It’s a tale as old a time: a band of 15-year-olds enter a battle of bands competition run by a TV show and a radio station. They win the competition and their prize is to record a four-song EP. That EP spends six weeks at the top of the charts, the band gets signed to Sony Records and becomes one of the biggest bands Australia has ever seen. Well, that’s the story if you’re Silverchair.

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Don’t get excited (please!). Just a little update to let everyone know I might be re-uploading old episodes. I’ve noticed people still download the show regularly, so I thought if they came up organically in your feeds, that might be more helpful than having to dig into the archive. (Also I just realised it's been 5 years since this the first episode of the podcast went live, so thanks to everyone who listened!)

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In this episode, we’re going all the way back to 1995 to talk about Silverchair’s first true single from their debut album Frogstomp (if you’re Australian, anyway). I wanted to take a deeper look at Pure Massacre from a songwriting perspective, from a performance and production perspective and also see if we could find hints of the later Silverchair in this early track.

Contact me:
Instagram: @silverchairpodcast
Facebook.com/silverchairpodcast
silverchairpodcast@gmail.com
http://silverchairpodcast.buzzsprout.com

I’m now on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/silverchairpodcast

Donate to the show directly:
https://bit.ly/3iWpDza

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https://bit.ly/2RPtVMO

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Don’t get too excited but I’ve just uploaded a mini-episode that’s essentially a repost of the Tuna in the Brine section from the first Diorama episode. Those episodes were really long and I noticed fewer people listened to the second one so I figure maybe some people didn’t finish the first one either — but it just so happens that’s where the Tuna in the Brine stuff was. Anyway, if you happened to not make it to the end of that episode and you missed the Tuna in the Brine talk, here is in a nice 20-minute package. And if you did hear it, well, it’s here to listen to again in a more convenient way if you care to. Hopefully the next update is a bit more substantial than this one!

Contact me:
Instagram: @silverchairpodcast
Facebook.com/silverchairpodcast
silverchairpodcast@gmail.com
http://silverchairpodcast.buzzsprout.com

I’m now on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/silverchairpodcast

Donate to the show directly:
https://bit.ly/3iWpDza

My affiliate link for Buzzsprout. Sign up and get a $20 Amazon gift card:
https://bit.ly/2RPtVMO

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In this episode, I speak to someone without whom you probably would never have heard of the band Silverchair. Not only did he essentially discover them and, in his role as a Sony A&R sign the band to Murmur, he also not long after became their manager and mentor and navigated their career basically from start to finish.

His John Watson Management company currently manages some of the biggest names in Australian music, such as Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, Missy Higgins and Birds of Tokyo. He is also the founder and head of Eleven, the record label that released Diorama and Young Modern in Australia and put out albums by The Dissociatives, Goyte, Paul Mac and the Presets.

I have wanted to talk to John Watson ever since I started this podcast, so this was a real bucket list guest. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed talking to John ‘Watto’ Watson.

Contact me:

Instagram: @silverchairpodcast
Facebook.com/silverchairpodcast
silverchairpodcast@gmail.com
http://silverchairpodcast.buzzsprout.com

I’m now on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/silverchairpodcast

Donate to the show directly:
https://bit.ly/3iWpDza

My affiliate link for Buzzsprout. Sign up and get a $20 Amazon gift card:
https://bit.ly/2RPtVMO

Support the show

Wait, what is this episode? I’m glad you asked. I’ve decided to go back and delve a bit deeper into some of the older songs and give them the treatment I would have given them had they appeared on one of the later albums. This episode I’ll be covering Abuse Me, the second single released from Silverchair’s second album Freak Show (unless you were in North America, where it was the first single). It entered the ARIA chart April 6, 1997, peaking at number 9. What’s interesting about this song’s structure? What’s its legacy? What does ‘throw the sailors overboard’ even mean? Let’s find out.

Contact me:
Instagram: @silverchairpodcast
Facebook.com/silverchairpodcast
silverchairpodcast@gmail.com
http://silverchairpodcast.buzzsprout.com

I’m now on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/silverchairpodcast

Donate to the show directly:
https://bit.ly/3iWpDza

My affiliate link for Buzzsprout. Sign up and get a $20 Amazon gift card:
https://bit.ly/2RPtVMO

Support the show

Young Modern got great reviews at home in Australia but, by now, even the good reviews overseas failed to set the world on fire. An early promotional tour of the US in mid-2007, where they gritted their teeth on commercial radio and TV Morning Shows, as well as perform for the late-night programs proved not to be the silver bullet the band might have hoped. Stylistically, Young Modern might have pointed the way forward for Silverchair but, alas, it wasn’t to be. What happened?

Contact me:
Instagram: @silverchairpodcast
Facebook.com/silverchairpodcast
silverchairpodcast@gmail.com
http://silverchairpodcast.buzzsprout.com

I’m now on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/silverchairpodcast

Donate to the show directly:
https://bit.ly/3iWpDza

My affiliate link for Buzzsprout. Sign up and get a $20 Amazon gift card:
https://bit.ly/2RPtVMO

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Released March 31, 2007, Young Modern debuted at number one on the ARIA chart, eventually going three-times platinum in Australia. The album also won six ARIAs and its lead single, Straight Lines, placed second on the Triple J’s Hottest 100. For all the acclaim though, it was another departure in sound for the band and, for some fans, it remains controversial to this day. Let’s explore.

Contact me:
Instagram: @silverchairpodcast
Facebook.com/silverchairpodcast
silverchairpodcast@gmail.com
http://silverchairpodcast.buzzsprout.com

Support the show directly:
https://bit.ly/3iWpDza

My affiliate link for Buzzsprout. Sign up and get a $20 Amazon gift card:
https://bit.ly/2RPtVMO

Support the show