
The Dissociatives was
conceived by Daniel Johns and Paul Mac.
The pair first met when Paul remixed “Freak”
by Daniel’s band, Silverchair, in 1997. Over the years that followed,
Paul contributed “keyboards and other noises” to Silverchair’s
“Neon Ballroom” and “Diorama” albums. He also
guested onstage with the band a couple of times. Through these creative
experiences the guys became friends. This led them to create an experimental
EP called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Rock” in
2000.
In mid 2003 the pair got together to write and record
“The Dissociatives”. They elected to produce the disc themselves.
All the music was written jointly with Daniel subsequently penning the
words and melodies. They recorded the basic tracks in London then a
few months later they regrouped in Sydney and Newcastle to finish it
off.
Prior to forming this new group both Daniel and Paul
had both been making memorable music for a number of years. Here are
their individual stories so far …
Daniel
Johns
He and
his schoolmates were catapulted into the public eye in 1994 after winning
a national demo competition. Their winning entry, “Tomorrow”,
rocket to #1 on the Australian charts as did their debut album, “frogstomp”
early the following year.
During 1995 and 1996, Silverchair’s Australian
success translated internationally with “frogstomp” hitting
the US top 10 and selling over 2.5 million copies. The group toured
the globe appearing on major European festivals and supporting Red Hot
Chili Peppers across North America.
The band’s vitriolic sophomore release –
1997’s “Freak Show” – yielded three top 10 singles
in Australia. It went gold in the U.S.A. and saw the band juggle more
world tours alongside the completion of their last year at school.
In 1999 they released the brooding “Neon Ballroom”.
This deeply emotional piece of work managed the rare feat of attracting
the band’s best ever reviews and eclipsing the sales of its predecessor.
By decade’s end the group had sold more albums
during the 1990’s than any other Australian rock band and had
enjoyed more top 40 singles in their homeland than any other local artist.
After taking a 12 month break during 2000, the group
reformed to play the biggest show of their lives in front of 250,000
people at Rock In Rio. They then began work on a new album that would
be called “Diorama” when it was released in early 2002.
The disc’s international release was severely
compromised when Daniel’s battle with reactive arthritis made
it impossible for him to tour or travel internationally to do promotion.
However, in Australia the disc became their fastest selling release
and ended up winning four ARIA Awards.
Silverchair
returned to the concert stage in 2003 with their acclaimed “Across
The Night” world tour setting box office records. “Live From
Faraway Stables” – a CD and DVD drawn from one of these shows
– was released in Australia at the end of 2003.
Paul
Mac
Paul is one of the leading figures in the history of
Australian electronic music.
He’s a conservatorium graduate and a multiple
ARIA award winner. His work with underground dance pioneers including
Itchee & Scratchee, The Lab, and Boo Boo & Mace, has seen him
spend over a decade at the vanguard of Australian club culture.
Paul has also scored music for film, TV and he has created
music for other projects including working with Baz Luhrman. His remixes
of artists like Savage Garden, Powderfinger, INXS and Silverchair have
also established him as this country's pre-eminent re-mixers.
Paul’s acclaimed gold selling debut solo album
“3000 Feet High” was released in August 2001. Recorded in
his Blue Mountains studio, the album’s first single sold out its
pressing within a week of release. The second single, the gold selling
anthem “Just The Thing”, was a #1 multi format hit. This
was followed by “The Sound Of Breaking Up” and the irresistible
“Gonna Miss You” (featuring vocals by Abby Dobson).
Paul was named “Producer of the Year” at
the 2001 Australian Dance Music Awards. He was also named “Dance
Artist Of The Year” in Rolling Stone’s Readers Poll and
won an APRA Award for “Most Performed Dance Work”.
In 2002 Paul was acknowledged with the “Outstanding
Contribution to Dance” at the Australian Dance Music Awards. He
also received his second ARIA Award (Australia’s Grammy) for his
work on “3000 Feet High”.
Alongside
his work with The Dissociatives Paul is currently completing work on his
second solo album 'Panic Room' which will be released late 2005.
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