Teen Magazine
June 1996
Who would've guessed five years ago, when best buds Daniel Johns, Chris Joannou and Ben Gillies were hanging 10 on the waves in Newcastle, Australia, that one day they'd have a platinum album hanging in the Top 10 in America?
it all started four summers ago when the surf mates got bored with sun 'n' sand and opted for rock 'n' roll. Originally called Innocent Criminals, lead singer Daniel, bassist Chris and drummer Ben (a fourth member dropped out early, poor guy!) eventually changed their band's name to Silverchair and started jamming in Ben's garage, doing mostly cover songs by '70s fares 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 awesome 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. 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. By the time the pop-rocky record made its 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 who 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 every day 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!"
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"Because we're Good friends, we just act like total idiots together. But when he's [Daniel Johns] got to do interviews, 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 'em 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 dad Johns manages a fruit stand.