Silverchair drummer Ben Gillies has returned from a tour of duty to Afghanistan where be played for the troops with his other band Bento.
Ben Gillies at Noise11
Ben told Noise11 of his impending trip to the war-zone but couldn’t reveal in advance when the trip was to take place.
Now that it is done we can say that Bento’s secret mission was to Torin Kot, Afghanistan. As well as Gilles, comedian Justin Hamilton, singer Adam Miller and scientist Dr Karl Kruszelnicki also went on the trip.
In Tarin Kot the performers met the soldiers from the 7th Battalion Royal Australian Task Group. They also performed in Kabul and Kandahar before a final show at Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
Ben also tells Noise11 that Silverchair is not over and that another album will happen. “We’ve had long breaks before,” he says, “probably not as long as this, but I think that’s the reason Silverchair has had such longevity is that we have been able to recognise when something is not working and we need to take a step back rather than push through and end up hating each other. We haven’t got any plans at the moment but when the time is right we will come back together and we will finish the 6th album”.
The last Silverchair album was ‘Young Modern’ in 2007.
Watch the Ben Gillies Noise11.com interview:
