It's a question that silverchair's vocalist/guitarist has heard over and over and over again. It rattles through the 
ever-clever caverns of his brain when he sleeps, it confronts him at nearly every turn when he's awake, and it serves 
as a constant travelling companion, no matter which exotic port-of-call he may be. That question has become his 
nemesis, his sparring partner and his best friend rolled all into one. It's a question that may one day turn out to 
be his legecy, but it's also one that cries out to be asked of the most successful teenage hard rockers of the 
decade; "Are you ever concerned that your greatest success may have come when you were 16 years old?"

While he repeatedly tries to dismiss this query with a haphazard shrug of his shoulders and a devil-may-care 
shake of his trade mark blond hair, there's still no doubt that young Mr. Johns constantly considers the inner 
meaning of that question. Afterall, what do you do for and encore when your first album - initially released 
when you and your band were all of 15! - makes you international an superstar - and your second solidifies 
your place in rock's upper echelon? For anyone such thoughts would weigh heavy upon their rock & roll soul, 
but somehow Daniel Johns, along with his equally young bandmates Chris Joannou and Ben Gillies, have managed 
to handle the potential problems associated with becoming too big, too fast at too young an age with all the 
grace, aplomb and skill that they've continually exhibited through their chart-topping music.

"I don't think that our age has anything to do with it," Johns says "Either it's good music or it's not. There 
isn't any chart category for rock and rock bands made up of musicians in their teens is there? I don't hear 
anyone going - 'hey that's really good........ for a 25 year old'  The fans aren't going to spend their money on 
music that they don't like no matter who's making it or how old you may be."

The recent facts regarding silverchair speak for themselves. Over three million copies of their out-of-nowhere 
debut Frogstomp have now been sold world wide. Nearly two million copies of their latest effort Freak Show have 
moved out of record stores from Sydney to San Francisco. The band's two headlining tours have packed concert 
halls wherever these Australian rockers have appeared. And their barely post pubescent faces and pearly-white 
smiles have made them Grade A, teen dream, poster gods to a generation of young girls who seem to worship every 
move they make and every breath they take. Certainly life has been sweet for these still-only-18 year old 
Newcastle residents. They're finally out of school, away from their parent's protective eye, and free to enjoy 
all the myriad (and occasionally slightly sordid) benefits that rock stardom can provide.

"Things are a bit different now, but we haven't gone too wild," Johns said. "On our first tour everyone really 
watched us very closely. We couldn't go anywhere or do anything without someone from our crew - or one of our 
mothers being there. This time things are quite a bit better. It's still not the kind of thing you read about 
with most rock and roll bands. But now our days are a little more exciting than eating hamburgers in our hotel 
rooms. We've managed to get out a bit and enjoy ourselves - even if our road managers are still very much present."

Life on the often demanding tour trail has proven to be a lot more fun this time for silverchair - and seeing the 
band preform live has been more fun for their ever-loyal fans, as well. Even the boys in the band will admit that 
at certain moments during their first North American tour they appeared a bit stiff and unsure of themselves while 
they stood under the harsh glare of the spotlight. There were times when they understandably felt more-than-a-little 
uncomfortable on the Big Stage, when up to 20 000 pairs of eyes staring intently at them, devouring their every 
movement. This time, however, the silverdudes have taken to preforming on stage like the proverbial fish to water. 
Their movements and actions as they play appear far more fluent and natural. Daniel's between song banter seems 
far less labored. And it actually appears like these guys are having some fun up there!

"We're learning new things everyday" Gillies said. "When you're young sometimes you think you know everything.
But as you get a little older, you begin to realize how much more there is to learn. When we first went on 
the road, we felt that we had good songs and that we played our instruments well. We thought that was enough. 
Now we've learned a little more about staging and showmanship, and it's made it a much better experience both 
for us and the fans."

Their fans certainly have appreciated every action that silverchair have taken - both on stage and off - over 
the last few years. Despite the less-than-spectacular sales enjoyed by Freak Show, silverchair's popularity 
throughout the world has grown precipitously over the last 12 months. Now the attention of many fans - and 
the band members themselves - has slowly began to shift towards the future, to the time when silverchair begin 
to work on their all important thrid album. The band is well aware that following their surprising initial 
success, their second disc recieved a veritable "free ride" from the rock scene. But the realize that in all 
likelihood it'll be Disc Three that forever cements silverchair's role as either temporary players upon the 
rock stage - or as a permenant fixture in the minds and hearts of fans everywhere.

"The bands we admired were groups that made great album after great album," Gillies said. "That's what groups 
like Led Zepplin did. I'm certainly not comparing us to them in any way - but they were an influence. You have 
to learn from your influences, and I think we have. We want to be doing this 10 years from now - maybe even 20 
years from now. We know how important every album is. We're not just a bunch of kids anymore, we're a rock and 
roll band that people expect great things from."

ARTICLE BY WAYNE THOMAS