Silver Chair

Silverchair is an Australian rock band. The group has had more top twenty hits in Australian charts during the last decade than any other local artist. Additionally, they have sold over six million albums worldwide. Every album released by the band to date has spawned at least one top 1 single and debuted at the #1 position on Australian charts. Silverchair is also one of only three Australian bands to have three number 1 singles on the Australian Singles Chart, and the only Australian band to have their first albums chart at #1 in the Australian Album Chart. When they broke into the music industry, they were only 14 years old.

History

Early Days

Silverchair was formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals. Singer/guitarist Daniel Johns and drummer Ben Gillies started playing music together at their primary school, and when they both moved on to Newcastle High School, long time schoolmates Chris Joannou and Tobin Finnane joined the band on bass and rhythm guitar respectively. They played many shows around the Hunter Valley region in their early teens. They participated in Youthrock in 1994, a nationally recognised competition for school-based bands, although they did not win the competition.

The band's mainstream breakthrough came in mid-1994 when, as Innocent Criminals, they won a national demo competition called "Pick Me" (conducted by the SBS TV show Nomad and alternative radio station Triple J) with a song called "Tomorrow." The prize included Triple J recording the song and SBS filming the video. Innocent Criminals changed their name to Silverchair in August 1994.

Silverchair's popularity quickly landed them a three album recording contract with Sony Music. A rushed release of the Triple J recording was released in August 1994. The single spent six weeks at #1 on the Australian Singles Charts. In 1995, a re-recorded version of Tomorrow (and a new video) was made for the U.S. market, eventually becoming the most played song of the year on U.S. modern rock radio.

Frogstomp

Silverchair’s debut album, Frogstomp, was recorded in just nine days in early 1995.[4]. At the time of recording, Silverchair's members were only 15 years old. Frogstomp's lyrical concepts are fictional-based, mostly from television ("Pure Massacre", "Israel's Son", "Tomorrow"), hometown tragedies ("Faultline" was based on the 1989 Newcastle Earthquake, in which a childhood friend died) and perceptions of the pain of friends ("Shade", "Suicidal Dream").

A #1 hit in Australia and New Zealand, Silverchair went on to become the first Australian artist since INXS to hit the U.S. Top 10, selling more than 2.5 million copies throughout the world. As Frogstomp and "Tomorrow" propelled Silverchair to musical superstardom through 1996, the group juggled memorable performances on the roof of Radio City Music Hall and tours with Red Hot Chili Peppers alongside full time schooling commitments back home in Newcastle.

Freak Show and Neon Ballroom

The trio also found time that year to record their second album Freak Show which was released early in 1997. It yielded three Top 10 singles in Australia - "Freak", "Abuse Me" and "Cemetery". The songs focus on the anger and backlash that the expectations of Frogstomp brought upon the band. "Freak Show" went gold in the United States and global sales eventually exceeded 1.5 million copies.

After graduating from school the band was able to spend much more time creating their next album, Neon Ballroom which was released in March 1999. The band originally intended to take a 12 month break, but according to Johns, in an interview which was part of the special Neon Ballroom release, "it felt weird not writing and making music".

Daniel Johns succumbed to an eating disorder due to anxiety "it was his means of taking control of his life". Lyrics had come before the tunes this time around and this unconventional approach had taken Daniel months to think about. The acclaimed "Ana's Song" was the second single, that described his battle with his eating disorder. The video for the track took home the best video trophy at the ARIA Music Awards The album is also notable for contributions by Australian pianist David Helfgott, Midnight Oil member Jim Moginie and ARIA-winning DJ, Paul Mac.

Silverchair toured extensively in support of the album propelling it to stronger worldwide sales than they had achieved with Freak Show. In Europe and South America it became the group’s most successful album to date, touring live and including appearances at festivals such as Reading and Edgefest and tours with bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers and blink-182. After all this touring the band announced that they would be taking a 12 month break.

Having fulfilled their three album deal with Sony Music Australia the group was pursued by labels for much of their year off. At the end of 2000 they announced that they had signed new recording agreements with Atlantic Records for North and South America and their own indie label, Eleven: A Music Company in Australia and Asia. As a result of these new deals their former label rush released a compilation album without the band’s involvement.

Silverchair's one and only gig in 2000 was a sold out appearance at Australia’s Falls Festival on New Year's Eve. It was followed on January 21, 2001 by the biggest show of their lives - 250,000 people at Rock In Rio - a performance which the band describe as the highlight of their career to date.

Diorama

While recording Diorama, Daniel Johns, no longer simply wanted to be in a 'rock band', he thought of himself as an 'artist'. The result was a more thoughtful, professional album than previous outings. In June 2001, the band entered a studio in Sydney with producer David Bottrill (Tool, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson) to start work on their fourth album, Diorama. This time, Daniel Johns formally assumed the role of a co-producer.

The album, which Johns described as "a world within a world", came from his newfound method of writing most of the material on the piano, which he had learned during the band's break. In order to complete his vision for the album, a range of other musicians were drawn in to contribute to the disc, most notably the renowned Beach Boys and U2 collaborator, Van Dyke Parks who contributed orchestral arrangements to "Tuna in the Brine" and singles "Luv Your Life" and "Across the Night". Paul Mac and Jim Moginie also returned.

Silverchair fans got their first taste of Diorama when the first single "The Greatest View" was released to radio networks in Australia in early December 2001. The single was then released January 28, 2002, to coincide with the band’s appearance on the Big Day Out tour. Singer Daniel Johns has said he was so medicated for his reactive arthritis during the tour that he barely remembered playing.

Diorama entered the Australian charts at #1 in April and has gone on to sell over 210,000 copies and be certified 3x Platinum so far. It has also yielded the top 10 single "Without You" and the top 20 hit "Luv Your Life".

The album's international promotion was hampered by the band’s inability to tour due to Johns' ill health. The singer/guitarist spent 2002 battling a severely debilitating case of reactive arthritis from which he has since recovered. Despite the lack of promotion, the album reached #12 in Germany and inside the top 40 in other countries including Holland, Sweden and Brazil.

In October 2002, the band’s work on Diorama won them six ARIA Awards including "Best Group" and "Best Rock Album". The trio performed "The Greatest View" at the awards ceremony. Shortly after, the album returned to the national top 20. They then went on the "Across the Night" Tour, which was a 2.5 hour extravaganza, aiming to replicate many of the more complex songs of Diorama in the first hour, showcasing the more experimental works of earlier albums as well as the Diorama songs. The second hour showcased the heavy rock of Silverchair's repertoire. Silverchair announced an indefinite hiatus following the tour.

Extended break and side projects

After putting Silverchair on hiatus, Johns embarked on a successful collaboration with noted Australian electronica artist Paul Mac, the first product of this collaboration was the I Can't Believe It's Not Rock EP (an internet only release). The collaboration later became known as The Dissociatives, and the resulting album, also called The Dissociatives, was supported by limited touring. Around this time Johns was interviewed by Andrew Denton on the TV show Enough Rope (where he stated that there will "definitely be another Silverchair album", although this wasn't included in the broadcast of the interview), as well as performed live with Mac. More recently he has worked with his wife, former soap opera actress turned pop singer Natalie Imbruglia on her Counting Down the Days album, Glorious: The Singles 97-07, and her Fourth album due out in February 2008.

Drummer Ben Gillies has also decided to dive into a side project of his own called Tambalane, who enjoyed national success in Australia. They toured the nation in support of their self titled debut CD, released in August of 2005. They broke up after the tour, with Ben citing "It became an unpleasant power struggle".

Bassist Chris Joannou also had a side project where he produced an album for The Mess Hall and was nominated for the ARIA Award for Producer of the Year.

Following the Boxing Day Tsunami, Silverchair reformed for one show at the Wave Aid fundraising concert in Sydney, to raise funds for aid organizations working in disaster affected areas. They were inspired by the performance of Midnight Oil, to continue going as Silverchair.

