Silverchair bass player Chris Joannou will take part in the Rock N’ Ride journey – a bike ride to be held in conjunction with the Australian music festival Big Day Out, to raise awareness for mental health.
The Rock N’ Ride team – made up of Australian musicians Phil Jameison, frontman for Grinspoon; Australian DJ Paul Mac, NRL star Nathan Hindmarsh; and comedian Merrick Watts – will be checking into Headspace centres and regional areas in QLD, NSW, VIC and SA to help raise awareness for youth mental health issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, depression and anxiety.
The awareness tour will begin Sunday 20 January on the Gold Coast and will conclude in Adelaide on Friday 25 January.
In other news, the bass player added that the Newcastle trio haven’t ruled out a reunion in coming years. Silverchair went into ‘indefinite hibernation’ in 2011, but the Joannou stated that the “book is still open” for more music to be made. It is rumoured that Silverchair have an unfinished sixth album that they may complete.
“Who knows, the book is still open, nothing’s closed. When it feels right, something will happen,” he told musicfeed.com.au.
“There’s no plans, there’s nothing pencilled in, we’ll just have to wait and see.
“[The break] is nothing new for us. Every time we’ve had breaks, everyone’s been busy doing other projects and I think it’s a really healthy approach.”
Chris Joannou is one of the three founding members of Silverchair along with singer Daniel Johns and drummer Ben Gillies. The group formed in 1992 under the name Innocent Criminals but got their big break when they won a Triple J unearthed competition in 1994. Since then, they have gone on to release 5 studio albums and have won 21 of the 49 ARIA awards they have been nominated for.