Ben Gillies

Ben Gillies

Ben Gillies of Silverchair at Webster Hall in New York City, February 2007.
Background information
Birth name Benjamin David Gillies
Born (1979-10-24) 24 October 1979
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Alternative rock, grunge, post-grunge, art rock
Instruments Drums, guitar, vocals
Years active 1992–present
Labels Murmur, Sony, Epic, Eleven
Associated acts Silverchair, Tambalane, Bento
Notable instruments
Ben Gillies Heartbeater

Benjamin David "Ben" Gillies (born 24 October 1979) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of Australian rock band Silverchair from 1992 until the band went on hiatus in 2011. In 2003, Gillies formed Tambalane with Wes Carr, initially as a song-writing project, they released a self-titled album in 2005 and toured Australia but subsequently folded. By June 2011, after Silverchair's disbandment, Gillies was in the final stages of about 12 months of working on his solo album and he said that it was not a continuation of his earlier work with Tambalane. In 2012, he formed Bento, in which he performs lead vocals, and released the band's debut album Diamond Days.

Career

Benjamin David Gillies was born on 24 October 1979 in Merewether, a suburb of Newcastle NSW. He started as a quad drummer in the band, The Marching Koalas, before forming the grunge group, Innocent Criminals, at the age of 12 with friends Daniel Johns and Chris Joannou. Playing originally at school and other venues in the Newcastle area, they came to attention after a weekend music workshop at the Tanilba Bay Progress Hall funded through the Arts Council of New South Wales in March 1994. By October 1994, under their new name Silverchair, their first EP Tomorrow had reached No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[1] Silverchair went on to release five No. 1 albums, Frogstomp (1995), Freak Show (1997), Neon Ballroom (1999), Diorama (2002) and Young Modern (2007).[2]

Gillies formed the band Tambalane in 2002 while Silverchair was in hiatus following Johns' illness,[3] releasing a self-titled album featuring the singles Little Miss Liar and Free before the band folded in 2005. He then returned to work with Silverchair.

In June 2010, Gillies married Jakica Ivancevic.[4] In May 2011, Silverchair announced an "indefinite hibernation" and that they were not likely to work together "in the foreseeable future".[5] By June, Gillies was in the final stages of working on his solo album, he had been working on it for about 12 months and said that it was not a continuation of his earlier work with Tambalane.[6]

Personal life

His wife Jackie Gillies works as a professional psychic and is on The Real Housewives of Melbourne.[7]

Equipment

The following are some of the Drumkits used by Ben Gillies during his musical career with Silverchair:

References

  1. ↑ New World Artists. "Artist Profile: Silverchair". Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  2. ↑ Hung, Steffen. "Silverchair Discography". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  3. ↑ "There's a chair in there". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 June 2005. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  4. ↑ "Silverchair drummer Ben Gilles weds in Newcastle".
  5. ↑ "Chairpage News".
  6. ↑ Lau, Kristie (12 June 2011). "Silverchair drummer works on solo album". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  7. ↑ http://www.pedestrian.tv/news/arts-and-culture/real-housewives-of-melbourne-revealed-catch-phrase/d7ec8c3a-249a-47a8-919c-654bed1b146a.htm
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