I didn't mention this at all on my main Silverchair page, because I've decided that if people just want to like the music without really knowing about Daniel Johns' eating disorder then that's absolutely fine - I don't want to be accused of ramming his old problems down unwilling people throats. Coolies??
Anyway this part is all about the lead singer of Silvechair (Daniel Johns') eating disorder and his depression. In (I think) 1998 after a long tour and many years of bullying tourment a 19 year old Daniel Johns rented a flat in his home town on Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia with his dog Sweep. He spent 6 months in almost complete issolation. He developed many fears and emotional problems, some being:
*A fear of eating in restaurants because he was sure someone was trying to poison him
*A fear of ringing telephones. Apparently as Daniel says, he would have to leave the room if his phone was ringing
*This isn't a fear, but he started to seriously limit his food intake. This became known as his eating dosorder.
Daniel only realised he had an eating disorder when he visited his family doctor about a cold he wan't able to shake off. He found out he was seriously underweight and his life was in danger if he kept eating the way he was. He was proscribed Anti-depressents and his weight was (I believe) closely monitered
The album Neon Ballroom (silverchair's third) was a detailed account of the 6 months he had spent living with his problems. Ana's Song is the only song on the album that openly admits to his eating disorder, but songs like the epic Emotion Sickness and Paint Pastel Princess are obviously about the drugs he proscribed.
Thank God Daniel Johns is healthy again. Almost 3 years later, Silverchiar are about to release their 4th album, and Daniel has been clean of anti-depressants for a year now. How great is that? And also he's back together with his ex-girlfriend Nathalie Imbruglia ----- yay!!!
