Silverchair Still Young Still Modern - BEAT Magazine

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Artykuł z 21 marca 2007 roku z BEAT Magazine --->

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SILVERCHAIR Still Young Still Modern
by Nick Snelling

I am hoping for violence. A juicy story detailing some inter-band punch-up. The tearful revelation of a physical abuse at the hands of a coke-fiend manager. The brutal attack of some windmilling Novocastrian thug, out to settle an old score. Or the tale of Natalie Imbruglia, in the grip of a jealous rage, slogging him one. Any salacious piece of gossip, really, behind the fact that Daniel Johns, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Newcastle megastars Silverchair, is sporting one hell of a shiner in the latest promo shot. “Ahhh, that…” he gives a mischievous laugh. “It’s actually make-up. We got bored in the photo-shoot, so I asked if they had anything that would look like a black eye.” Oh, I say. How disappointing. “Nothing controversial, I’m afraid,” he apologises, amused. “We can come up with a story if you like?” One step ahead of you there, Daniel…

Johns sounds relaxed, happy to be discussing the new album Young Modern. And so he should. Not only have the last few weeks seen the first single Straight Lines dominate charts and radio playlists alike, but headline slots on a string of Australian festivals paired with sold-out showcase concerts in the US, mean everything appears in place for Silverchair’s latest renaissance. While proud and enthusiastic about the result of three and half months in an LA studio, Johns says it was a stressful time. Beyond his skittish temperament, was there a particular reason?

“A lot of reasons,” he pauses contemplatively. “There were a lot of songs, about 50, that I had to cut back to 12 or whatever, and it took me a long time to pick what songs should be. Also, in the studio I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist.” He gives a rueful laugh. “And if it’s not going right, then I tend to pull the plug until it does.”

In contrast with the epic minimalism of Straight Lines, the other songs of Young Modern see a fusion of the orchestral flourishes and lush harmonies of Silverchair’s last opus Diorama with the more experimental pop vision of The Dissociatives (his side project with keyboardist and electronic producer Paul Mac). “I was trying to do more of a kind of Brian Eno or Talking Heads interpretation of epic pop music, you know?” Johns says, and agrees that though there are similar elements, Young Modern is less riffy, less proggy than Diorama. “Yeah, I was really trying to get away from that. This time, at every single stage I was simplifying and simplifying because I wanted to make a record that felt like a rock ’n’ roll band but still had all the interesting sonic stuff. Basically, a psychedelic modern pop record.”

It’s interesting he should say that, as during the making of Diorama, Johns was quoted as saying he didn’t really want to be in a rock band any more, that he felt like he was more of a solo artist these days. With Young Modern, has he come full circle? “I think I’ve realised I can have both,” he says, relating how he left it to producer Nick Launay to ensure the foundations of Silverchair – essentially guitars, bass and drums – were captured in live takes. “I wanted it to sound like a rock ’n’ roll band except with all these magical flavours. I wanted to use harmonies again, but more sparingly, just accentuating certain phrases and melodies, rather than these big three part harmonies throughout everything.”

Even with the help of his old Diorama cohorts Paul Mac, orchestral arranger Paul Van Dyke and acclaimed mixer David Botrill to create the “soundscapes” he envisaged, Johns states the contribution of drummer Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou was nonetheless vital. “It was the only way I felt another Silverchair record would be legitimate,” he explains. “We’ve got a really great rhythm section and it would be a shame to lose that amongst all my imagination and experimentation. I wanted it to sound like a band first, but a band you’ve never heard before, and a pop record that was really simple but hard to get your head around – the more you listened to you realised was actually really complex.”

Whilst many bands talk about finally ‘finding their sound’, with Silverchair it seems to be a fluid concept? “I’ve never seen our band as one where we’re on a quest to find our sound,” he agrees. “I still haven’t heard any other album sound like Neon Ballroom and Diorama, and I wanted to do the same with this one. I think there’s a concept and a purpose, but I don’t know what that is except that when I sit down to write it's always what I think Silverchair should do next. There’s never a desire to repeat a formula that worked.”

Whilst some fans have expressed concern at what they see as an almost Svengali-type influence that Paul Mac wields over his protégé, Johns dismisses the idea. He regards Mac as both “musical soulmate”, and more importantly, a genuine friend. “He was the first person that I played the demos from Diorama to who was excited about it. There were no signs of trepidation or fear, he was just enthusiastic and supportive of my musical vision,” the singer relates, saying that Mac was also responsible for his eventual embrace of pop music. “Throughout the Diorama period, I was really embracing melody but avoiding pop music, and he made me appreciate that if you can do something different within that template of verse chorus verse, then you’re killing it. Like the Beatles or The Beach Boys – they were always pop songs, but they were otherworldly and different.”

