Born: April 22, 1979
Mother: Julie Johns
Father: Greg Johns (works a fruit stand)
Brother: Heath
Sister: Chelsea
Pets: Dog-part collie named Sweep
Misc.: Has asthma, 2 left eyebrow rings, doesn't eat meat, loves animals, loves sleeping & once had pink hair, he got his hair cut off because he hadn't brushed it in 2 1/2 years, he express hiself trough art ( drawing, painting, poetry, music)
Current Age: 20
Height: About 185cm
Weight: Around 130 Lbs.
Guitars: mostly Paul Reed Smith (PRS) or Gibson
Amps: Soldano
Fave CD's: "Song About Fucking" by Black Dirt, "Life Was Better" by Magic Dirt and "Midgets Den"
Fave Groups: Tool, Helmet, Soundgarden, KoRn and Black Sabbath
Daniel Johns started playing the guitar when he was 10 inspired by his parents' old records. He took classical guitar lessons for about a year until he reached boredom because his idol took lessons as well. His first guitar was a $80 Rock Axe and later purchased a Gibson Fire Bird which he still has. Daniel also purchased Jimmy Page's (I think it was him) green PRS and auctioned off his famous silver PRS that was well recognized in the Freak Show tours. Currently he as a collection of about 24 guitars displayed in his room and now the famous guitar is the burgandy PRS with the "Girls Kick Ass" slogan.
Daniel is extremely shy (according to Ben) around new people he meets which is not visible at their shows. He has been a strict Vegen for about a year and a half told in a recent article from the Animal Liberation site and a vegetarian for about a few years. He has natural blond hair (that turns yellow in the sun) with bright blue eyes and a pale complextion due to the fact that he rarely goes out on his days off.
He once jokingly said that he doesn't fit the stereotype of the "typical" Australian because he doesn't eat seafood, drink beer and go out to the beach.
Daniel is probably the most "normal" person you'll ever meet. His typical day is to stay in his room and write songs, hang out with his friends or drive to the beach in his "rockin' mobile" (which he descibes his car), a XP '66 Ford with his dog. Rumor has it that he has a new car, I think a Mercedes which he bought with his father.
Sweep (his dog) is probably the other love of his life which he mentions is some articles. He found him in a dumpster as a puppy with other dogs. Sweep was the only one alive.
Daniel is known to be incredibly nice to people he meets and hates it when people treat him differently because of what he does and when people ask him what the time is on the beach. It annoys him when fans rush up to him grabbing his stuff while harassing him or when people throw stuff on the stage when he's playing.
Unfortunately, the "rock star" life style took it's toll leaving Daniel to seclude himself in a home by his self (with his dog) and do nothing but write poetry that eventually became the most of Neon Ballroom. It left him in a vaunerable emotional and physical state with experiences with an eating disorder, depression and anxiety attacks. But he became better with the help of his writing and support of others and continues to do well with the ongoing tour.
Daniel's family consists of his mother named Julie (who once kept track of silverchair's careers when they were underage), his father named Greg (who Daniel has "borrowed" many records from. Daniel's father currently works at a fruit market), his brother named Heath (he must be about 17 or 18 years old now), and his sister named Chelsea (11 years old). Heath is also in a band called Army of Prawns and I've heard that he's into basketball and rugby. It was also once said that Heath and Daniel share a bedroom, but I don't know what their "living status" is at present. Daniel's brother is into bands like Alice In Chains and Green Day, as far as I know. He also recently turned vegetarian. Chelsea takes care of Daniel's precious dog, Sweep, when he's away on tour.
Johnsie or "Jasper" (those are two of Daniel's nicknames....In an interview Daniel said, "But I used to get called Jasper because everyone thought I looked like Caspar the ghost!") had a good childhood. Very little is known about his childhood, though, other than a few things. First, he used to play trumpet in the school band. When Daniel was younger, he fell over and a watering can went in his mouth and he had to get stitches. He got hurt quite a lot as a child. He recalls being 14 years old and dropping a bandsaw on his foot. "It went right through," he said. He also used to have braces, but many people have remarked about how perfect his teeth are. His fondest memory of being a kid is during Christmas and being surrounded by people, watching him opening his presents. Also, when he was a kid, he was part of the Boy Scouts!! He was a seconder!
During the beginning of his teenage years, Daniel and Ben started up Short Elvis, which was basically a rap group because neither of them knew how to play instruments. Surfing was also a pretty major part of the day. Newcastle beaches are terrific for surfing, if you didn't already know. Daniel was very much into playing arcade games, too. Some of his favorites at the time were Cruising USA, Grand Prix Star, and Indie 500. School wasn't top priority, but if he had to pick a favorite subject, it would be English.
