Press
01-10-1997
Boys will be Boys
By Ron Emmett (Hit Parader)
A crowd of perhaps 15 teenaged girls had gathered outside of
silverchair's downtown hotel. Despite the late hour and the rapidly
descending evening's chill, the remained tough, standing stoically in
the cold clad only in skimpy, highly revealing outfits. Each girl
guarded her hard-won turf like a lioness defending her territory, and
anyone who tried to shove an inch closer to the curb was quickly, and
rather severely dealt with. A few brave souls even attempted to boldly
enter into the lobby of the plush establishment -- only to be some what
rapidly escorted back outside by a gruff, but somewhat amused security
guard. Undeterred, they stood and waited... and waited... and waited.
Hour after hour passed, yet the fans remained in place, just hoping to
get a glimpse of their of their heroes -- who were soon scheduled to
return to their hotel after a long night's worth of rocking and rolling
on the concert stage.
Finally at shortly after 1 a.m., a long white limousine pulled up into
the hotel's semi-circular driveway. At that hour there was little other
traffic running through the neighborhood, and the shining white limo
stood out like a beacon of attention when contrasted against the
hotel's dark, upper-crust outer facade. Within seconds the car was
surrounded by the screaming mob of young women, each of whom seemed to
grasping some piece of silverchair paraphernalia upon which they wanted
an autograph from Daniel Johns, Ben Gillies, Chris Joannou. As the limo
doors swung open and the band members began to emurge, the high pitched
shrieks of recognition and admiration emanating from the gathered
throng of young admirers was positively deafening -- it almost seemed
as if the Beatles themselves had decided to turn back the clock and
make an unexpected appearance!
Without missing a beat, the three young members of silverchair nimbly
popped out of their streches' back seat and, with the assistance of
three burly roadies, rapidly [made] their way through the
over-enthusiastic crowd. They smiled, they waved, they signed... but no
matter what else they did, they kept on moving! They may still be 17
years old, but these silverboys have quickly learned their important
rock and roll lessons! In the two-plus years they've been Big Shots on
the rock and roll scene, they've already discovered that once you stop
in a crowd you're a gonner -- a veritable prisoner until every photo
has been signed and every cheek kissed.
"As long as you keep walking through the crowd you're okay," Johns said
with a slightly devilish smile. "Once you stop even for a second,
they've got you. We had that happen a few times, especially on our
first tour, and it can be kind of scary. I don't know if you ever get
used to having that many people get so excited about just seeing you.
It's kind of strange, isn't it?"
Strange indeed! As these Australian aces have toured North America for
the second time (their first time as headliners), they've discovered
that they've become more than merely another successful rock and roll
act. To a generation of teenaged music fans they've become nothing
short of pint sized cultural icons -- three still wet-behind-the-ears
superstars who've proven that anyone, at any age, can make it in the
music biz... as long as they've got the sound, the attitude and the
look neccessary to reach the top. Quite simply, the incredible,
multi-platinum success that silverchair has enjoyed with both their
initial disc, frogstomp, and its follow-up, Freak Show, have shown that
age and experience need not matter in the rock and roll world. If
you've got what it takes -- even if you're a teenager trapped in
Newcastle, Australia -- you can become a star!
"I think the fans relate to us," Gillies said, "They look at us as
three guys who they could be going to high school with. That's kind of
unusual in rock and roll. Most of the people you see have been around a
while and are really famous. We're just three guys from Newcastle who
happen to make music and show up occasioanlly on MTV."
Modesty aside, the fact is that silverchair are about as far removed
from being your conventional American teenagers as one can get. At the
tender age of 17, they've already toured the world, recorded two
top-selling albums, and grossed an estimated $5 million. Not that bad
for three guys who've yet to graduate high school! Still, despite all
of their recently found fame and fortune, Chris, Ben, and Daniel have
done their best to remain the same happy-go-lucky kids they were when
fortune first smiled down upon them back in 1995. They insist that
they're not the one's who've changed in recent years -- it's those
around them who've taken on a decidedly different attitude.
"It's really kind of strange to have adults treat you so well," Johns
said with a slight smile. "None of us were used to that. We're used to
the way are parents and teachers treated us -- which was kind of
matter-of-factly. We never were the center of attention in school, or
at home. We were just a bunch of kids in a band. Now we have everyone
reacting to us in a strange way. Even some of the kids at school --
people we've known all our lives -- act like we're something important.
I don't know if I really like that."
Like it or not, Johns had better get used to being the center of
attention. As silverchair continues to get mobbed by over zealous fans
at every stop along their lenghy U.S. tour, it's quite apparent that
not only has the group's music set the hearts of young America on fire,
but so have the band member's good looks. Johns. in particular, has
become the lastest groupie-grope-of-the-month, and while the boyishly
handsome, singer/guitarist can't help but smile when informed of his
new "heartthrob" status, he's also quick to relate that life on the
road with silverchair is still far from the hedonistic pleasure palace
that one might expect. In fact, he says, at times things can get
downright boring for [him] and his friends.
"It's better than it was last time, when we had our moms along," Johns
said. "But it's still kind of quiet at times. We have people watching
us almost all of the time, and while we occasionally have the chance to
have some fun, it's still not as often as we would like. But we're
enjoying ourselves -- we're really taking the chance to notice
everything that's happening to us this time. It's really quite amazing."
[Thanks to Tigerlily's silverchair Jungle for the transcript.]