SILVERCHAIR have announced an ‘‘indefinite hibernation’’ after 19 years, potentially marking the end of one of the Hunter’s most recognised musical exports.
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The Newcastle band announced their hiatus in a statement signed by all three members posted on their website yesterday.
Citing a lack of creative spark and thanking their fans, the statement made it clear that ‘‘Silverchair won’t be making music or playing shows any time soon,’’ the statement read.
‘‘Today we stand by the same rules as we did back then ... if the band stops being fun and if it’s no longer fulfilling creatively, then we need to stop,’’ it read.
‘‘Despite our best efforts over the last year or so, it’s become increasingly clear that the spark simply isn’t there between the three of us at the moment.’’
The band’s most recent run of live performances included headlining Maitland’s Groovin’ the Moo festival last year.
Their last album was 2007’s Young Modern, with it and all four previous albums reaching the top spot on the Australian charts.
The band were recording a new album, with work postponed for frontman Daniel Johns to work on short musical drama My Mind’s Own Melody, which he co-wrote.
‘‘Over the months that followed in the studio it became clear to us that we were moving in different directions,’’ the statement said.
‘‘We assure you that this decision has not been taken lightly. In fact we’ve been struggling with it for quite a while now.’’
Formed in Merewether as the Innocent Criminals in 1992, Silverchair found success with the single Tomorrow and their first album while still in high school.
They won a record 21 ARIAs and sold more than six million albums.
Drummer Ben Gillies took to Twitter last night to dispel reports the group had disbanded.
‘‘It’s NOT a split up I repeat N.O.T a split up Gotta read the fine print :),’’ he said.