Young Modern

In November of 2006, Silverchair announced they were working on the music for their fifth studio album, Young Modern. Bass player Chris Joannou wrote a short overview about how the recordings for Young Modern went, which was published on the band's website on July 27, 2006. He wrote that the band spent five weeks in the Hunter Valley, in late 2005 to play some new tunes together. Prior to that Johns had been busy recording home demos on his own. Then the demos were recorded in a recording studio in Sydney and once the band had put it all together they headed for L.A. to start recording the songs at Seedy Underbelly Studios as they would appear on the album. Nick Launay was hired to produce the album together with Johns and during the time in L.A., some more songs were written (and possibly recorded). Van Dyke Parks was hired to do some orchestral arrangements for three new songs and these orchestrations were recorded in three days in Prague. The band mixed the album in L.A. in January 2007 with Diorama co-producer David Bottrill.

They played a limited number of 'warm-up' concerts (with Paul Mac on keyboards at the Great Escape festival, the Clipsal 500 and the Rock-It festival) to showcase some of the new material and fund the recording of Young Modern. They originally aimed to release the album around December 2006, but delays pushed it into being released on March 31, 2007 in Australia.

In the build up prior to their Homebake performance, Silverchair performed a cover of Midnight Oil's "Don't Wanna Be the One" at the 2006 ARIA Awards as part of Midnight Oil's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame. During the end of the performance Johns spray painted PG4PM (Peter Garrett for Prime Minister) on a stage wall, paying tribute to the Oils' frontman who is now a federal MP for the ALP.

The band played at Homebake on December 2, 2006 in Sydney; at Phillip Island on December 30, as part of The Pyramid Rock Festival; and the Queen's Wharf Brewery in Newcastle on New Year's Eve. They also played some showcase events in the U.S. and Canada in early 2007, in order to attract record companies to distribute Young Modern. It was recently stated by Johns on a Channel V broadcast of Silverchair's Homebake performance that Paul Mac is his "musical soulmate" and he finds it difficult to perform without him" and that Silverchair becomes a "supergroup" with his presence.

"Straight Lines" was chosen as first single from the new album Young Modern. Footage for the video was shot in Sydney, in which fans were invited to appear. The single was released on the band's official website and their official MySpace page on February 2nd. The physical single was released on March 10th and debuted at number 1 on the ARIA charts. Silverchair became only the third Australian band to have three number 1 singles on the ARIA Charts, the other bands being The Easybeats and The Seekers. Coincendentally, Judith Durham, lead singer of The Seekers, performs guest vocals on an iTunes bonus track from Young Modern.

Young Modern debuted at number one in the ARIA Albums Chart, becoming their fifth consecutive studio album to top the chart, making them the only Australian band to ever reach five number one albums, surpassing Cold Chisel and Midnight Oil with four. It was certified double platinum by ARIA in only its third week charting. Young Modern continued to claim the number 1 position for a fourth week, becoming their fastest-selling album and holding off the Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare.

Across the Great Divide Tour

On June 12 2007, the members of Silverchair and the members of another equally successful Australian band Powderfinger held a press conference in which they announced plans for a co-headlining national tour in what is being billed as a "must see" event for Australian rock fans. The Across the Great Divide Tour will see two of the country's most successful bands play venues in every capital city and 14 regional centres from late August 2007. The tour kicked off to a successful start in Silverchair's hometown of Newcastle on August 29, and then moved on to Powderfinger's Brisbane backyard on August 31. Afterwards the tour destinations include other major cities including Darwin and Cairns, and various other regional centres including Mildura, Toowoomba and Bendigo.[9]

Silverchair has announced their first full North American tour since 1999. The dates run through July and August of 2007, and the tour will be in support of the band's new album Young Modern which will street on July 24 in the U.S. and Canada on Eleven: A Music Company through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group.

In spite of the band's long leave of absence, they recently sold out some New York, Los Angeles and Toronto shows within minutes. In some US shows they are supported by You Am I which have no doubt helped sell many tickets as their more experienced friends have over the years built strong support in the US, particularly in Seattle. The strong tour response drew a full page feature in the Los Angeles Times "Calendar" section and lead the LA Weekly to declare that "Silverchair have burrowed into a 'career band niche'... thriving on quality songwriting and authentic delivery".

In addition to their own headline tour, Silverchair will also make a mainstage appearance at the 30,000-capacity Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago on August 4th alongside Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Discography

Frogstomp (1995)
Freak Show (1997)
Neon Ballroom (1999)
Diorama (2002)
Young Modern (2007)

Official Website: www.chairpage.com

**wikipedia.org