Daniel Johns’ incredible return to rock
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Solo star … Daniel Johns kicked off his album campaign at the APRA Awards last week. Picture Craig Greenhill
Source: News Corp Australia
DANIEL Johns bounced on to the APRA Music Awards red carpet with his typically nervous exuberance.
It was to be a significant night for the former Silverchair frontman and he brought his cheer squad; girlfriend Estelita Huijer, mentor and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett and managers John Watson and Melissa Chenery.
Johns has never been one to play the indulged rock star at such events and while he can suffer the pangs of anxiety having to play the most obvious of publicity games, he was in good form at the APRAs, smiling and posing in front of the photo wall.
With Garrett as his wingman, he chatted amiably about his imminent debut live performance as a solo artist, revealing he chose the off-Broadway APRAs for the big moment because it focuses on artistic merit rather than smoke and mirrors.
“It’s a celebration of songwriters so it’s appropriate — rather than the Logies or something,” he said.
Shirt off … Johns got his rock god on at the APRA Awards when performing his new single Preach. Picture: Christian Gilles.
Source: News Corp Australia
About 30 minutes later, he bounded onto the Carriageworks stage to perform Preach with a trio of backing singers and a band including a harpist.
If the electronic-flavoured first solo single Aerial Love emphatically confirmed he had shaken off the shackles of Silverchair, the performance of Preach restored his rock god status.
Johns prowled the stage like he owned it, confident and sexy with a buff bare chest that drew admiring approval from as many men in the room as it did from the women.
In short, he was hot.
Recent Grammy winning producer M-Phazes, one of the most sought-after hitmakers in Australia, recently nominated Preach as the song he wished he had written with Johns for his solo record.
It was co-written with Melbourne duo Damn Moroda, who have been signed to Universal Music Publishing by Johns’ brother Heath.
“I remember him playing it to me not long after he finished it and I was blown away,” he told themusic.com.au
“The hook is possibly the biggest I’ve heard in a long time. I can honestly say I am jealous of the brothers Damn Moroda for producing such a powerful track with Dan!”
Johns has also written with his mate Julian Hamilton of The Presets for his album; the pair composed Silverchair’s biggest hit single Straight Lines.
Indefinite hibernation … Silverchair revealed they were taking a break in 2011 but it is unlikely they will be back together any time soon. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied
He teamed with Joel Little, the man who helped Lorde arrive at her idiosyncratic sound, for the single Aerial Love and also enlisted respected pop producer Louis Schoorl (Guy Sebastian, 360, 5 Second Of Summer) for the debut record.
“Aerial Love is a collaboration with Joel Little who is probably best known for working with Lorde on her first album,” Johns explained.
“I got so really used to writing by myself for such a long time but I was really ready to collaborate with people, especially people I really trusted and thought were really talented.”
It took him eight years of experimenting to find the people who would help him discover who Daniel Johns would be as a solo artist.
It must have driven him mad to be constantly asked by family, friends and fans when he was going to release new music.
Many industry insiders thought that his first post-’chair offering would be Steeley Dan, the duo he formed with his Empire Of The Son mate Luke Steele.
Legend has it the pair have written and recorded several albums together but not one tune has ever heard been aired.
Johns has joked they have so much material he could release a boxed set as their debut album.
He hasn’t been idle since Silverchair called an “indefinite hibernation” — industry speak for split — in 2011, four years after releasing the sonically ambitious Young Modern record.
Johns has done film scores, was commissioned by Qantas to compose Atlas for a commercial campaign, wrote with The Veronicas and recorded with rapper 360.
Rap star … Johns collaborated with rapper 360 on his single Impossible. Picture: Supplied.
Source: Supplied
Just before dropping his single Aerial Love in late January, he polarised people with his reimagined version of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit for Triple J’s Beat The Drum concert in Sydney’s The Domain.
But his quest to find his own sound was laborious, with Johns estimating he has written more than 200 songs in the past seven years to arrive at his Aerial Love destination.
“I guess it’s taken so long to release new music because when we decided to take a break from Silverchair, I took quite a bit of time to step away from the spotlight and hone my craft a little bit,” he said.
“I don’t know how long it’s been, seven years or something but a good five years of that was spent trying different genres, trying different things in the studio and I was still writing a lot of music.
“I think I wrote 200 and something tracks. even more maybe. A lot of starting points and just experimenting with sounds and different ways of making music until I finally hit on a sound I thought was a good direction for my record.
“I just want to be creative and I’m not much of a painter. I’m not even much of a writer but I understand sound and I understand melody and I guess that’s my way of putting my imprint on the world.”
In his corner … Peter Garrett was Johns’ wingman at the APRA Awards. Picture: Craig Greenhill
Source: News Corp Australia
His longtime champion Garrett has heard the new work and is full of praise for Johns next musical move.
“He’s making some great music,” Garrett said. “I think it is the mark of someone who is still in love with music and pushing things. It sounds great.”
The album will be released in May and Johns will perform exclusively for Vivid Live at the Sydney Opera House on May 28 and 29.
“There’s still the implication of rock,” he said. “Except with a harp.”
