Singer/guitarist Daniel Johns, bassist Chris Joannous, and drummer Ben Gillies
gave several interviews. They talked about how the new songs leaned away from
the "Seattle" or "Grunge"-tinged sound that permeated Frogstomp.
especially songs like "Tomorrow" and "Suicidal Dream." The new tunes, they claimed,
reflect their current favorites Helmet, Tool, Rollins Band, and Shellac.
The band's choice of veteran studio professionals also seems to mirror silverchair's
desire to draw from Helmet and the like. The new album's producer is Nick Launay,
who has produced the Posies, fellow Australians Midnight Oil, and former Sex Pistols'
John Lydon's most recent punk band, Public Image Limited.
Later this year, the record will be mixed in New York by Andy Wallace who has worked
with Rage Against The Machine, Helmet, and The Smashing Pumpkins.
The band's manager, John Watson, says that the new songs show Johns', Joannou's,
and Gillies' latest musical tastes. "Some of the new silverchair tunes are
actally more melodic than most material on Frogstomp," according to Watson.
"[Freshly written songs like] 'Freak' sit alongside less confrotational songs like 'Pop Song
For Us Rejects'"
Watson insists that the fifteen songs that silverchair recorded for the new album
as of press time "cover a much broader musical range than Frogstomp." It is
said to include much harder edge on some tunes and strings and acoustic instruments on others.
The band claims they have been so busy making the album that they haven't been doing
much else. But with two new songs coming out, and a couple of unannounced album preview gigs under
their belt, they've been up to a lot more than they admit.
They held an unannounced show this spring at a university in their Newcastle hometown
to try out some of the new songs live. Then they played a surprize gig in Sydney,
Australia to launce Red, Australia's version of MTV.
silverchair spent May in Australia opening for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers,
silverchair met up with them at one of their shows and to mark the
occasion, the Chilli Peppers played part of silverchair's hit "Tomorrow".
Later in the show, the Peppers welcomed Ben Gillies onstage to play drums for part of
their encore.
silverchair are also big Jim Carrey fans. When they heard tunes were needed for the
soundtrack of THe Cable Guy, Carrey's latest movie, they jumped at the chance
to be involved. Their contribution was the song "Blind," which originally appeared
as a bonus track on the Australian release of the "Tomorrow" single, but was never
released in the United States or Canada. silverchair re-recorded "Blind" especially
for the soundtrack.
Yet another collective love of theirs is surfing. Coming from a continent known
for its incredible waves, and living near the beach all of their lives, it's
no surprise silverchair would be keen on supporting Surfrider, an international
anti-water pollution organization formed by concerned surfers.
Surfrider has just released a benefit album through Interscope records,
called M.O.M., which features water themed tunes from everyone from Helmet,
Everclear, Pearl Jam, and Porno For Pyros, to well, you guessed it, silverchair.
The song the guys picked was "Surfin Bird" which was originally done by a surf
band called The Trashmen, but covered most notably by the Ramones and the Cramps.
silverchair recorded their rough, rockin' version of "Surfin Bird" in under two hours
with famed Seattle producer Jack Endino. Recording the tune so quickly was "Just a bit
of fun" according to Daniel Johns.
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