Ben Gillies

Infobox musical artist
Name = Ben Gillies

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Img_capt = Ben Gillies at Webster Hall in New York City, February 13, 2007.
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Landscape = yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = Benjamin David Gillies
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1979|10|24|df=y
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Died =
Origin =
Instrument = Drums, guitar
Genre = Rock
Occupation = musician
Years_active = 1992 – current
Label =
Associated_acts = Silverchair, Tambalane
URL =
Notable_instruments = [http://www.vater.com/newproducts/product.cfm?M=150 Ben Gillies Heartbeater]

Benjamin David Gillies (born 24 October 1979) is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of successful rock band Silverchair, which has sold over 6 million albums worldwide and has had more Top 20 hits during the last decade than any other Australian artist.

Gillies was born in Newcastle, New South Wales. Gillies' first cousin is Channel 7 TV presenter, Kylie Gillies. The Gillies family is a part of the Surfrider Foundation, which promotes clean ocean water. Gillies was a quad drummer in The Marching Koalas and he taught his friend Chris Joannou of Silverchair how to play guitar and bass in three months. Gillies also plays the guitar and bass.

In 2002, Silverchair was severely affected by the band’s inability to tour or do promotional appearances due to Daniel Johns' ill health. The singer/guitarist spent 2002 battling a severely debilitating case of reactive arthritis from which he is now recovering. In November 2005, Silverchair announced they were working on the music for their 5th studio album Young Modern, released in Australia on 31 March 2007. During this period Gillies was a member of an Australian rock band Tambalane which has now broken up due to Silverchair's return.

Gillies performed a song with Silverchair originally written by Midnight Oil at the 2006 ARIA Awards as part of Midnight Oil's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame where he sang back up vocals.

During his down time within the Neon Ballroom timeline, Ben worked in a record store to gain as much musical knowledge as possible.

Ben is 5"8.

When not touring with Silverchair, Ben teaches drums part-time through music tuition school, Rosie's School of Rock, in Newcastle, Australia.

Equipment

The following are some of the Drumkits used by Ben Gillies during his musical career with Silverchair:

* "Frogstomp"/"Freak Show"/"Neon Ballroom" era:
**Pearl Masters Custom Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
**Pearl Drums - Black
**6x14" Snare
**12x14" Tom
**16x16" Floor Tom
**16x18" Floor Tom
**16x24" Bass drum
**19" AAX Metal Crash
**20" AAX Metal Crash
**21" AAX Metal Crash
**21" AA Heavy Ride
**14" AAX Metal Hi-Hats

*"Diorama" era:
**Le Soprano Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
**Le Soprano Drums - Prima Original Ben Gillies Signature
**14x6.5" Ben Gillies Signature Snare
**13x8" Rack Tom
**16x15"Floor Tom
**18x15" Floor Tom
**24x16" Bass Drum
**14" HH Dark Hi-Hats
**18" HH Dark Crash
**21" HH Vintage Ride
**20" Sabian Radia Crash

*"Young Modern" era:
**Le Soprano Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
**Le Soprano Drums - Prima Original in Cherry Red
**14x6.5" Ben Gillies Signature Snare
**12x9" Rack Tom
**13x08" Rack Tom
**16x16"Floor Tom
**18x16" Floor Tom
**24x16" Bass Drum
**14" HH Dark Hi-Hats
**18" HH Dark Crash
**21" HH Vintage Ride
**20" HH Radia Crash (discontinued)
**(Same as above, but with a 12x13" Tom next to his 9x12" Tom.)

**Gillies also uses Pearl Hardware, Remo drum skins and Ben Gillies Heartbeater Vater sticks.
**During the Neon Ballroom Tour he used 6 different Drum sets.