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 last Christmas.
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 for release in late 2004 or early 2005.
