Silverchair

27-01-2003

TRIPLE J'S HOTTEST 100 RESULTS

If there was any doubt that 2002 ended up being a good year for Silverchair in Australia, the results of Triple J's annual listener poll yesterday confirmed it. No other artist had more songs make the "Hottest 100" list than Silverchair with five entries on the chart. "The Greatest View", "Without You", "Luv Your Life", "Across The Night" and "World Upon Your Shoulders" all making the list. Thanks to all the members of the LAS and other Silverchair supporters who voted for this.

24-12-2002

DIORAMA VOTED ALBUM OF THE YEAR

"Diorama" has been voted Album of the Year by the listeners of Triple J. The result places "Diorama" ahead of great albums like "Highly Evolved" (The Vines), "By The Way" (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and "A Rush Of Blood To The Head" (Coldplay).

Thank you to everyone who voted.

20-12-2002

DIORAMA BREAKS RECORDS

Here in Australia, Silverchair's "Diorama" is now officially the fastest selling album of their entire career.

The widely acclaimed disc went past triple platinum sales (210,000 copies) today - only eight and half months after it was initially released. By comparison, Silverchair's debut CD "frogstomp" took almost a year to reach this point. Its' follow up, "Freak Show", got there after two years while 1999's "Neon Ballroom" is only now on the verge this sales level.

These unprecedented sales are all the more remarkable given the album's radical shift in musical direction. "Diorama" sees songwriter, Daniel Johns, intentionally discarding most of the heavy rock riffs that had become the group's trademark and experimenting with more melodic and orchestral stylings.

It has also been achieved in spite of the fact that the band has not been able to play any Australian concerts since the album's release due to health problems.

16-12-2002

'CHAIR END YEAR ON A HIGH

After a rollercoaster year, 2002 has ended well for Silverchair.

For starters, "Diorama" returned to the Australian top10 today. It's the first Silverchair album to still be in the very top end of the local charts for the last week of the year.

This achievement follows hot on the heels of the disc being voted in the "top 10 albums of 2002" by many local critics. Plus, of course, there were the rapid fire sell outs of the band's Australian tour dates. Limited seats still remain for the second Brisbane concert but all other tickets are now gone.

Next month Silverchair is expected to figure strongly in Triple J's Hottest 100 poll. Voting is now underway.

Internationally, songs and videos from "Diorama" are receiving high rotation in many countries - most notably Germany and Brazil. The band is hoping to return to international touring after their Australian dates and chairpage hopes to be able to begin announcing some of these shows over the coming month.

All three members of Silverchair are planning to spend the holiday season close to their family and friends. On behalf of the band and everyone here at chairpage we wish you peaceful and happy holidays. Thanks also to all those Silverchair fans who have stuck by the band over this trying year. Here's to a great 2003!

28-11-2002

HUGE NEWS UPDATE

Tickets go on sale next week for Silverchair's "Across The Night" Australian tour. In the leadup to the big day, fans will get to see, hear and read fresh interviews with the band as they reflect on a rollercoaster year and look forward to the tour.

For starters, Daniel will appear on Triple J with Richard Kingsmill for a whole hour this weekend. He will play some CD's and chat about "Diorama". It will be his first interview on the national youth broadcaster since the album was launched there back in April. Overseas fans can listen in via the Triple J website.

On Sunday, a four page cover story will appear in the free colour magazine that accompanies the News Ltd newspapers in most Australian states (eg: Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Herald Sun etc.). The piece may be posted on www.news.com.au so keep an eye out for that if you're interested.

On Tuesday afternoon Ben Gillies will co-host the drive time show on Sydney's Triple M and again this will be accessible online via www.mrock.com.au.

Then from 9.30pm to 10.30pm on Tuesday December 3, Channel 10 will broadcast a Rove[live] special on Silverchair. The show will feature brand new interview footage which was filmed this week in Melbourne. It will also feature behind the scenes studio footage plus excepts of performances from the ARIA Awards and "Rock In Rio".

There is also some activity in music stores. As previously announced, "The Diorama Box" - a limited edition set containing all the singles from the album - hits the streets in Australia on December 1. To order online check out etailers like CDfulfillment and Soundworld. Also, apparently Silverchair's former record company have decided to change the "Best Of" compilation which they put together in 2000 after the band parted ways with the label. That rush released package originally contained two CD's. One CD had all the singles on it and the second CD contained some collectable tunes. The record company has now decided to make these two CD's available separately. The band was not consulted about this decision and there is nothing they can do about it. Chairpage understands that the 'new' "Best Of" CD will look exactly the same as the old one but it will now only contain one disc of hit singles. The collectable songs that were originally included on the second disc of the "old" "Best Of" album will now be available on a separate CD called "Rarities".

We just thought you should know about this in case you see the "Rarities" disc in your local music shop and mistakenly think it contains previously unreleased recordings. It does not. All the songs on "Rarities" were originally released on the old "Best Of" CD.

Stay tuned for more Silverchair news over the coming weeks!

