From Silverchair to production chair, Ben Gillies sits comfortably with his new solo project, Bento. Greg Phillips reports.
H
istorically, drummers and bass players have copped a raw deal with regards to their perceived creative contribution to a band - after all they’re just the rhythm section aren’t they? A prime example is Silverchair, one of Australia’s most successful bands. While the trio of drummer Ben Gillies, bassist Chris Joannou and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Johns have achieved the unprecedented record of having all five of their albums reach number one on the charts, it’s generally been frontman Daniel Johns who has collected most of the accolades. Once drummer Gillies decided he was going out on a limb and recording his own album, it was always going to be interesting to finally hear Ben’s own musical voice. Funnily enough, Diamond Days, Ben’s new solo project is not such a giant leap from Young Modern, the musical statement Silverchair left us with and says as much about that band as it does about Bento. Diamond Days is essentially the threading together of a myriad musical ideas Ben had lying around in his head or documented on tape over the last decade or so. “I have always been a writer,” said Ben. “I wrote a lot in the early Silverchair days. When Dan
changed his writing approach, I was happy to take a step back. That was after Neon Ballroom and was a lot of years ago, over ten years. I mean a lot of those older ideas kind of fell away but I always logged ideas either on a four-track or on my phone or little Pro Tools sessions. There were some almost finished songs through to just a chorus idea or melody idea or just a set of chords. Working on the record, I did combine a lot of those. Sometimes it would just be me in a supermarket on aisle 12, and something would pop into my head. I’d put the dictaphone on and try not to look like I was too weird humming a tune in the middle of the supermarket.” Bento is the moniker Gillies came up with to work under in an attempt to sway people away from thinking this was totally a solo record. Ben’s partner in rhyme was Eric J Dubowsky (Faker, Art vs Science), as well as a bunch of mates that also includes Papa vs Pretty’s Thomas Rawle. Ben uses the Trent Reznor/ Nine Inch Nails association as an analogy of what he was aiming for in describing his role in the project: “I really wanted to have a band name rather than just be Ben Gillies … and the Space Cadets ... I dunno! I don’t personally like the perception of being a solo artist.” Releasing a solo project was never a burning ambition for Ben, rather something he thought he just might enjoy doing one day. “I think I have always wanted to get into the studio and have a really good chunk of time on my own and work on my own songs, without record company pressure, and just be really free. When Silverchair decided to go
WE KEPT PUTTING OFF THE VOCALS BECAUSE A LOT OF THE CHORUSES WERE WRITTEN BUT NOT FULL SONGS. I WAS NERVOUS ABOUT IT. AFTER A FEW DRINKS AT DINNER, I SAID THERE’S SOMETHING I HAVE TO GET OFF MY CHEST. I SAID I AM REALLY NERVOUS ABOUT SINGING.”
[4]
on an indefinite haitus, or long break until we feel the time is right, in a way it was a blessing in disguise. It gave me the chance and enough time to finally have that opportunity. There have probably been times in the past where I have had time to do that but because Silverchair is such a massive and awesome thing, there’s a lot of energy you have to give to it. Sometimes the last thing I’d want to do is go back in the studio.”
The result of Ben’s studio time with his mates is a joyous, upbeat pop album, abounding with positivity. The Australian Football League liked the vibe of Gillies’ first single, title track Diamond Days, so much that it became an unofficial soundtrack to their finals broadcasts. Ben describes the album as a patchwork quilt of those fractured ideas he’s collected over time. It’s those incidental musical notions that combine to make this such a sonically absorbing and openly happy album, testament to the gratification Gillies obtained from making it. “The experience was liberating and exciting. I think I am just an optimistic kind of person. Dark songs are cool but obviously that wasn’t what I was feeling when I was writing this. I think diving into the unknown, the unchartered waters, I had that nervous excitement which comes from making music.”
Although Gillies is loath to portray Diamond Days as a solo album, he did write the material, had a stab at contributing parts on keyboards, guitar, bass, drums (of course!) and even utilised an iPhone app. “Give me an instrument and after a while I can make some kind of sound out of it,” he admits. “The last song on the album, the really trippy one called Naked Next to Me, it