Silverchair Hit ARIA’S For Six

Six must be Silverchair’s lucky number following the band’s success at last night’s ARIA Awards in Sydney. Not only did the trio win six Awards, they were voted Channel V’s “Artist Of The Year” for the sixth consecutive time.

Silverchair and their acclaimed album “Diorama” walked away with half a dozen ARIA Awards for “Best Group”, “Best Rock Album”, “Best Producer”, “Best Artwork”, “Best Engineer” plus the only publicly voted ARIA category – Channel V’s “Artist Of The Year”.

During the televised award show the group returned to the concert stage for the first time in six months with a barnstorming rendition of “The Greatest View” accompanied by a full brass section and guest keyboardist Paulmac. The performance received a standing ovation from the 5000 people in attendance.

“Hopefully the ARIA’s will bring some focus back to “Diorama””, said Daniel Johns. “A lot of time was spent creating the album and I’m really proud of how it sounds. Most of the focus this year has been on things other than music so hopefully the ARIA’s will remind people about the album.”

As part of a follow up to the ARIA’s all three members of Silverchair have done exclusive in depth interviews with Channel V which will be aired as part of a brand new special which will air on the music station this Sunday night. The band has won V’s “Artist Of The Year” Award every year since it was established back in 1997.

“It was particularly great to win the Channel V prize again”, said Ben Gillies. “It’s the only one that’s decided by public voting so it means a lot that the people who like the band have stuck with us through this year.”

The ARIA Award success came as a welcome change for the band after enduring an otherwise frustrating year to date. The group’s frontman, Daniel Johns, has battled reactive arthritis throughout 2002 leading the band to cancel all touring and promotional commitments since April. In spite of this lack of public profile, “Diorama” has attracted the best reviews of Silverchair’s career and has spawned three top 20 singles so far – “The Greatest View”, “Without You” and “Luv Your Life”.

In recent months Daniel Johns has been receiving treatment in Los Angeles and his condition has improved significantly. He has 90% functioning in his joints and is able to play guitar for up to 15 minutes at a time before he begins to lose mobility in his hands. Johns will return to Los Angeles this week for further treatment and he is optimistic that he will be fully recovered and able to begin rehearsing for full concert performances to take place in early 2003.