As time passed, even more things happened. He became vegetarian. He later became vegan. His first step was to wear out his suede airwalks. And then in December of 1996, something happened...Daniel got arrested! silverchair and Red Hot Chili Pepper, Dave Navarro, were testdriving the Montero Sport for Bikini Magazine. Daniel got in trouble for driving on the Santa Monica Beach (he seems to have heaps of trouble there!) and besides that, he didn't have a drivers licence. So, Cop #57 hauled Daniel into the police station, gave him looks, made him scared, until Sony got his drivers licence left in Australia. He was released unharmed and actually ended the day signing autographs for the cop's daughter. Fans also learned back in 1996 that Daniel could play drums!
On to the Freak Show Era! Daniel sported some new looks during that time. First, he had two eyebrow rings (shown here). The second eyebrow ring was done in Australia without anesthetic. Ben was there giving moral support. However, BOTH are out now. One was ripped out accidentally!!! That must've hurt!
Hmm...more things...his style of dress changed, too. Forget the band tee-shirts he wore during Frogstomp. He began wearing very weird shirts, one of the famous shirts being one that said in bold blue letters, "NOBODY KNOWS I'M A LESBIAN." This shirt was also auctioned off. He also wore a plain yellow tee-shirt and a bright red sweater. He also got a haircut...it went from a layered shag to dreadlocks! The music he created on Freak Show reflected his feelings being a "rock star" (although he says they're just guys in a rock band who "go home and eat food," one of the many modest things he's said to date). The lyrics on Freak Show were much more personal, not so television based. The equipment he used during the recording also changed. He changed over to Soldano amps. He uses Gibson guitars in the studio and Paul Reed Smith (PRS) guitars on tour because they are more durable. One memorable guitar during the Freak Show Era was a silver PRS, which later got auctioned off to some lucky person. Daniel also has a PRS Dragon inlaid guitar that has been refinished so many times it can't be repaired (which means Daniel can't smash it anymore). It's worth thousands of dollars. You might also be interested to know that Daniel has asthma. This fact wasn't known until the 11th Annual ARIA awards when silverchair performed 'Freak.' Ben and Chris accepted their award, while Daniel went home to get relief from his enhaler after having an asthma attack.
So, this brings us to 1998, a very hard year for this truly talented lead singer and guitarist. He suffered quite a lot, becoming very withdrawn. He stayed at home and played with Sweep for a while, relaxing after a long year of touring. 1998 was a resting year for silverchair. During this time, Daniel rented a house, where many of the songs for Neon Ballroom were written. He'd sit in front of the fireplace with Sweep and play guitar. He didn't listen to any other music, except his own. He wrote hundreds of poems in this house. However, he developed many phobias, including a fear of crowds, leaving home, and food. He thought certain shapes of food felt like razors going down his throat and at restaurants, he was always suspicious, thinking perhaps his food was poisoned. This later developed into a type of 'anorexia,' and is the story behind 'Ana's Song (Open Fire).' "After the last tour, Ben and Chris went from being in silverchair to a totally normal life once again, but I pretty much came home and couldn't deal with a normal lifestyle. I had to lock myself away and do what I knew would give me personal satisfaction-- writing music. But I'm a lot better now that I was at the time of writing the album. Back then I was pretty wrecked!" Daniel said in an article. However, his time in this rented house was limited. The landlord said that Daniel couldn't have any pets and the neighbors were complaining of the loud music. So, he gave Daniel an ultimatum- get rid of the dog and play the music softer...or leave. And Daniel chose to leave. He also got rid of the Ford Fairmont (that happened back in 1996) and he had an XP 1966 Ford. However, he soon bought a Mercedes due to the urging of his accountant. He also started watching a lot of television, from English sitcoms to Ricki Lake, to soap operas like Neighbours. He likes a lot of movies, but his personal favorite is Pulp Fiction. Favorite drink...V8 or orange juice. Okay, those were some even more pointless facts...want another one? Daniel's a Taurus...wow.
So, all these things that occurred in his life, this hard year are all reflected in the deep, meaningful, yet sorrowful lyrics of Neon Ballroom (with the exception of Anthem For The Year 2000 and Satin Sheets). The music was written with string accompaniament anticipated. The whole album concept is all Daniel's idea. "Every time I play these new songs it's like a cleansing experience. Although I remember the first few times I listened back to 'Ana's Song' and 'Emotion Sickness', I felt sick. I couldn't listen to the finished mix the whole way through: it kept bringing back bad memories. Basically it's a musical diary of a period in my life," he once said.
There's so many other things to know about Daniel, but none of them are truly relevant to anything at the moment. However, this is the story of a truly talented and amazing person. He summed it up when he said, "There's definitely a side to being in a successful band that no one really knows about, unless you've actually done it. But when you're onstage and people are getting into something that you've put everything into, I don't think there's a better feeling in the world."
Another one of his Quotes:
"My own vegetable soup. Or pasta. I make a mean veggie soup. It's the best. I just chuck everything in - every veggie, every spice. It's beautiful. I've been a veggie for about a year. I was kind of going off meat anyway, but a year ago I decided I wasn't eating it any more. I saw too many bad things on telly. As long as there's fruit on the tour rider, I'm happy. I can eat fruit all day."
