An Intimate Conversation with Daniel Johns of Silverchair

Daniel Johns, lead vocalist and guitarist for Australia’s most popular rock-grunge group, Silverchair, met Ben Gillies (drums) and Chris Joannou (bass) before they were in their teens. By the time they reached 15, the trio made its mark “Down Under” as a major rock group. Today, Silverchair’s reputation is global.

Silverchair’s entry to rock stardom came early when they were 14 years old and headlined as the Innocent Criminals at local shows. Johns, Gillies and Joannou proved worthy when they won an Australian record demo competition with “Tomorrow” that helped land them a three-album record deal with Sony Music. The song sat at the top of the Australian singles charts for six weeks. The group re-recorded the track for U.S. consumption and it became one of the most played songs on U.S. rock stations during the ’90s.

The name Silverchair is a tribute that conjoins bits from the titles of songs by their two major musical influences, Nirvana and Australian alternative rock group You am I. They twisted Nirvana’s track “Sliver” to Silver and grabbed “chair” from You am I’s track “Berlin Chair.”

At the ripe old age of 15 the trio recorded their debut album, Frogstomp, catapaulting the lads’ CD to a number one hit in both Australia and New Zealand. With record sales reaching 2.5 million copies worldwide, Silverchair claimed a hefty fan base and a top ten hit in the U.S. Their reputation won them spots on tours with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Blink-182. A second album, Freak Show was released in ’97 with three tracks, “Abuse Me,” “Cemetery,” and “Freak” jettisoning up to the top ten charts in Australia. The album went gold in the States.

Daniels vocals cut deep with lyrics that are sometimes uncomfortably personal. Wading through the trauma of anorexia he helped exorcise those demons by writing more songs for Silverchair’s third album, Neon Ballroom. Listen to the highly regarded “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” and you hear him achingly, painfully yearning to climb out of the wreckage.

And you’re my obsession
I love you to the bones
And Ana wrecks your life
Like an anorexia life

Later, Johns would suffer from the effects of reactive arthritis that was debilitating and proved to be another serious challenge for not only his musical career, but his life.

Released as a video in 1999, “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” was awarded the best video award by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

Daniel moved into producing when recording the group’s fourth album, Diorama. He worked with producer David Bottrill and the legendary Van Dyke Parks who added orchestral arrangements to a couple tracks. Upon release the album hit the Australian charts at the number one slot before going triple platinum.

Setting out briefly with Australian electronica musician Paul Mac, Johns and Mac put out an internet release, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Rock EP and later collaborated with his wife, pop artist, Natalie Umbruglia on her album Counting Down the Days.

Silverchair disbanded for a short while so members could pursue their individual interests, then re-formed in 2004 to raise funds in support of the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami that killed 230,000 people. After the show, the three were reinvigorated and decided to regroup as Silverchair.

In October 2007, Silverchair made Australian music history by adding several new ARIA awards to their band’s accomplishments, giving them a career total of nineteen awards, more than any other Australian artist in history, including AC/DC, Midnight Oil and others. The Newcastle trio’s 2007 awards included Album of the Year for Young Modern, Best Group, Best Rock Album (Young Modern), Single of the Year and Highest Selling Single for “Straight Lines.”