The Silverchair rumour mill is spinning once again, with some convinced a reunion from the iconic Australian rock band is close on the horizon.
After members Daniel Johns and Ben Gilles recently appeared together on social media for the first time in years, fresh hope was sparked among fans, and Nathan ‘Hindy’ Hindmarsh, co-host of Triple M’s The Rush Hour NSW, took it upon himself to find out more.
Hindy sparked up a friendship with Silverchair’s third member Chris Joannou years ago, and after the rumour mill began spinning once again, he decided to message Joannou to find out once and for all.
Speaking of the friendship with his co-hosts Anthony Maroon and Millie Boyle, Hindy said: “We go way back to probably 2013. We struck a relationship. He [Joannou] replied quite quickly…. He replied, ‘Good old rumour mill in full swing, mate!’
“Wouldn’t it be good to see them back together; one of the great Australian bands,” Hindy added.
Silverchair broke up in 2011, and speculation of a reunion has come and gone over the years. In 2023, Gillies and Joannou teamed up to release the memoir Love & Pain, which covered the rise of the band as a burgeoning trio from Newcastle to one of the world’s biggest acts.
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of metal, rock, indie, pop, and everything else in between.
Then in April of this year, on his 46th birthday, Johns reemerged on Instagram for the first time since October 2023, writing: “I have to go back in time to finalise something.” He’s dropped several hints about “time travelling” and slipping in references to 1994 — the year Silverchair broke through with their debut EP Tomorrow, whose title track topped the ARIA Charts.
Gillies and Joannou got together earlier this year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their debut album Frogstomp with a special event in Sydney, though Johns was not in attendance.
But in June, he posted a black-and-white Polaroid on his Instagram, paired with short clips of himself tearing through a frantic guitar piece. The captions read: “5 Minute Warning,” “Stand ’em up against the wall,” and “This concludes the intermission — see you in 1995. #FutureNever.”
More recently, Johns revealed that he showed up to a Silverchair tribute show, where local band The Lizards’ were playing Frogstomp in full for the 30th anniversary.
Johns recently made ARIA history, receiving the first-ever ARIA silver accreditation. Silver accreditation has been created for album releases by Australian artists who have achieved 20,000 units within three years of a title’s release date. The recognition is applicable to titles released from January 1st, 2021, only.
It was presented to him for his 2022 solo album FutureNever on stage at the world-first screening of Daniel Johns: What If The Future Never Happened?.
He’s currently on tour promoting the film, with an ‘In Conversation’ series — marking his first live appearances in over five years. Rolling Stone AU/NZ was at the Sydney event, and gave it a 4/5 star review.
“Daniel Johns promised a night of sitting on the couch and telling stories and sharing songs no one had heard before. The first clue that this would be exactly what was delivered was from the set – a stage decked out with a massive couch, coffee table, lamps and plant; definitely a lounge room vibe on display,” the review opened, before noting that Johns initially appeared anxious: “To a rapturous response, Johns appeared nervous when he came out. In his first appearance on stage in about five years, he shuffled on awkwardly. ‘I’m nervous as fuck,’ he declared at the start.”
During his Sydney show, he shared previously unheard material, and delivered it with the likes of “All the Time in the World”, an unreleased demo from Silverchair’s 1999 album Neon Ballroom.
“Being just a demo, it featured raw vocals and acoustic guitar with a hint of keyboard in it,” Rolling Stone AU/NZ said of the track. “Machina Collecta”, a track destined for a sixth Silverchair album that never arrived, also got an airing.