16-10-2002

SILVERCHAIR HIT ARIA'S FOR SIX

Six must be Silverchair's lucky number following the band’s success at last night's ARIA Awards in Sydney. Not only did the trio win six Awards, they were voted Channel V’s "Artist Of The Year" for the sixth consecutive time.

Silverchair and their acclaimed album "Diorama" walked away with half a dozen ARIA Awards for "Best Group", "Best Rock Album", "Best Producer", "Best Artwork", "Best Engineer" plus the publicly voted ARIA category – Channel V's "Artist Of The Year".

During the televised award show the group returned to the concert stage for the first time in six months with a barnstorming rendition of "The Greatest View" accompanied by a full brass section and guest keyboardist Paulmac. The performance received a standing ovation from the 5000 people in attendance.

"Hopefully the ARIA's will bring some focus back to "Diorama", said Daniel Johns. 'A lot of time was spent creating the album and I'm really proud of how it sounds. Most of the focus this year has been on things other than music so hopefully the ARIA's will remind people about the album."

As part of a follow up to the ARIA's all three members of Silverchair have done exclusive in depth interviews with Channel V which will be aired as part of a brand new special which will air on the music station this Sunday night. The band has won V’s "Artist Of The Year" Award every year since it was established back in 1997. Click for larger version

"It was particularly great to win the Channel V prize again", said Ben Gillies. "It's the one that's decided by public voting so it means a lot that the people who like the band have stuck with us through this year."

The ARIA Award success came as a welcome change for the band after enduring an otherwise frustrating year to date. The group's frontman, Daniel Johns, has battled reactive arthritis throughout 2002 leading the band to cancel all touring and promotional commitments since April. In spite of this lack of public profile, "Diorama" has attracted the best reviews of Silverchair's career and has spawned three top 20 singles so far – "The Greatest View", "Without You" and "Luv Your Life".

In recent months Daniel Johns has been receiving treatment in Los Angeles and his condition has improved significantly. He has 90% functioning in his joints and is able to play guitar for up to 15 minutes at a time before he begins to lose mobility in his hands. Johns will return to Los Angeles this week for further treatment and he is optimistic that he will be fully recovered and able to begin rehearsing for full concert performances to take place in early 2003.

12-10-2002

SILVERCHAIR TO BRING 'DIORAMA' ALIVE AT ARIAS

Silverchair today announced they will perform a song at the 16th Annual ARIA Music Awards in Sydney on Tuesday night. It will be the band's first live appearance anywhere in the world since their album "Diorama" debuted at #1 on the Australian charts in April.

Since that time, "Diorama" has sold over 500,000 copies worldwide and yielded three top 20 singles in this country. Rolling Stone magazine dubbed the album "one of the boldest musical statements ever made by an Australian rock band" and Kerrang said it was "their first truly great album". After hearing some of the songs, Bono from U2 told Rolling Stone that people should "swim to Australia to hear them if you have to".

"Diorama" was awarded three ARIA’s (Best Producer, Best Engineer and Best Artwork) when the artisan awards were presented for 2002 two weeks ago. The disc is also nominated for Best Album and Best Rock album and has led to Silverchair's nomination for Best Group at Tuesday night's ceremony. The band is on the shortlist for Channel [V]'s "Artist Of The Year" award.

Over the last six months the band has been unable to undertake touring and promotional activities due to frontman, Daniel Johns' battle with reactive arthritis. Johns' condition has improved significantly in recent months as a result of intensive treatments he has been receiving in Los Angeles. He has now recovered sufficiently to allow him to deliver a short performance such as the one on Tuesday night. He is still not fully recovered and is only able to play guitar for about 15 minutes before his hands begin to lose mobility. Daniel is definitely expected to make a complete recovery although an entire concert performance is set to be several more months away.

"We're really relieved that Daniel is feeling so much better and we're looking forward to being able to play together again after six pretty frustrating months", said Silverchair's drummer, Ben Gillies. "We're pleased that "Diorama" has received all of these nominations in spite of the fact that we haven't been able to do much to let people know about it. It will be fun to be able to play together again after such a long break - even if it is for only one song. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before Daniel is well enough to do an entire show."

Ed St John, Chairman of the ARIA Awards said, "From the very first meeting about this year's ARIA Awards there was a consensus that Silverchair simply had to be a part of the show. The fact that Daniel's illness made that a remote possibility only strengthened everyone's determination to make it happen. I know I speak for the entire ARIA board, and everyone involved in producing the show, that we're absolutely delighted that Silverchair are now confirmed to appear."

Daniel Johns returned to Australia on Monday this week. Since then, he has rehearsed each day with his bandmates Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou. While in Australia he is continuing to treat his arthritic condition by various means including homeopathic medicines and physical therapy. Later this week Johns will return to Los Angeles to continue receiving treatment.

Silverchair's ARIA Awards performance will coincide with the release of a new DVD called "Across The Night" which is in stores tomorrow. The DVD contains a behind-the-scenes, 'warts and all' documentary film about the making of "Diorama" as well as music videos for three songs off the album - "The Greatest View", "Without You" and "Luv Your Life" plus some other special features.

