EXCLUSIVE: Stream Silverchair Spin-Off Bento's Debut

Ben Gillies is stepping into the spotlight on his post-Silverchair solo effort, Bento. The debut album from the drummer's new moniker is Diamond Days, and will be released Friday 26 October.

And now you can listen to Diamond Days here!

Diamond Days is Gillies' baby, and sees him stepping up as the creative force behind Bento, funding the project himself and personally supervising every element, from artwork to releasing the album on his own label.

“It's great to feel like I'm really in the driver's seat on every detail with Bento” said Ben. “That's just not possible when you're in a band. It's a totally different way of approaching things after years of adhering to a particular formula…So that makes Bento both exciting and scary.”

Following the announcement of Silverchair's “Indefinite hibernation”, Ben was free to explore all his song ideas and was ready to commit to his own album, something he calls “A challenge but a great experience.”

“There was a stack of work to be done. I still had to make songs out of ideas, explore structures and lyrics for whole songs for the first time…Whereas I always had a safety net with Silverchair, now I didn't have that, I just had and to go out there and get it done.”

Diamond Days sees Ben collaborate with Papa Vs Pretty's frontman Thomas Rawle, Scott Aplin and Dave Symes all adding their musical talents to proceedings.

Bento also positions Ben as the frontman for the first time, which led to some minor anxieties. “I was literally shitting myself. It's a fear I'm having to confront, but it's exciting. Scary and exciting.”

This week we'll be posting out exclusive chat with Gillies about Bento, watch some of it below where he talks about the fear of being the centre of attention.