Chris Joannou

Chris Joannou
Joannou as part of Rock'N'Ride in 2013
Joannou as part of Rock'N'Ride in 2013
Background information
Born (1979-11-10) 10 November 1979 (age 45)
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
GenresArt rock, hard rock, grunge
InstrumentBass guitar
Years active1992–present

Christopher Andrew Joannou (born 10 November 1979)[1] is a Macedonian-Australian musician best known as the bassist for the Newcastle-based alternative rock band Silverchair. He is a twin to sister Louise Kipa.[2] He was the first of the three band members to cut his long hair short. Joannou was nicknamed 'Lumberjack' by Silverchair fans for his love of trees, and plaid shirts. His bandmate Ben Gillies taught him how to play bass guitar.

As well as being a well known bassist, Joannou was the assistant producer for The Mess Hall albums Feeling Sideways and the ARIA award-winning Notes From A Ceiling.

He has used mainly G&L and Fender Precision Basses, and almost exclusively uses Ampeg B-15 Portaflex combos. As reported to gearwire.com, Joannou uses an Ampeg SVT-2 into an Ampeg 810 cabinet and a new Ampeg B-15 combo in his live set-up.

In 2006, Joannou spoke at the launch of a mental health scholarship set up to honour his cousin, Nathan Trepezanov, who died by suicide at the age of 21 in January of that year.[3] Joannou is of Macedonian heritage.[4]

  1. ^ Larkin, Colin (27 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ GREEN, PENELOPE (16 February 2015). "Twin talent for business". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  3. ^ "AM - Mental health research scholarship launched". abc.net.au.
  4. ^ Penelope Green, Chris Joannou's parents return to the family fold and open a laundrette in Newcastle. Newcastle Herald, Feb. 12 2016, .