramones in September, and played on the roof of Radio City Music Hall at the MTV Music Awards. In between touring, they continued their secondary education in Newcastle.[8][31] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1995, the band won five awards out of nine nominations. To collect their awards on the night, they sent Josh Shirley, the young son of the album's producer.[13] At the ceremony, they performed Radio Birdman's "New Race" with Tim Rogers (of You Am I); in 2019, Dan Condon of Double J rated this as one of the "7 great performances from the history of the ARIA Awards."[32] On 9 December 1995, Silverchair played two songs, "Tomorrow" and "Pure Massacre" on Saturday Night Live.
In a January 1996 murder case, the defendant counsel for Brian Bassett, 16, and Nicholaus McDonald, 18, of McCleary, Washington, claimed that the pair listened to "Israel's Son", from Frogstomp, which contributed to the 10 August 1995 murders of Bassett's parents and a younger brother.[33][34] McDonald's lawyer cited the lyrics "Hate is what I feel for you/I want you to know that I want you dead" which were "almost a script. They're relevant to everything that happened".[35] The band's manager, Watson, issued a statement that they did not condone nor intend any such acts of violence.[34][35] Prosecutors rejected the defence case and convinced the jury that the murder was committed to "steal money and belongings and run off to California."[33]
Silverchair began recording their second studio album, Freak Show, in May 1996 while experiencing the success of Frogstomp in Australia and the US. Produced by Nick Launay (Birthday Party, Models, Midnight Oil) and released in February 1997,[10][21] the album reached number one in Australia and yielded three top-10 singles: "Freak", "Abuse Me", and "Cemetery".[22] Its fourth single, "The Door", reached No. 25.[22] The songs focused on the anger and backlash that the expectations of Frogstomp brought upon the band.[36] Freak Show was certified gold in the US, 2× platinum in Australia, and global sales eventually exceeded 1.5 million copies.[28][37][38]
1997–2003: Artistic experimentation, critical and commercial success[edit]
By late 1997, the trio had completed their secondary education, and, from May 1998, they worked on their third album, Neon Ballroom, with Launay producing again.[8][21] It was released in March 1999 and peaked at the number-one position in Australia.[22] Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane said, "As well as being the band's best album to date, it was universally acknowledged as one of the best albums of the year."[8] The band originally intended to take a 12-month break, but in the end they decided to devote their time to making music.[39] Neon Ballroom provided three Australian top-20 singles: "Anthem for the Year 2000", "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" and "Miss You Love"; a fourth single, "Paint Pastel Princess", did not reach the top 50.[22] The albums charted well internationally: Freak Show reached No. 2 in Canada, and Neon Ballroom reached No. 5.[40] Both reached the top 40 on the United Kingdom Albums Chart.[41] "Abuse Me" reached No. 4 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts.[42] "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" peaked at No. 12 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks.[42]
In 1999, Johns announced that he had developed the eating disorder anorexia nervosa due to anxiety.[43] Johns noted that the lyrics to "Ana's Song (Open Fire)" dealt with his disorder, where he would "eat what he needed ... to stay awake."[44] He revealed that his eating problems developed from the time of Freak Show and when Neon Ballroom was written he "hated music, really everything about it", but he felt that he "couldn't stop doing it; I felt like a slave to it."[45] Johns sought therapy and medication but felt "It's easier for me to express it through music and lyrics".[43]
Silverchair added an auxiliary keyboardist, Sam Holloway (ex-Cordrazine), for the Neon Ballroom Tour.[8] The US leg had the group playing with The Offspring and Red Hot Chili Peppers, while Silverchair's tour of UK and European had The Living End as the support act.[8] Rolling Stone's Neva Chonin attributed their chart success to the album's more "mature" sound.[46] In Europe and South America it became the group's most successful album to date. The group appeared at festivals in Reading and Edgefest, amongst others.[47] Following the tour, the band announced that they would be taking a 12-month break.[48] Their only live performance in 2000 was at the Falls Festival on New Year's Eve.[39][49] On 21 January 2001, the band played to 250,000 people at Rock in Rio, a show they described as the highlight of their career until that point.[48]
