Silverchair
Interview with Chris Joannou
Words: Stephanie Bolling
Photo: Nabil Elderkin

Appearing:
December 1, 2007
House of Blues, Orlando

Raising eyebrows once again, the boys from down under are back on the US charts with their 5th album Young Modern. Having sold over six million albums worldwide, Silverchair is finishing up the last leg of their US tour, a first in almost 9 years. Before they’re back on the road again, bassist Chris Joannou took a few moments out of his day to chat with us.

REAX: How does it feel to be Australian record breakers with five #1 albums, beating out INXS, AC/DC, Cold Chisel & Midnight Oil? Does that pressure you to continue succeeding?
Chris Joannou: We have always done it in the manner where we make the records we want to make, not make records to win awards; they come unexpectedly. It was pretty overwhelming the other night. It’s amazing that we are even in the same category as those bands.

REAX: This is your first US tour since 1999. Are you looking forward to any certain cities or venues?
CJ: The whole thing… really. It’s been so long since we’ve toured all these places so it’s like the first time again.

REAX: Since you weren’t able to tour the US for “Diorama,” are you giving it due concert play alongside “Young Modern?”
CJ: We’ve been playing a fair bit of Diorama. Someone over there said to us that Diorama kind of has a cult status, which is really cool because we felt it had disappeared and faded away.

REAX: Each album has been an evolution from the last. “Young Modern” is remarkably different, were you trying to experiment with your sound or does it evolve naturally?
CJ: We had a pretty clear picture of how we wanted the record to sound when we started. I think our sound naturally evolves through us trying to push ourselves harder each time and trying to and think of the best stuff we can. You go on that journey and experiment. That’s when you discover new things. YM is a little simpler than Diorama, but still as complex underneath with simple pop song elements.

REAX: When you started writing and playing the songs for “YM,” the album title was already fixed. Do you feel that made it easier or more difficult when creating the tracks?
CJ: It was somewhat easier because album titles are always that last thing you try to piece to the puzzle. Sometimes when you record, the songs are still fresh and they evolve into something completely different on the road and you end up wishing you recorded them that way. We had been playing most of these songs for at least a year before we actually recorded them so they had a feel of a band that had been playing them for ages. We got out of the city for a while and rented this little house in the country and sat up in the lounge and played music all day.

REAX: Did self-funding “YM” allow for more artistic freedom and creative direction? What were you able to do that you may not have been able to otherwise?
CJ: We went into the studio wanting to make a record that we were 100 happy with. You get the music the way you want it without someone looking at it for marketing. It’s up to you how you want to put it out and you can find people who are into the record, love the sound and want to work on it rather than butting heads with record companies that reckon what the best direction is. The record companies are just doing their job and we understand that. We made no compromises along the way and YM was the end result.

REAX: Do you see yourselves doing that again in order to side step label constraints?
CJ: If we are in a position to be able to afford it we will continue to make records like this.  It gave us a whole new experience.

REAX: Some Silverchair fans are disapproving of “YM.” They are skeptical and not embracing your musical transition. They want you stay true to your original sound. What do you say to the critical fans?
CJ: Silverchair is not one of those bands that found our sound, honed in on it and tried to refine it. Every record has been different. It has been more of a journey than just listening to a band. Some people are more up for a journey and some people just know what they like.

REAX: "YM" has been completed for several months. Are you guys relishing in the “Young Modern” glory or have you given thought to your next album?
CJ: We are definitely talking of another record but we’re 100 focusing on touring right now. It takes up every ounce of energy we’ve got.

REAX: With such an extensive body of work to pull your set list from, what is your favorite new track?
CJ:  “If You Keep Losing Sleep” on the album and playing it live. It’s one of the highlights for us.

REAX: There is an extra day between your NOLA show and Orlando. Are you going to Disney World?
CJ: The amount of times I’ve been to the States I’ve still never been. No plans have been spoken of yet.

REAX: Recently, you auctioned off a personal bass guitar of nine years for the charity, Nathan’s Bequest. Is it hard to find a replacement?
CJ: Yea, I’ll miss it. It went to a really good cause and being able to raise that kind of money through the sale on one of my guitars was an amazing result.  It’s not like I haven’t got another one. We didn’t expect it to go that high… to be honest.

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