Curiously, there is a track late in the album, Mind Reader, where the vocals are barely recognisable as the singer's. He seems delighted I noticed. “I did that a bit on The Dissociatives as well, singing in voices that I felt matched the sonics of the track. On Diorama it was all about singing and getting the great vocal, whereas this time it was more about trying to deliver the sentiment and the lyric.” Indeed, the progression in Johns' voice since earlier recordings, which see him still infected with the Seattle-style drawl of his influences, is remarkable. His voice now is elastic, original and distinctly his own. “It’s something I’ve tried to work on. With Frogstomp, I was 14 so my voice still hadn’t really broken, so I guess I was just trying to sing like a man,” he laughs. “By the second record I worked out I didn’t have to sing like I was from the grunge era, and by Neon Ballroom I’d found my voice and really knew how to sing. With Diorama, I’d really become an even better singer just from being on the road and getting over having an eating disorder. Now, I feel like I don’t want to stop there. If anything I want to fuck my voice up a bit!” he guffaws. “Smoke a lot of pot and drink a lot in order to find a new way to sing! I idolise singers like Tom Waits, David Bowie…voices that are unique, you know? Mick Jagger, John Lennon, none of them are great singers but they are great vocalists. I wanted this record to be great vocally as opposed to great singing.”

Does he sing in the shower? “No!” he seems simultaneously amused and mortified by the idea. “I’m so self-conscious, and I’m always in hotels so I’d be too afraid the cleaner or someone would hear me and go ‘oh, listen. Daniel’s singing in the shower!’ I don’t ever want that experience of walking out and having a whole line of people in hallway laughing at me.”

Are there any issues within the band with Johns being the sole songwriter and creative dictator? “Umm…kind of at the start,” he hedges. “After Freakshow, I said to the guys, ‘I don’t won’t to co-write anymore, I just want to take the reigns and do it myself.’ I felt I had a really strong vision of what the band should be, and it didn’t really involve any compromising. We didn’t argue and there wasn’t any real tension, but it was a bit of a shock to Ben and Chris. But when they heard (the songs for Neon Ballroom) it was like ‘you know what? It’s fucking good’. Now, everyone in the band just knows their role, and every time I see Ben and Chris play, I’m reminded that I haven’t seen a rhythm section where I want to play in their band more.”

Young Modern is the first album funded entirely by the band, without record company overseers. After viewing the infamous footage of Diorama’s recording, I wonder if this decision was reached after Johns' palpable frustration at the interferences of the American A&R guy? “Yes. Mentally, I didn’t think I could go through that again,” he sighs as though even the idea exhausts him. “The funny thing about that DVD was that we had to cut all the really intense bits out. People bring it up and say, ‘yeah, I saw what it was like!’, but I’m like ‘you saw a bit – believe me it got worse!’” He groans at the memory. “This time, I felt the songs were really good, that I’d really done a lot of work on them and we’d rehearsed our arses off so we could just walk in there and nail it, so I simply didn’t want anyone else involved who wasn’t a friend and supportive of the vision.”

Silverchair’s recent stint at the ARIAS saw Johns, at the climax of their rendition of Midnight Oils’ Don’t Wanna Be The One, spray-paint the slogan ‘PG 4 PM' (Peter Garret for Prime Minister). It sparked a lot of discussion and caused a significant proportion of the audience, and country, to cheer. But was the onlooking Labor minister and former Oils frontman as embarrassed as some reports suggest?

“I talked to him later about it, and I don’t think he was embarrassed about it; if anything he was shocked,” says Johns. “He actually called our management and said he was really flattered by it. My interpretation of why perhaps his reaction didn’t seem overly positive about it is when you’re in a political party you’ve really got to be sensible about how you react to statements like that. I guess with all the stuff that was happening in the Labor Party at that time, which no one really knew about then, it was best if he just humbly accepted the gesture. The only person I wanted to offend was John Howard.”

With his history of anorexia, arthritis and anxiety attacks well behind him, the singer is the picture of good health. “I feel great. It’s been about three years since I was sick with arthritis, but that whole experience made so appreciative of everything, because there was a period there where I was in a wheelchair and I thought I’m never going to be able to walk again, never going to be to play guitar, and I thought it was all over …” he chuckles at his past morbidity, “and I still hadn’t been able to make my best album yet!”

It’s a no surprise that Newcastle is very proud of Silverchair, but how proud of Newcastle is Daniel Johns? “After school, I was getting beaten up a lot. Dragged into vans and bashed, so I was really angry and not having a good time. I think I lashed out in an interview once when I was 16 and said ‘Newcastle is full of fuckwits’. But now, people who know me know that I genuinely love where I come from, and get back there whenever I can.” Even so, surely it couldn’t be too hard to arrange to have a few old school bullies dragged into vans of their own? He gives a snort, adding evilly. “Yeah…I may not do it myself, but I have connections.”

Given his celebrity status, why is it we don’t see that many pictures of Johns and popstar wife Natalie Imbruglia strewn across the covers of the likes of Who Magazine? Are they more adept at avoiding the paparazzi? “There’s definitely times we’ve been chased and followed, and once or twice where I wanted to do a bit of a Liam Gallagher and smash something,” he laughs, “but, ultimately that’s what they want – the full tantrum shot. I think we just try to avoid all that sort of thing. It’s just so stupid, and I think it must be stupid even to the people who work within that industry. But people read it. If you’re sitting in a hotel lobby and there’s a Who Magazine of course you’re going to pick it up and see what’s happening with Angelina and Brad.”

Speaking of which, any immediate plans to adopt a third world child of their own? “Yeah, haven’t you heard? We’re adopting Madonna’s baby. It can’t be that hard. And then, when we get sick of it, we’ll sell it. On eBay or something.”

Young Modern is out now through Eleven/Virgin. Catch them live at the Metro on Tuesday May 1 with Dappled Cities Fly.

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