Silverchair’s Daniel Johns reveals why ABC series about the band was pulled… as he shares concerns about ex-bandmates Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou’s memoir

Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns broke his silence last week on ABC’s decision to release part one of the Australian Story documentary A Silver Lining.

The two-part series, which premiered on September 18, tells the story of Silverchair’s meteoric rise and includes an interview with drummer Ben Gillies and bassist Chris Joannou.

Gillies and Joannou are also on the publicity circuit for their upcoming memoir Love & Pain.

Johns, who has been estranged from Gilles and Joannou since the band split in 2011, did not participate in the documentary.

Fans were surprised on Tuesday after Australian Story announced on social media that ABC had removed part one of A Silver Lining from its streaming platform iView.

At the time, The Daily Telegraph reported that Johns and his brother and manager Heath had not given ABC the rights to publish Silverchair’s music on iView.

Johns finally set the record straight on Sunday, posting a lengthy essay on Instagram explaining why he chose not to give ABC permission to republish his songs.

“I would have preferred to say nothing, but here are the facts,” he wrote.

“Australian Story contacted me through my team on August 11 ‘as a courtesy’ to let me know they were doing a story on (Gillies) and (Joannou). I was and remain incredibly supportive of them telling their story,” he continued.

‘At the end of the recording I was asked to be interviewed about their contribution to the band and although I wished them all the best, I respectfully declined for one reason.’

The reason was that Johns had nothing to do with Gillies and Joannou’s memoirs, and he said he felt uncomfortable “promoting” the book without knowing what they had written about him.

Johns claimed that he repeatedly asked Gillies and Joannou for a copy of Love & Pain as a condition of approving ABC’s request to use his music in their documentary, but his requests were denied.

‘I have not been involved with the book and am not aware of its contents. “I have been asked many times to read the book, but I did not receive a copy, so I was not comfortable being interviewed to help promote it,” he said.

‘I was later asked by (ABC) through Silverchair’s label (Sony Music Australia) to release seven songs for iView (most of which were composed solely by me) as the soundtrack for a two-episode series.’

According to the singer, ABC requested his track Ana’s Song (Open Fire), which Johns wrote about his battle with anorexia nervosa.

“I told Sony and ABC that I would be open to approving any songs on the condition that I receive a copy of the book to ensure that my songs are not used to promote anything I had no idea,” he said.

‘I was told again that Ben and Chris wouldn’t give me a copy to read. Therefore, the use of iView was refused.’

Johns claimed that ABC published the documentary on iView even though it did not have the license to publish his songs.

He also accused the state-funded broadcaster of waiting “three days” after being approached by his record label Sony before finally removing the episode.

John claimed that in the past he had been forced to ‘re-record’ his own versions of Silverchair songs for projects because another former bandmate had similarly denied him the rights to use their music.

Johns ended the post on a more positive note: “As always, I wish Ben and Chris nothing but success and happiness. “I never tried to block their book, I just asked to receive a copy in advance to fact-check it.”

“I was concerned about the discussion about my personal health records, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”

Johns concluded: ‘Everyone is crazy. If I’m wrong, please provide the proof or please stop the useless speculation.”

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Australian Story, Gillies and Joannou regarding this story.

It comes after Johns bumped into Gillies and Joannou during an appearance on The Project in September 2022, where he branded his estranged friends as ‘bitter, jealous, angry’.

Mentioning Gillies, he said the drummer had a “real problem” with his fame, claiming both of his former bandmates “never came to see him.”

Neither Gillies nor Joannou responded at the time, but it appears the pair will have their say when their book Love & Pain hits shelves on Wednesday, September 27.

The upcoming memoir is sure to reignite the bitter feud between the former bandmates who conquered the world as 15-year-olds with their debut album Frogstomp before splitting up in 2011.

The book release follows a series of disparaging comments Johns made last year about his former bandmates in the series ‘Who Is Daniel Johns?’ podcast and the YouTube series Inside The Mind Of Daniel Johns.

Part 2 of the Australian Story with Gillies and Joannou airs on ABC on Monday at 8pm.