Career

Benjamin David Gillies was born on 24 October 1979 in Merewether, a suburb of Newcastle NSW. He started as a quad drummer in the band, The Marching Koalas, before forming the grunge group, Innocent Criminals, at the age of 12 with friends Daniel Johns and Chris Joannou. Playing originally at school and other venues in the Newcastle area, they came to attention after a weekend music workshop at the Tanilba Bay Progress Hall funded through the Arts Council of New South Wales in March 1994. By October 1994, under their new name Silverchair, their first EP Tomorrow had reached No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart. Silverchair went on to release five No. 1 albums, Frogstomp (1995), Freak Show (1997), Neon Ballroom (1999), Diorama (2002) and Young Modern (2007).

Gillies formed the band Tambalane in 2002 while Silverchair was in hiatus following Johns' illness, releasing a self-titled album featuring the singles Little Miss Liar and Free before the band folded in 2005. He then returned to work with Silverchair.

In June 2010, Gillies married Jakica Ivancevic. In May 2011, Silverchair announced an "indefinite hibernation" and that they were not likely to work together "in the foreseeable future". By June, Gillies was in the final stages of working on his solo album, he had been working on it for about 12 months and said that it was not a continuation of his earlier work with Tambalane.

Personal life

His wife Jackie Gillies works as a professional psychic and is on The Real Housewives of Melbourne.

Equipment

The following are some of the Drumkits used by Ben Gillies during his musical career with Silverchair:

• Frogstomp/Freak Show/Neon Ballroom era:
  • Pearl Masters Custom Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
  • Pearl Drums - Black
  • 6x14" Snare
  • 12x14" Tom
  • 16x16" Floor Tom
  • 16x18" Floor Tom
  • 16x24" Bass drum
  • 19" AAX Metal Crash
  • 20" AAX Metal Crash
  • 21" AAX Metal Crash
  • 21" AA Heavy Ride
  • 14" AAX Metal Hi-Hats
• Diorama era:
  • Le Soprano Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
  • Le Soprano Drums - Prima Original Ben Gillies Signature
  • 14x6.5" Ben Gillies Signature Snare
  • 13x8" Rack Tom
  • 16x15"Floor Tom
  • 18x15" Floor Tom
  • 24x16" Bass Drum
  • 14" HH Dark Hi-Hats
  • 18" HH Dark Crash
  • 21" HH Vintage Ride
  • 20" Sabian Radia Crash
• Young Modern era:
  • Le Soprano Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
  • Le Soprano Drums - Prima Original in Cherry Red
  • 14x6.5" Ben Gillies Signature Snare
  • 12x9" Rack Tom
  • 13x08" Rack Tom
  • 16x16"Floor Tom
  • 18x16" Floor Tom
  • 24x16" Bass Drum
  • 14" HH Dark Hi-Hats
  • 18" HH Dark Crash
  • 21" HH Vintage Ride
  • 20" HH Radia Crash (discontinued)
  • (Same as above, but with a 12x13" Tom next to his 9x12" Tom.)
  • Gillies also uses Pearl Hardware, Remo drum skins and Ben Gillies Heartbeater Vater sticks.
  • During the Neon Ballroom Tour he used 6 different Drum sets.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]