Australian teen trio silverchair plan to record the follow-up to their debut album frogstomp in April/May, possibly during their school holiday break, which is set for release in September. They have already written eight new songs, of which they are including only three in their current live set.

"We don't want to get sick of them too early," comments vocalist/guitarist Daniel Johns. "The songs Nobody Came and Slave have been around for a while, but Freak is only about two months old. I wrote it just before we went to America with the Chili Peppers. We practiced it once and decided to include it in the set.

"Freak is about people who try to be different but look exactly the same. There are heaps of people who think they are being really different by dyeing their hair purple, and then they turn up somewhere and there are about 15 people with purple hair!" laughs Johns. "I just think it's really stupid trying to be different when you look exactly the same as everyone else."

The next time we [in the UK] see silverchair may well be at Donington (if the festival goes ahead), as the band are keen to appear on the bill.

"I would be scared of all those metal people backstage," confesses Daniel. "I would just go in to the band room and close the door. All the metal people are tough guys, and we're little weeds!"

We're sure that adequate female security could be arranged to protect the muscle-free Australian trio!

[Thanx Kate for the transript]