SILVERCHAIR drummer Ben Gillies has described his late father as the "solid rock in my life" in his first public comments since his passing.
David Gillies died from cancer two months ago, following his wife, Annette, who lost her battle with lung cancer in February 2020.
"It's still really fresh," Ben Gillies tells mindset coach and host, Sarah Grynberg, on new LiSTNR podcast series, Stories Of Us.
"I'm still very much working through it.
"Losing a parent is one of the things you dread when you're really young.
"When it becomes a reality it's incredibly tough and so permanent.
"What the hard thing to grapple with is, is that you're so used to that person. My dad was my rock.
"He was a simple man. He still liked a fart joke even though he was 74.
"He was always there and I could always go to him. He was that solid rock in my life."
David, who owned a plumbing business when Silverchair became international teenage rock stars in the mid-90s, would join the fathers of Daniel Johns and Chris Joannou on tours to act as chaperones for their sons, alternating with the trio's mothers.
The first episode of Stories Of Us also touches on Gillies' fractured relationship with Johns and the book Love & Pain he co-wrote with Joannou.
"It definitely felt like a full stop," Gillies says of a 2021 text message he received from Johns.
"It's one of the painful parts of the story-telling, you hear from someone and receive messages that are not very nice to hear.
"It can be painful, and sometimes I just [think] pick up the phone and give me a call. Again it comes back to, even to this day, guys communicating badly, you know men communicating badly.
"If Chris, Daniel and I were to get in a room and actually have a heartfelt conversation, we don't have to be best mates and we don't have to be a band anymore, but at least we may have some more closure."
Grynberg says Gillies' incredible success with Silverchair and his vulnerability, particularly when discussing the breakdown of his relationship with Johns, made him an ideal opening guest for Stories Of Us.
"Everyone wants to be listened to and when you hear their stories you can't help but reflect on your own life," Grynberg says.
"We always find commonality between stories and that's why story-telling is so important because it allows us to know we're not alone."
The Stories Of Us series is set to have a distinct Newcastle and Hunter flavour.
Future episodes include conversations with former Knights star Alex McKinnon, Newcastle comedian Rhys Nicholson and Muswellbrook-bred Channel Nine entertainment presenter Brooke Boney.
Other personalities due to appear on the series include former Australian of the Year and activist Grace Tame, musicians Shannon Noll and Pete Murray and comedian Alex Dyson.
Grynberg was born and raised in Melbourne, but says the impact of regional upbringings on some of Australia's most prominent people is often overlooked.
"A recurring theme in these interviews is that people are so grateful, when they grow up in regional areas or when they're still there, for that sense of community," she says.
"I find that sometimes in the metro areas we just don't have as much of that.
"I've lived in Melbourne my whole life, but when I hear these people talking about growing up in those areas there's a part of me that thinks 'wow they were so free as kids'."
McKinnon, who was raised in the upper Hunter town of Aberdeen, embodies the resilience that many people in regional areas adopt.
In 2014 McKinnon was just 22 when his NRL career came to a devastating end when he broke several vertebrae and damaged his spinal chord, following a ugly spear tackle from then Melbourne Storm prop Jordan McLean.
The injury left McKinnon paralysed and led to an overwhelming outpouring of emotion from the rugby league community and the Hunter in general.
However, the 31-year-old man Grynberg spoke to harbours no bitterness.
"He's done a lot of healing and that really comes off in the interview," she says.
"He talks about his journey and a lot about forgiveness and the dark times he had.
"But now there is so much light in his life and he's one of the happiest people that I've spoken to and he shows so much wisdom."
As a mindset coach Grynberg has worked with elite athletes and senior business people and she's also involved in keynote speaking.
Grynberg's A Life Of Greatness podcast is approaching its eighth season in February.
Her guests have included Hollywood stars Matthew McConaughey and Geena Davis, former Prime Minister John Howard, Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo, surfer Owen Wright, singer Amy Shark, psychic John Edward, journalist Tracey Spicer, Spice Girl Melanie C, comedian Urzila Carlson, broadcaster Kate Langbroek and late music legend Olivia Newton-John.
Asked if there's a commonality in the mindset of people who have achieved supposed "greatness" in their chosen fields, Grynberg says, "they all have passion within them and they follow that and they all have a sense of purpose.
"I think that's really important. Sometimes it might take a while to work it out or their purpose changes, but they've always followed their dreams."
Sarah Grynberg's podcast Stories Of Us is available on LiSTNR.
