Manila, June 22, 1997

All photographs by Cristina Castillo, courtesy of Mony Romana and Sony Music Philippines.
Special thanks to Bernice Roldan and Arlyn Romualdo.

By DAVID GONZALES
Philippine Daily Inquirer

"It was great. The audience really reacted well. It was wild," said Daniel Johns, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of world-famous Australian rock band silverchair, commenting on the band's gig at the UP [University of the Philippines] Theater on Sunday, June 22.

Johns had many other things to say during an interview at the Manila Galleria Suites the afternoon following the concert.

silverchair first made Australian headlines in 1994 when, at the age of 15, the trio won a nationwide TV contest with the song Tomorrow. The following year, the band's first album frogstomp, sold approximately three million copies worldwide.

silverchair's second album, 1997's Freak Show, has also done well on the charts, defying the notorious sophomore slump that has afflicted many '90s acts whose follow-ups sold poorly in comparison to their prior massively successful albums.

As noted in advertisements promoting the band's concert here, Manila was the only Asian city to host a concert by silverchair (actually it was Quezon City). That was because, according to Johns, "This is the place where we've been selling the best (in Asia), and getting played on the radio."

Speaking in composed, measured tones, Johns also said the band wasn't concerned about whether or not Freak Show would sell as well as frogstomp.

"We weren't worried about that," he said, "we don't care about money. Anyway, Hootie and the Blowfish are different because they depend on a lot of radio airplay, and we don't depend as much on radio airplay. We're not just radio."

According to Johns, writing the songs to the band's first album was more of a "friend thing," and he and drummer Ben Gillies did much collaboration, except for three songs entirely written by Johns (Johns writes lyrics for all silverchair songs).

On Freak Show, however, Johns wrote over half of the album's 13 songs, and attributes that to his growth in songwriting. Still, as on frogstomp, many of the lyrics have dark overtones.

"On the first album, the lyrics were more personal, with songs like Suicidal Dream. On Freak Show, I also wrote dark lyrics. Some of it comes from real-life thinking and things, and then you have to elaborate on it."

For example, in Freak Show's Slave, Johns writes, "Lived too long/Now you've come to take me to/A place where I can die/Lost my soul/Lost my confidence in me." Johns says he won't be writing about cheerful things anytime soon.

"The dark issues I write about are what I'm feeling at the moment, a reflection of what I'm thinking, and I won't change the subject matter until I no longer feel this. I'd rather write about it than take it out on everyone else."

"But I can't write songs while on tour, there's too many distractions. I write at home, and I prefer to be in the solitude of the house, but I also want to experience real life and get an open frame of mind," he said.

Aside from also being a bestseller, Freak Show has more depth and is a more varied album than frogstomp, and contains ethnic Indian instruments on Petrol and Chlorine, for example, as well as the beautiful use of a string section, including violins, viola, and cello, on Cemetery.

In that regard, it resembles Jar of Flies, an album released in 1993 by Alice in Chains, one of the best albums of the '90s, which also utilizes a captivating use of a string section at times. Johns acknowledges an affinity toward tender music, and said he enjoys listening to an Australian group called Slint that also uses strings and plays "pretty music."

Still, the bulk of Freak Show and frogstomp are built on heavy-guitar riffing in the manner of the former Nirvana or Soundgarden, and the riffing isn't likely to change, Johns said, though he does envision more musical evolution for silverchair.

"Each album is more experimental, and we're going to explore different themes and different styles and instrumentation. We will still keep the heavy-guitar riffs on some songs, but move away from the traditional 4/4 groove, and explore different time signatures and odd meters," he said.

When 1995's frogstomp was first released, it was compared to Pearl Jam, a band also heavy on Nirvana-styled riffing at that time (Pearl Jam has since changed directions). Johns insists, however, that silverchair's influences go back to such '70s bands as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. "Even my dad, who really likes Pearl Jam, said we were more like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin," Johns said.

When asked, Johns said he also likes black American music from the '60s, most especially Otis Redding. One thing, though, that Johns does not consider silverchair's music to be 'grunge.' "Grunge is just a stupid word for alternative," he growled.

Being in a successful rock band has allowed Johns to see and do many things, and one of his fondest memories is meeting Ozzy Osbourne, the former frontman of Black Sabbath. "He's my all-time idol," Johns enthused.

He also has memorable memories of playing a concert in Brazil with the Sex Pistols, Bad Religion and Mexican-American rap band Cypress Hill, where the 30,000-strong audience was wildly "synergetic."

All this from someone who will graduate high school, along with his bandmates, at the end of this year.