Angel C: Are you going to help with writing the music on the next album?

Ben: Yeah, I think it's quite possible that I'll do a bit more writing on the next album. When it was written it was in 1998 and that was when we had most of the year off and I didn't want to do anything musical. I wanted to listen to music and that was it.

Angel C: What is the song Without You about, and when will it be released?

Ben: I don't know when that's being released, I think we're keeping that up our sleeve until someone offers us a soundtrack or something. That's one of my faves- it's a good song.

Angel C: What do you think about people recording your shows and making money because of that?

Ben: That kinda sucks if it's our show and people are a profit off of it we should get a cut of it, but people do it all the time and you don't find out about it so what can you do?

Angel C: On the album premiere that was on about three months ago, Daniel spoke of a song that they didn't put on the album because it was his best song, and he was saving it for something special. Can you tell me anything about that?

Ben: Did you know what it was called?

Angel C: Nope. I have no idea.

Ben: It might be Ana's Song because that was kind of a last minute thing. Originally, Ana's Song wasn't going on the album, but we said that it should go on and he agreed. Any special songs that he has that we don't know about, I wouldn't have a clue.

Angel C: What do you feel about the music industry saying that rock and roll is going to die?

Ben: I don't think that rock and roll is going to die, I think the music industry is just going through a phase. Everything goes in cycles. Rock has gone out of fashion before, there was the whole disco phase, and the 80s glam rock phase, but plain old rock and roll always seems to come back into fashion.

Angel C: Is there anything on Neon Ballroom that you guys wanted to do, but you didn't?

Ben: No, I think we basically did everything that we wanted, and we're really happy with the album. The main thing was that we make an album that was really different, and that was kind of fresh, that would make you think of the old stuff and we did.

Angel C: Was this album hard to work on in the studio, as opposed to the previous album?

Ben: Yeah it was, just with all the extra instumentation, but as far as playing as a band goes, not really because when we record in the studion we record live. We all set up and we record the first three tracks together, a lot of bands record the drums, then rerecord the drums, then the guitar and bass and blah blah blah. For us it was basically the same, but as far as extras go, there was alot of extra stuff going on, like the strings and the keyboards- I could go on.

Angel C: Do you think that Anthem for the Year 2000 will replace Prince's "1999?"

Ben: I don't know. It would be kind of cool if it did, but I think Prince picked the wrong year. Yeah, if it turned into a song that everyone knew and kind of associated with the future that would be cool.

Angel C: Are you thinking of playing a show on New Year's Eve this year?

Ben: Quite possibly. We're not really sure what we're doing yet. If we play anywhere we'll play in Australia so we can get home. But me personally, I don't want to play because I'd much rather be with my friends and my family and not have to stress about playing a gig and blah blah blah, I'd much rather have a nice relaxing night.

Angel C: But you've got to admit it'd be an awesome moment, wouldn't it, playing that song as the time changed to the year 2000?

Ben: Yeah it would be an awesome feeling. It's one of the last times it'll click over the next millenium. It's kind of like going to work as it clicks over to the millenium. I bet if you asked anyone if they'd like to go to work when it clicks over to the millenium, they'd say no.

Angel C: I know that your contract with Sony records is good for three albums. Are you going to continue to release albums as silverchair when your contract is up?

Ben: We've probably got a few more albums in us. We don't want to be one of those bands that are around for years and we wear out our welcome trying to milk it for all it's worth. We want to be one of the bands to kind of go out on top, kind of like the police.

Angel C: Has there been any mention of whether you're going to stay with Sony, or do you know yet?

Ben: We don't know yet. They've been really good to us. Their's a pretty good chance we'll stay with them, but we'll wait till we cross that bridge.

Angel C: Do you think your fans understand silverchair as people and from musical perspective?

Ben: Yeah definetly as people, alot of them understand us because from interviews and stuff like that you can tell what our personalities are like. Especially in the past we used to be idiots in interviews. So they definetly know what we're like as people. Yeah, I think so, there's no certain thing you're supposed to understand about our music. It's different for everyone, if someone pursues a song differently than someone else, that's cool.

Angel C: What were your two hopes for this album in comparison to Freak Show and Frogstomp?

Ben: We're hoping it will go as well as Freak Show, it's kind of early to tell. It is going really well, but it's hard to tell how well it's going to go. We still get to play big shows and we still get to play to people who appreciate our music, so it's good.

Angel C: How has this present tour been treating you, now that schoolwork is out of the way?

Ben: The tours have been really good. It kind of sucked when we were on tour and we had to worry about assignments and shit. But now that that's out of the way, it's cool.

Angel C: What is your favorite place to perform?

Ben: It would definetly have to be in Australia. Just because it's our home country, and you feel like anywhere in Australia you've got the accent around you and familiar food and familiar surroundings it's much much easier. America and Europe are fun to play, but you get homesick and you're not in familiar surroundings, sometimes it's just strange.

Angel C: Do you have a favorite venue or town?

Ben: No, not really, just anywhere in Australia. Up in Queensland, it's pretty nuts.

Angel C: How did you come up with the name Neon Ballroom?

Ben: Neon Ballroom just came basically from the album concept which was to combine old orchestral sounds, like keyboards and pianos, and have the band in there as well. Hence, Neon Ballroom, ballroom being the old sounding stuff, and Neon stemming from the new stuff.

Angel C: I've heard that you have the Internet. Do you ever check out the fan's silverchair pages?

Ben: Sometimes I check out the 'Chair page to see what's going on. It's good. Sometimes we check our reviews and see what people think of what we're doing. There's tons of sites on the Internet.

Angel C: What made you decide that David Helfgott was the pianist you wanted for this album?

Ben: I think it was just because he really suited that part that was written for the song Emotion Sickness. Also, because in a weird way we had a connection to him because he was a child prodigy and he was Australian.

Angel C: I've heard about a band called "The Army of Prawns." Would you guys ever do a song with Daniel's brother, Heath?

Ben: Personally, I wouldn't, because all of our other siblings. It would be weird that we're doing stuff with his brother and not anyone else. But if Daniel and he wanted to do anything, that's cool.