Sony Music Entertainment Australia has announced that it has entered into a new agreement with multi-platinum and award-winning band Silverchair. As part of this distribution agreement, the triple-platinum Young Modern and Diorama albums, as well as audio-visual album Live From Faraway Stables, unite with the rest of Silverchair’s catalogue at Sony Music Entertainment Australia.
Signed to Sony Music Entertainment Australia in 1994, the band released the successful and #1 ARIA Albums Frogstomp, Freak Show and Neon Ballroom with the company between 1995 and 1999.
Diorama and Young Modern are Silverchair’s fourth and fifth studio albums which include the singles Straight Lines, Reflections of a Sound, The Greatest View, Across The Night and Without You. The two albums were released on John Watson’s Eleven label, then distributed via Universal Music.
Young Modern won six ARIA Awards including Best Group, Single of The Year and Album of The Year. Diorama won five ARIA Awards including Best Group and Best Rock Album.
Daniel Johns said, “It’s great to have the catalogue all under one roof at Sony Music, back where it all began for Silverchair.”
Ben Gillies said, “We’re so proud of these albums and know that Denis and the team at Sony Music, as they always have, will treat our catalogue with love and respect. It just feels right.”
Chris Joannou said, “We’re pumped to have all the Silverchair albums with Sony Music Australia where everything started for us 25+ years ago. What a wild ride it’s been!”
“26 years ago, three young boys from Newcastle burst on the scene with amazing music that captured the world. I am so delighted to have the band’s complete catalogue with Sony Music. We are really looking forward to some exciting opportunities in the years ahead.” said Denis Handlin, chairman & CEO, Australia & New Zealand, Sony Music Entertainment. “Daniel, Ben and Chris will always be a part of the Sony Music family and their songs will live forever.”
Formed in 1992 in the Newcastle surf-side side suburb of Merewether, Silverchair’s rise was meteoric. The band, consisting of singer/songwriter/guitarist Daniel Johns, drummer Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou, became a global phenomenon, propelling them on to some of the world’s biggest stages and achieving album sales in excess of six million worldwide. The band signed with the Sony Music Entertainment Australia subsidiary label Murmur in 1994 after winning a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV and national youth broadcaster Triple J.
Their debut single Tomorrow was a breakthrough success, reaching #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart and remaining there for six weeks. The band’s first album Frogstomp also debuted at #1 on the ARIA Albums Chart and achieved sales of 4 x platinum. It reached the Billboard Top 10 in the US, making Silverchair the first Australian band to achieve that since INXS.
All of Silverchair’s subsequent studio albums, Freakshow (double-Platinum), Neon Ballroom (triple-Platinum), Diorama (triple-Platinum) and Young Modern (triple-Platinum) debuted at #1 in Australia.
Silverchair also holds the record for the greatest number of ARIA Award wins with a total of 21. Total album sales across the Silverchair catalogue have now exceeded six million globally making them one of Australia’s most successful musical exports.
Photo: Silverchair with Sony Music’s Denis Handlin in 1994