Silverchair fans are lapping up the nostalgia provided by former frontman Daniel Johns ahead of the release of his solo album, FutureNever.
After releasing an exclusive merch bundle inspired by the Freak Show era, Johns has released another exclusive series for fans of Neon Ballroom.
Each day this week, Johns will drop a new limited edition bundle featuring a hand-signed photo of Johns from the Neon Ballroom era by esteemed rock photographer Tony Mott.
They also include an exclusive t-shirt design, stickers reminiscent of Johns’ guitar decorations, and a FutureNever CD with cover art inspired by Silverchair’s third studio album by artist Matt Ryan.
Each bundle purchase will receive an entry to win a brand new Gibson Les Paul Custom, which was Johns’ “guitar of choice” for many tracks during the Neon Ballroom era.
The bundles – named for singles from the album – are limited to 199 each.
So far, the ‘Ana’s Song’ and ‘Emotion Sickness’ bundles have been released.
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
Remembering ‘Ana’s Song’, Johns said: “‘Ana’s Song’ was the most vulnerable song I’d ever written. Performing it live for the first time on tour was something truly special and seeing it connect with people in such a raw way was an emotional experience.”
Fans on Johns’ mailing list receive news of the bundles ahead of his social media posts.
Posting about Neon Ballroom to Instagram earlier this week, Johns said not many in the industry wanted him to write the record for Silverchair, but that he did it because he was “intent on inspiring other young musicians to not just MAKE music but CREATE it”.
“By creating something that satisfies what the soul wants and not just what the market wants, we manifest the future,” he wrote.
“The biggest honour is when other musicians tell me that we helped break barriers for them. This is the legacy I want to leave, it’s the greatest source of pride for me that what I did back then mattered for young people.”
FutureNever will be released on Friday, 1st April.
For fans playing at home, that leaves two months and two more studio albums – Diorama and Young Modern – left before the new record drops.
All five Silverchair albums were released in February or March of their respective release years – Freak Show will celebrate its 25th anniversary this Friday.
Multiple outlets have reported a post made by former drummer Ben Gillies this week may have been teasing a reunion of some sort, but this rumour was squashed before it even began.
Gillies’ posts, which featured drums set up in a rehearsal studio, were tagged, “#Silverchair”.
He responded to one fan asking if it meant a Silverchair reunion was on the cards with a simple “no”.
