The Silverchair frontman has addressed the Australian Story documentary in a recent Instagram post.
If you didn’t tune in live to A Silver Lining – the Australian Story special on Silverchair featuring members Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou – you might have missed your chance to see it.
The first part of the deep dive has been taken off ABC iView, with the caption on the site reading “part one of the Silverchair story is unavailable due to rights issues.”
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Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns – who wasn’t interviewed in the aforementioned Australian Story deep dive – posted a statement to his Instagram, directly addressing the special and its removal from iView.
“I would have preferred to say nothing but here are the facts,” Johns stated in his Instagram post.
“Australian Story reached out to me via my team ‘as a courtesy’ on August 11 to let me know that they were doing a story on [Ben Gillies] and [Chris Joannou]
“I was and remain incredibly supportive of them telling their story.
“I was asked at the end of filming to be interviewed about their contribution to the band and although I wished them all the best, I respectfully declined for one reason.”
The special aimed to provide an intimate look at the lives and careers of Gillies and Joannou, whose memoir, Love & Pain: The epic times and crooked lines of life inside and outside Silverchair, is set to hit bookshelves on September 27.
“I haven’t been involved in the book nor am I aware of the contents,” Johns continues in his Instagram statement. “I’ve asked on many occasions to read the book but haven’t been sent a copy, consequently I was uncomfortable being interviewed to help promote it.
“I was later asked by [the ABC] via Silverchair’s label [Sony Music] to clear seven songs for iView, (most of which were composed solely by me) to soundtrack a two episode series. One particular use related to Ana’s Song being featured as they discussed my battle with anorexia.
“I said to Sony and ABC that I would be open to approving all songs provided I received a copy of the book to ensure I wasn’t having my songs used to promote something I had no visibility on.
“I was told again that Ben & Chris would not give me a copy to read. That’s why the iView use was denied.
“As always, I wish Ben & Chris nothing but success and happiness. I have never sought to block their book, I merely asked to receive a copy in advance to fact check it. I was concerned about my personal health records being discussed, I don’t think that’s unreasonable.”
At the time of writing, it appears that part two is still available to watch on iView.
Check out other specials by Australian Story by heading here.
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