If you met the 12-year old version of yourself today, would you be proud of what you’ve become? Would you think that you’ve accomplished your wildest imaginings and let your dreams come true? Or would you call you a n00b? Luckily, I think if the members of Silverchair ran into their 12-year old counterparts, they’d be pretty impressed.

It tends to be the dream of a lot of young teens to grow up to be musicians and tour the world. Sometimes dreams fall apart or take another turn and end up in blogs online or stashed away in a childlike imagination. However with easily distracted young minds to mold, Silverchair grew up into that life-like dream. Playing since their teenage years, decades have passed with an abundance of passionate music. Flooding airwaves across the globe, Silverchair has had ups, downs, and back-agains. I got a chance to sit with drummer Ben Gillies to talk more in depth about the early days, the hiatus, the future, and… sushi?…

Shout!: Can you give a brief description on how you three got together back in the day?

Ben Gillies: That was a pretty long time ago that we really got together. Daniel and I kind of met in Year 3 when we were about 8 years old. We started writing these rap songs and did performances in school. We were really good friends and we were both in little bands in primary school. I had just started to play drums then and even the trumpet. Chris played trumpet too, actually. Daniel started playing guitar when we were 10 and we started jamming and mucking around when we were about 12. We figured that we actually wanted to start a band and give it a name and everything by that time. We got Chris to join us and when we were 14 we had won a TV competition in Australia called Nomad. That just lead to the next morning we’re getting calls from record companies! [Laughs]

S!: What made you decide to play music as a career?

Ben: I don’t know. I guess when you’re in your early teens you’re not really thinking about what you’re going to do for the rest of your life. I guess we just fell into it but looking back it almost feels as if we were destined to do it. We just really went with the flow and everything came naturally. Maybe somewhere in the cosmos it was already chosen for us to do this. [Laughs]

S!: After so many years, why do you think you three work so well together?

Ben: That’s a hard one. I think we’re all pretty confident musicians. I mean, we’re not the most amazing but we’re confident. I guess when we get together something just works. It is kind of hard to put your finger on it but we go with it. I think it helps that we’ve been together so long and you form a bond with someone that you can’t just get overnight. We’re also very good friends and we all have a common goal in mind. We’re just all on the same page so I guess all those ingredients combined make it work really well.

S!: Silverchair has accomplished so much so far. How do you rate the success?

Ben: Aw gee, I don’t know. This is a hard question. [Laughs] We’ve put in a lot of work over the years. I don’t think it is how much money you make, how many people come to a show or even how many records you sell that in the end you’re just happy with what you’re doing then that is success. People like to emphasize on how much money you make or how famous you are in the papers that make you successful but that is just a by-product of what we’ve done.

S!: How do you feel about holding the record of most ARIA awards won?

Ben: That is an honor! There are artists in Australia that are amazing to compete with. There is just so many talented musicians and there is so much music to choose from that we get awarded for. Even if it is just one genre then it feels amazing.

S!: What have you sacrificed to get where you are now?

Ben: A lot I guess. We missed a lot of schooling and relationships are a big one. They take quite a battering when you’re on tour and such. You don’t get to see your family and friends. Being away from home is fine but not seeing your friends and whatnot gets hard.

S!: What do you think it is about your music that captures your fans?

Ben: I guess the honesty and integrity we put into it. I think it translates well and when people come to see us play live they see we’re just so into it as well. I hope it feels like they are in some kind of exclusive fun club or something. [Laughs] We’re just having such a great time and enjoying what we’re doing that draws them in. I’ve noticed that here in America, music is like McDonald’s in the fact that you get a bite of it and you like it for a minute but then it’s old. You want something new and try other things right after. I like to think of ourselves as a plate of sushi.

S!: You had your first tour back in the US recently after being  gone since 1999. How did that go?

Ben: That was great! We were amazed at the response we got and people were really excited to kind of rediscover the band. I know there are a lot of Frogstomp purists that don’t want us to play anything but grunge and such but we’ve progressed a lot. Some people like the dot to dot factor between albums and we didn’t really get to give them that. It seems to have gone really well though and we were happy. A lot of people wanted to come on this journey with us. Shows have been crazy and people have been really manic at them. [Laughs]

S!: Do you feel your fans in the US have remained loyal after so long?

Ben: There is a really hardcore fanbase of them. There are people that think that if we’re here, we’re here and if we’re not, then we’re not. They were fans since day one and they just didn’t stop. There is a pretty large number of core fans I like to think of though. I know some people knew a few songs here and there or liked an album or two but weren’t nearly as hardcore. We really had to get in their faces again and especially the new fans. I’ve trailed off and I forgot what we were talking about just now. [Laughs]

S!: Do you notice a difference in the behavior of your Australian fans compared to US fans?

Ben: I find it different from city to city actually. If you go to big cities like New York or even Melbourne they get to see a lot of bands play quite often. To get them excited and get into the show you really have to work at it. They can get very critical because they’re exposed to it so much more. When you go to smaller places anywhere in the world, they get a lot more excited because they don’t see shows as much. They have been kind of similar on this tour but it really just depends on the city.

S!: Silverchair had a hiatus and you went your separate ways. How did your side projects go?

Ben: Mine was just purely a side project and I wasn’t out for world domination or anything like that. I wasn’t taking it very seriously. I wrote a few songs, did a few small tours but that was it. It was just a creative outlet really. You don’t have to write a single for the radio or anything so you just get to get all that out of your system. The biggest thing doing that though was that we all realized how much we loved Silverchair though! [Laughs]

S!: What made everyone realize that Silverchair should get back together?

Ben: There was the one event, a tsunami oddly enough. It was just after Christmas. All the managers and booking agents got together and planned that there should be something done for benefits. We weren’t even thinking about Silverchair at all and we got a call about us getting together and putting a show on. I remember the call so clearly! I was driving to a restaurant and my palms got all sweaty and I got excited. Of course we would do it! We hadn’t played together in years but we did some rehearsals and in the few times we did we knew that felt right. It was like we never stopped and we just picked right up where we left off. When we played the gig then, we knew we couldn’t just stop then.

S!: What are your thoughts about the new album, Young Modern?

Ben: I know it is cliche, but I think it is some of our best work we’ve done. I think we’re all at a point where we’re more confident. Dan is really comfortable with his songwriting capabilities now and we’re just really comfortable with Silverchair as a whole. We have a lot of experience under our belts and we’re all getting along better than we ever had. Everything just felt right. It feels like this is the one thing we were working towards this whole time and I’m really proud of it.

S!: What inspired the change from your previous musical direction?

Ben: We get so bored so easy. [Laughs] I’m sure we’ll do something new next time. I don’t care how much you love music, if you listen to it enough eventually you’ll tire of it. You might listen to it occasionally but you ware of it. We can’t sit still and we get bored for those reasons. We keep evolving and changing. I forgot what the question was again. [Laughs]

S!: What are you hoping to achieve with the reuniting of Silverchair?

Ben: The reunion. [Laughs] I like that. I guess getting through the tour at the moment. We’ve been on tour for 12 months now. We’re starting to crumble and we’re really tired. It doesn’t really feel like a reunion though. Sure we had this prolonged hiatus but it doesn’t feel like Silverchair ever left. It’s just a continuation of what we’ve been doing.

S!: What can your fans expect from you next?

Ben: We’re taking a little time off but going back out towards Spain soon. Hopefully we’ll come back to the US and by that stage the album will have come around more. The plan at the moment is to get another album out though around 2009ish.

S!: Any last words to your fans reading?

Ben: Thanks for being our fans! [Laughs] That was short and sweet.

• Official Site: http://www.chairpage.com
• MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/silverchair