Update: ‘Be Ok Again’ is out now – listen below:
With his debut album on the horizon, What So Not is looking to take his career to the next level, and he’s just announced a mammoth collaboration with one of Australia’s finest.
While he might be known for the angst-ridden, grunge-heavy sounds of Silverchair, Newcastle legend Daniel Johns has been branching out to electronica with his own solo work, as well as collaborations with the likes of Slumberjack. In fact, it’s Slumberjack who played a role in his latest collaboration, this time with burgeoning producer What So Not.
In a picture posted to Instagram, What So Not explained how his new track with Johns, ‘Be Ok Again’ came about. “Thinking back, one of the first songs I learned in my childhood band was ‘Tomorrow’ by Silverchair… Fast forward to 2017, jamming in a session with Slumberjack & Daniel happens to walk by the studio,” he writes. “Dan seemed intrigued & started joking he had to leave before he decided to cancel his plans & track vocals with us for the next 10hrs. A few days later, he reached out via a mutual friend & invited me up the coast to stay & work with him out of his home studio.”
“We clicked instantly on concepts, character development, sonics & writing styles, then locked onto one song in particular. ‘Be Ok Again’ was a really personal track for me. I was kind of embarrassed to show someone of his calibre as I had written and sung my own topline to feel out the idea,” he continued. “To my surprise, he loved it & not only was he happy to re-sing my parts, he encouraged me to keep my voice on the record.”
What So Not goes on to call Johns a “good friend and mentor” and excitingly, reveals that ‘Be Ok Again’ will drop tomorrow. We’ll have to wait and see how this one sounds, but the track records of both parties tells us that it’s looking good.
Stay tuned for ‘Be Ok Again’ arriving in a couple of hours:
