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silverchair
It all started four summers ago when surf mates got bored with sun'n'sand
and opted for rock'n'roll. Originally called the Innocent Criminals, lead
singer Daniel, bassist Chris, and drummer Ben (a fourth member dropped
out early, poor guy!) eventually changed their ban's name to silverchair
and stared jamming in Ben's garage, doing mostly cover songs by '70s
faves like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. "We thought we were good,"
admits Daniel, 16. Unfortunately at their first gig, the audience didn't
agree. "This old guy complained and said if we didn't stop playing he'd
call the cops. So we stopped playing." Luckily for us, that didn't last long.
The awsome threesome worked on writing their own songs and in the summer of '94,
they entered an original tune called "Tomorrow" in a national radio contest. Out of
800 entries, silverchair placed First and won a day in a recording studio
where they recut the song.
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The rest, as they say is history. "Tomorrow" went to Number One, then they
got a major label deal and Frogstomp(Epic) also topped the charts
down under. Bye the time the pop-rocky record made it's way to America
last summer, we were totally psyched. Here were three hotties who looked
like Nirvana and sounded like Pearl Jam but didn't have any of the problems
or attitude associated with those bands.With the support of MTV which
played "Tomorrow like there wasn't one, Frogstomp leaped up the charts
to Number Nine and went Platinum here, too. You'd think with that much success
in such a short time silverchair would be copping some major rock star
attitude,right? No way. Even with their new single "findaway" finding
its way into our hearts, Daniel, Chris and Ben swear that nothing's
changed. (Ok, but how many guys do you know spent their summer vacation
opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' U.S. tour?) They still go to the
same high school with all their old mates, their moms are still their
managers, and they still practice in Ben's garage. "We made a deal with
each other ," Daniel says, " As soon as one of us gets a big head, we're
quitting!"
silverchair Stats&Statements
"Because we're good friends, we just act like total idiots together.
But when he's [Daniel Johns] got to do interveiws, or he meets someone
new or something like that, he can be kind of shy. That's just the kind
of person he is, but because i've known him 10 years, he just seems normal
to me."
- Ben Gillies, talking about fellow bandmember Daniel Johns
"We've been good friends since primary school, when we were five and six."
-Ben Gillies, talking about Daniel and Chris
Because they've missed so much school being on tour overseas, the
principal at their school, Newcastle High, has restructured their
studies for the next two years. They now get special credits in music.
"It's really great because one of the requirements of this course is to
give them a recorded piece of music.
So we can just give 'me the CD!"
-Ben Gillies
FAMILY FACTS
*Their moms, Annette Gillies, Sue Joannou and Julie Johns are their managers.
*Johns is the oldest of three children.
*Ben Gillies has an older sister
*Chris Joannou has an older sister and a twin sister.
*When they're not working as roadies for their sons, Ben's dad is
a plumber. Chris' dad is in the dry cleaning business, and Daniel's
dand manages a fruit stand.
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