The 16th Annual ARIA Awards show will be telecast on Network Ten at 7.30pm on Tuesday live from the Superdome in Sydney. The show will be hosted by Rove McManus and will feature performances by SILVERCHAIR, ALEX LLOYD, 1200 TECHNIQUES, GRINSPOON, HOLLY VALANCE, GEORGE, TAXIRIDE, KASEY CHAMBERS, SELWYN, DISCO MONTEGO, JOHN BUTLER, SHAKAYA and MOTOR ACE along with appearances by KELLY OSBOURNE, OLIVIA NEWTON - JOHN, SIR BOB GELDOF, DYLAN LEWIS, KYLE SANDILANDS, GRETEL KILLEEN, STEVE IRWIN, SOPHIE MONK, NATALIE IMBRUGLIA, DAVID McCORMACK, BILLY THORPE, KATE LANGBROEK, MERRICK & ROSSO, DAVE HUGHES and more.

30-09-2002

DANIEL JOHNS UPDATE

Silverchair's frontman says that he's definitely 'on the mend' following several weeks of intensive treatment in Los Angeles.

"It's going really, really well," Johns said of his new treatments. "A lot better than I ever expected. (When I first got here) I was on a cane, and it took me 10 minutes to walk about 10 meters. I was literally that slow, and since I've been here I've been getting all alternative treatments and gradually coming off the Western medicine because it was just making me more dependent on the drugs and giving me less ability to actually get up. And yeah, since I've been here I'm off the cane and walking well. I can play guitar for about 10 or 15 minutes a day. It's definitely getting better. And it's getting better pretty quick, too. It's only been about six weeks."

According to the band's management, there is still a chance that Daniel might be well enough enough to return to Australia for the ARIA Awards on October 15 although "obviously his continued recovery is the main priority".

16-09-2002

THE 'CHAIR AND THE ARIAS

It was announced in Sydney today that Silverchair has been nominated for three awards at this year's ARIA Awards (Australia's 'Grammys'). The band is one of the five final nominees in the following industry voted categories: "Album Of The Year", "Best Rock Album", and "Best Group".

At the announcement ceremony a number of actual prizewinners were also announced in the so-called 'Artisan Categories' (best producer, best engineer, best video and best artwork). Only specialists in each field vote in these categories and the big news from this was that Daniel Johns was voted Best Producer for his work in Co-Producing "Diorama".

Daniel was unable to attend the presentation because he is still receiving medical treatment in Los Angeles. However, in a statement read by the band's manager, John Watson, Daniel said "given all the work that went into making "Diorama" and the medical problem I've had this year, it's particularly pleasing to win this award".

"Diorama" was also recognised with Darren Glindemann, John Watson, Melissa Chenery and Daniel Johns receiving an ARIA Award for Best Cover Art and Anton Hagop receiving an ARIA Award for Best Engineer. Squareyed Films were also nominated in the category for Best Video for "The Greatest View". This made Silverchair the only artist to receive nominations in all four Artisan categories.

Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou attended the announcement ceremony and were among the first to congratulate Daniel, Darren and Anton. Asked if Silverchair would perform at the Award Night in Sydney on October 15 Ben said that it was "not completely out of the question" although the band had "no plans to do so at the moment". "If Daniel keeps getting better then we'd be up for doing it but we'll just have to see how Daniel is feeling in the next few weeks", said Ben. "He's doing everything he possibly can to get better and he's definitely improving gradually so we'll just have to wait and see."

27-08-2002

DANIEL CONTINUES TO IMPROVE AS 'DIORAMA' HITS U.S. STORES

In a syndicated radio interview across the United States last night Daniel Johns confirmed that his arthritic condition is responding well to the intensive treatment he is receiving in Los Angeles.

While the singer/songwriter is not yet fully recovered, and is not yet able to perform live shows, chairpage can exclusively reveal that during the last week he has been able to walk on many days without a cane. This is the first time he has been able to do this for many months. He is also generally in less physical pain most of the time which is making the whole situation a lot better for him. While he still has occasional bad days these are gradually becoming less frequent. Doctors say that this is consistent with recovery from his condition but that it could still be a few more months before Daniel is well enough to commit to any public performances.

Daniel's radio interview on the popular show "Rockline" was scheduled to coincide with the US release of "Diorama" today. The album has received the best reviews of the band's career in North America but airplay and videoplay for the single have been limited due largely to the band's inability to support the release with radio and TV appearances.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world "The Greatest View" continues to do very well. The track was #1 on MTV Brazil this week and is top 10 on many radio charts in that country. It is also receiving high rotation radio and video exposure in many parts of Europe while other territories such as Canada are now moving on to "Without You" which is the second single from the album throughout the world.

In Australia, the third single, "Luv Your Life" will hit stores on September 2. The single will feature live versions of "The Greatest View" and "Without You" from the TV show ROVE[live] as bonus tracks.

Aussie Silverchair fans can vote for the song on triple J's net 50 and on the Hot 30.

It was also revealed today that Australian fans will be able to get a specially enhanced DVD of "Across The Night: the creation of Diorama" in mid-October. The release will feature the film about the making of the album as well as all three videos which have been made so far. Keep an eye on this site for more details on this DVD release as soon as they are confirmed.