After the release of Neon Ballroom, Silverchair's three-album contract with Sony Music had ended. The group eventually signed with Atlantic Records for North and South America, and they formed their own label with Watson, Eleven: A Music Company (distributed by EMI), for Australia and Asia.[4][50] In November 2000, after the group had left the label, Sony issued The Best Of: Volume 1 without the band's involvement.[48] Johns disavowed the compilation, saying, "We thought about putting out ads in the street press to make people aware that we weren't endorsing it, but that would have blown the whole thing out of proportion ... If people want to buy it, they can buy it[,] but I wouldn't buy it if I was a silverchair fan."[39]
In June 2001, Silverchair entered a studio in Sydney with producer David Bottrill (Tool, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) to start work on their fourth album, Diorama. Johns formally assumed the role of a co-producer.[51] The album name means "a world within a world".[52] Most tracks came from Johns' new-found method of writing material on a piano, a technique he developed during the band's break after Neon Ballroom.[52][53]
In order to complete the vision for Diorama, several other musicians contributed to the album, including Van Dyke Parks, who provided orchestral arrangements to "Tuna in the Brine", "Luv Your Life", and "Across the Night".[54] Paul Mac (from Itch-E and Scratch-E) and Jim Moginie (from Midnight Oil) both on piano also collaborated with the band.[55] While recording Diorama, Johns referred to himself as an artist, rather than simply being in a "rock band". Upon its release, critics commented that the album was more artistic than previous works.[56][57]
Early in December, the first single, "The Greatest View", was released to Australian radio networks. Its physical release in January 2002 coincided with the band's appearance on the Big Day Out tour.[58] Early in 2002, Johns was diagnosed with reactive arthritis, which made it difficult for him to play the guitar, and subsequent performances supporting the album's release were cancelled.[7][59][60] In March 2002, Diorama was issued and topped the ARIA Albums Chart; it became their fourth number-one album and spent 50 weeks in the top 50.[22][61]
Four singles were released from the album: "The Greatest View", "Without You", "Luv Your Life" and "Across the Night"; "The Greatest View" charted highest, reaching No. 3.[22] In October, Silverchair were successful at the ARIA Music Awards of 2002, winning five awards, including 'Best Rock Album' and 'Best Group', and 'Producer of the Year' for Johns.[62] The band played "The Greatest View" at the ceremony; the song was also nominated for 'Best Video'.[63] Two singles (and a related video) were nominated for further ARIA Awards in 2003.[62] Following the 2002 ARIA Awards, the band announced their first indefinite hiatus. Johns said it was necessary "given the fact the band were together for over a decade and yet were only, on average, 23 years old".[9][64] From March to June 2003, Silverchair undertook the Across the Night Tour to perform Diorama.[65] Their hometown performance on 19 April was recorded as Live from Faraway Stables for a 2-CD and 2-DVD release in November.[65] After the tour finished in June, the group announced another indefinite hiatus.[65]
2003–2005: Extended break and side projects[edit]
In 2000, while also working with Silverchair, Johns and Mac released an internet-only EP, I Can't Believe It's Not Rock.[39] In mid-2003, during Silverchair's hiatus, the pair re-united and formed The Dissociatives, releasing a self-titled album in April 2004.[66] The duo provided the theme music for the popular ABC-TV music quiz show Spicks and Specks by reworking a 1966 Bee Gees hit of the same name.[67] Johns also collaborated with then-wife Natalie Imbruglia on her Counting Down the Days album, released in April 2005.[68]
Joannou worked with blues rock group The Mess Hall; he co-produced—with Matt Lovell—their six-track extended play Feeling Sideways, which was released in May 2003.[69] The album was nominated for the ARIA Award for 'Best Independent Release' in 2003.[70] Joannou and Lovell co-produced The Mess Hall's studio album Notes from a Ceiling, which was issued in June 2005.[71] Joannou and Lovell received a nomination at the ARIA Music Awards of 2005 for 'Producer of the Year'.[72] In 2003, Gillies formed Tambalane with Wes Carr, initially as a song-writing project, and they released a self-titled album in 2005 and toured Australia.[73]
The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami resulted in the WaveAid fundraising concert held in January 2005; Silverchair performed to help raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster-affected areas. As a result of WaveAid, the band decided to resume working together.[74] Gillies explained the band's reunion as due to a special "chemistry" between band members, telling the Sydney Morning Herald, "It only took us 15 years, but recently we've realised, 'We've really got something special and we should just go for it.'"[75]