John Watson

As part of our commitment to capturing and sharing great Australian music stories, the Australian Music Vault asked some of the country’s most influential trailblazers and unsung heroes to open up about their lives in music.

John Watson is the owner and president of John Watson Management and Eleven: A Music Company. Over the past 20 years the name Eleven has become synonymous with the philosophy of maintaining and developing the careers of a small roster of quality artists. The current Eleven roster comprises Birds of Tokyo, Cold Chisel, Gotye, Midnight Oil, Missy Higgins, Paul Mac, The Presets and Silverchair.

Watson began his career in music as a teenager working at an independent record store and playing bass in local Townsville band, The Spliffs. In 1986, he relocated to Sydney where he spent his time managing the band, studying politics at university, and working as a freelance music journalist before taking a job in the A&R department of Sony Music.

In 1995, while working at Sony Music, Watson co-signed an up-and-coming group of 15 year olds from Newcastle known as Silverchair. With the band’s career taking off Watson left Sony to manage the band under the name John Watson Management.

In this interview with Tracee Hutchison, John Watson talks about his early days at Sony, Silverchair’s incredible rise to international fame, and signing Missy Higgins right out of school.

Interviewer: Tracee Hutchison

Location: Eleven Music, Sydney, 2017