Silverchair’s Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou reveal two shocking incidents involving frontman Daniel Johns that led to the band’s messy breakup
Silverchair’s Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou have discussed two major incidents involving frontman Daniel Johns that contributed to the band’s eventual breakup in 2011.
Drummer Ben and bassist Chris, both 43, revealed on the ABC Australian Story series Silver Lining last week that a disastrous performance on The Jay Leno Show in 2007 seriously damaged group morale.
“It came to a head when we did The Jay Leno Show. We had been drinking quite heavily and Daniel lost his voice. It wasn’t our best performance,” Chris said.
The band performed the first single Straight Lines from their new album Young Modern in the popular talk show to promote it to an American audience.
The band’s attempts to promote Young Modern in the US ultimately failed.
Silverchair’s Ben Gillies (left) and Chris Joannou (right) have discussed two major incidents involving frontman Daniel Johns (middle) that contributed to the band’s eventual breakup
While Silverchair’s 1995 debut album Frogstomp went double platinum in the US, their final 2007 album went largely unnoticed outside Australia.
“Straight Lines had the potential to revive Silverchair in the US, but then the train started to get a little wobbly on the tracks,” Gillies added, calling Jay Leno’s performance a “train wreck.”
Ben and Chris recently released a tell-all memoir about their time in the band called Love and Pain, which was written without any input from Johns.
Drummer Ben and bassist Chris, both 43, revealed on ABC’s Australian Story that a disastrous performance on the Jay Leno Show in 2007 seriously damaged group morale. Pictured: Silverchair performance in Leno on July 10, 2007
In the book, they discuss another incident from 2001 that led to the band’s demise, after they received a letter from Johns telling them he wanted complete control over their music.
‘He wanted total creative control over the band. He wanted to be the sole writer and creator. Yet it wasn’t until we worked together – when I created drum parts, when Chris made his contributions – that we had the Silverchair alchemy,” Gillies said.
Gillies added that Johns’ need for leadership may have stemmed from his very public battle with anorexia in the late 1990s, when the singer fought to keep everything under control during a difficult time.
He added that they reluctantly accepted Johns’ demands as they felt it was the only way they could continue as a band.
The band performed the first single Straight Lines from their 2007 album Young Modern on the popular talk show to promote it to an American audience. Pictured: Johns with Adam Sandler (center) and Jay Leno (right)
‘I wasn’t ready to give up the band yet… I wanted to keep going. As a friend, it hurt me that he didn’t want to work so closely together. As a bandmate, it hurt that he didn’t want the same input from me.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Daniel Johns for comment.
It comes after the bassist and drummer opened up about their estranged bandmate Johns after he refused to let them use his songs in their ABC documentary about the band.
Speaking on WSFM’s The Jonesy and Amanda Show, the musicians said they had “drifted apart” from Daniel since Silverchair split in 2011.
Ben and Chris recently released a tell-all memoir about their time in the band called Love and Pain, which was written without any input from Johns.
In the book, they discuss another incident from 2001 that led to the band’s ‘D-Day’, after they received a letter from Johns telling them he wanted complete control over their music.