Silverchair Sweeps ARIA Nominations

09/15/1999 4:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(9/15/99, 1 a.m. PDT) - At this year's 13th Annual Australian Record Industry Association Music Awards, Silverchair and its latest album, Neon Ballroom, are big rock hopefuls, having picked up nine ARIA nominations, including nods for album of the year, best rock album, best group, record of the year, and best video.

The band's right-hand man, Nick Launay, is up for producer of the year and engineer of the year.

Singer Daniel Johns tells LAUNCH that he can't get too excited over award nominations, but he admits, "It's just one of those things that's just good to hear, but that's not the reason you do it." As to why people connected with Neon Ballroom, Johns tells LAUNCH it was a very personal album. "To me, a lot of the lyrics on this album are things that I've been through and at the time thought…felt really alienated. And it wasn't until I actually wrote the album and got feedback from other people that I realized that a lot of other people go through similar experiences."

The ARIA Awards ceremony takes place Oct. 12 at the Sydney Entertainment Center. Silverchair has won seven ARIA awards so far, including the prestigious outstanding achievement award.

Here's a list of Silverchair's ARIA nominations:

Album of the year: Neon Ballroom
Record of the year: "Ana's Song"
Best group
Best rock album: "Neon Ballroom"
Best-selling Australian single: "Anthem For The Year 2000"
Producer of the year: Nick Launay for Neon Ballroom
Engineer of the year: Nick Launay for Neon Ballroom
Best video: "Ana's Song," directed by Cate Anderson
Best cover art: John Watson, Kevin Wilkins, and Melissa Chenery for Neon Ballroom

To read a Silverchair feature, click here.

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