A New Tomorrow - The Silverchair story

Since writing Tomorrow Never Knows in 2003, Jeff Apter has moved on from Rolling Stone magazine and furthered his career, writing various books and contributing to a number of different magazines. He talks about his new Silverchair biography, A New Tomorrow, and makes some predictions about the band's upcoming album and their rock and roll future.

What were your reasons for writing another Silverchair book?
So much has happened to the band, collectively and individually, since 2003, when my first book was published, that it seemed a real oversight not to at least update it. But as I started to re-enter the world of Silverchair, I found myself interviewing people I'd missed the first time around, as well as learning about the new album. The book took on a whole new life. It's radically different — and I think a lot better — than Tomorrow Never Knows.

How different is this book to Tomorrow Never Knows?
If the book was a car, all that would be left of the original is the interior. It's a good 80-something pages longer, some mistakes have been corrected, people involved early on, such as Phil McKeller and Kevin Shirley, have spoken at length, as have more recent 'Chair insiders such as Paul Mac, David Bottrill and Julian Hamilton. And, of course, there are lengthy new interviews with the band, plus the guy who signed them to Atlantic in the US — even the man many consider to be the world's leading Silverchair expert. The book has been redesigned and the photo section has been completely updated with some rare shots of the band that cover their entire career. I'm really proud of it.

What's changed for the band since Diorama?
Daniel told me that he now feels like he's in a totally different band than the Silverchair of Frogstomp and Freak Show, only with the same guys. I think that really sums up where they're at right now. They've all learned from their solo projects — the Dissociatives, Tambalane, production work for Chris — and have realised that they have a special chemistry when they plug in together that they couldn't replicate outside the band. And I really think that seeing Midnight Oil at WaveAid changed the band's attitude towards their future. As Daniel said to me, 'Watching Midnight Oil [at WaveAid], we figured we only had one opportunity to be a great, great band. The great ones are the band who have been together since they were kids, sorted out their shit, and kept going and 20 years later they were still killing it. So we said, "Right, studio time". You can see how much they respect Midnight Oil by their recent ARIAs cameo. I liked Daniel's graffiti work, too.

What's changed for you since 2003?
I'm a far more experienced writer than I was in 2003. Since then I've written books on the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Cure and Dave Grohl, and have come to understand what makes a good book: you really need to inspire the reader to re-investigate the music, regardless of whether they like it or not. And, hopefully, you can unearth facts that even the most diehard fan didn't know about beforehand. I've also lost some hair since 2003, but I'm not sure that's related to book writing. I've become a father, which is probably more to blame.

What are your expectations of the new album?
All the band, and producer Nick Launay, have commented on how different this record will sound from Diorama. Launay even compared it to Queen's epic 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which is a huge rap. I think the band is trying to bottle a little of the magic they've recently rediscovered on stage and capture it on tape. According to all reports, they've done that; this could be the most live-sounding Silverchair record yet, albeit with some of the grand gestures of Diorama. Daniel, again: 'There's some stuff that sounds a bit like Kraftwerk's Autobahn, where you can be crazy and go on this wild rampage and let everyone come with you. There'll be some headphone moments, too.'

Do you have any predictions for the band's future?
In my last conversation with Daniel, he said that he hoped to record at least two more albums with Ben and Chris, possibly more, which is the most hopeful I think he's ever been about the band's future. And Ben said to me that he rates Silverchair amongst the 10-best bands in the world. This isn't hype — and neither is it characteristic of the guys. I genuinely think they see Silverchair's future as full of possibility.

Were there key turning points for the band?
WaveAid was definitely a big event for the band. Not only did they sit sidestage, watch Midnight Oil and learn how powerful a rock band can still be after 25 years, they also realised that their own following hasn't diminished a bit, even though they've been out of the spotlight for the past few years. And I think that playing loud, without much in the way of keyboards or on-stage production, as they did at WaveAid, was a totally fresh experience: they could rock out and still feel good about their music.

What was the most surprising thing revealed during your research?
Well, Daniel smoked a lot of pot during the Dissociatives period, which was interesting, but he also put his guitars into storage after Diorama, which said a lot about his musical mindset at the time. There's a great story, told to me by Matt 'Gizmo' Lovell, about how he, Daniel, David Bottrill and Natalie Imbruglia met Bono from U2 in LA during the mixing of Diorama, who invited them back to his suite at the infamous Chateau Marmont. Without giving too much away, it showed how well regarded the band and their music is, even to a super-duper-star such as Bono. And my recent interviews with Ben and Chris proved how much confidence they've gained as people and players over the past few years; they've seen and heard enough to realise that Silverchair are a world-class band, as good as anyone else today. Even at the time of Diorama they would never have been so brassy when talking about the band and their future.

Can you reveal the new album's title?
I could, but then someone very close to the band would have to kill me. I can tell you that its name was taken from an off-the-cuff remark to Daniel by Van Dyke Parks, who recorded with the band again, this time working on three tracks in Prague.

Will the album be as 'thematic' as Diorama?
I think so, although, as I said, I think it will sound quite different. Daniel had vague plans to write a musical based on sleep and sleeplessness, so that could be a recurring theme through much of the new album. Maybe he'll change its title to Songs for the Sleepless: who knows? And if there's a 'Tuna in the Brine' this time around, it's a song called 'If You Keep Losing Sleep', which they've played live a few times.

What are the details of the book?
The book is on the shelves December 1 and will cost $24.95. You can see the new cover and read a bit more about my background and the book at www.randomhouse.com.au.

C Jeff Apter 2006