Ben Gillies is trading the grand arenas of his teenage years for a starkly different kind of studio chemistry. The Silverchair co-founder has launched a new musical venture called The Kiln, teaming up with two-time Grammy-winning producer and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Prielozny.
A Partnership Rooted in Opposite Ends of the Industry
The newly formed duo brings together vastly different backgrounds in the modern music business. Gillies first broke onto the global scene as a teenager in Newcastle, New South Wales, helping form Silverchair in 1992 alongside Daniel Johns and Chris Joannou. The band achieved massive international success, landing their 1995 debut album Frogstomp at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 and keeping it on the chart for 49 weeks. Tracks like “Tomorrow” dominated U.S. modern rock radio, helping cement the group’s legacy as a chart-topping powerhouse that ultimately claimed 21 ARIA Awards—more than any other act—before entering an indefinite hiatus in 2011.
In the years following that hiatus, Gillies maintained a steady creative output through various side projects. He formed Tambalane with Wes Carr, fronted the band Bento—whose debut album Diamond Days arrived in 2012—and released solo material. Prielozny, meanwhile, brings a decorated production pedigree from a different corner of the industry. He secured his first Grammy in 2013 for engineering Lecrae’s Gravity, which won best gospel album, followed by a second Grammy in 2015 for his songwriting contributions to Lecrae and for KING & COUNTRY’s “Messengers,” which took home best contemporary Christian music performance/song.
Charity Auction Launches the Debut Era
To mark the formation of the project, Gillies utilized his birthday on Saturday, Oct. 24, to launch a charitable initiative benefiting Support Act, the Australian charity providing crisis relief and mental health support to musicians and crew members. “It’s my birthday, but this year, the present’s going the other way,” Gillies said in a video announcement posted to social media.
The campaign centers around the very first physical pressings of The Kiln’s upcoming music. While the duo’s self-titled debut album is scheduled for release in 2027, the first vinyl run will be strictly limited to 250 copies. Before mass production began, only four test pressings were manufactured. Gillies and Prielozny are each retaining one copy for themselves, while a third copy, signed by both musicians, has been put up for auction. “Only four of these vinyls exist. They’re the very first copies of the record ever made,” Gillies noted.
Specific details regarding the exact sonic direction of The Kiln remain scarce, though promotional material on the band’s official website frames the project around songwriting, experimentation, and storytelling, with the upcoming album exploring the tension between holding on and letting go. Bidding for the signed test pressing closes at noon AEDT on Saturday, Oct. 31, via the band’s website.
