Memo To: Aaron Carter, Britney Spears and the Moffatts.
Re: Fame at an early age doesn't make you a better person.

Just ask Daniel Johns. The 19-year old frontman of Silverchair is the latest in a long line of poster boys for the maladjusted. T

he Australian band's first two albums, Frogstomp and Freak Show, may have sold four million copies around the world, but that didn't make life any easier for Johns.

Mentally and physically exhausted from a gruelling tour for Freak Show, he basically locked himself away from the world for six months.

"We hadn't had a holiday for three years, we went from school to touring, from school to touring" he said lifelessly. It got to the point where Johns saw school as a "good excuse out of touring."

But Johns needed more then just a break fromt he rentless hours on the road. He was depressed, scared to leave his home and wasting away to a were 110 pounds. After months of therapy and anti-depressants, Johns was able to get himself together and start recording Neon Ballroom, the trio's first disc as high school graduates.

"It was the first time as a song writer that I could think of what I wanted to do with the songs rather than doing them as quickly as possible in 10 minutes, so we could go out on tour before we had to go back to our educational commitments," he says.

As a result, Neon Ballroom is Silverchairs most thoughtful and powerful album to date. It captures a range of Johns emothions--from the range of Anthem for the year 2000 to the confusion of Emotion Sickness. The latter features the manic talents of Australian pianist David Helfgott, another former child Prodigy and messed-up musician. After years of mental institutions, Helfgott became a household name when his story was turned into the Oscar-winning film, Shine.

It's no wonder Johns wanted to work with the pianist.

"I wanted a very discordant, unsettling piano part and we had a short-list of people who would fit that style. Acctually David Helfgott was at the top of the list but we didn't think he'd acctually agree," says Johns. Helfgott did, much to Silverchair's delight.

"It was a positive collaboration. It was probably one of the best days of my life. To have a song that meant so much to me and have someone that special playing it..." Johns trailed off.

"We thought it was really cool because he started at a young age and we could relate to some of the things he's been through and he could relate to some of the things we were doing."

Like Helfgott, Johns' mental health has improved considerably.

"Hopefully, the touring won't stop the healing process," he says. To make sure it doesn't, Johns spends a lot of time on his own, reading and writing.

He rarely agrees to do interviews, letting drummer Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou do the bulk of the band's media schmoozing.

Johns admits that he isn't all that enamoured with touring anymore. After the year is up, he plans to distance himself from music.

"I just don't want to write a song for a year; because I spent so much of last year writing the album," he says.

"Every now and then, I'll write some poetry but musically, I don't even want to touch a guitar unless we're playing live."

Not surprisingly, Johns can't see himself with Silverchair for much longer. Instead, he hopes to go to Art school in the years to come.

"I'm really into abstract art of any kind whether it be sculpture or painting.

"I'm not necessarily good at it, but I just really enjoy doing it." And that's what counts.