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Darren and Daniel met in January 1993 via an advertisement that Daniel placed in 'Time Off' magazine (a local Brisbane music newspaper). He was looking for a singer for his band Red Edge. The advertisement read:
'SERIOUS LEAD VOCALIST WANTED FOR COMMERCIAL MUSICAL OUTFIT PRESENTLY FINANCED BY MAJOR PUBLISHING COMPANY'
Darren telephoned Daniel and they clicked right away. They had found their musical soul mates. The covers band lasted for around 18 months, but when Darren found singing other band's songs unfulfilling, the pair set about writing for themselves. Though they had little experience in songwriting, they managed to construct some tunes loosely based around the style of their 80's heroes. "We had high aspirations from the start" confesses Jones. "We talked about a record deal as if we already had one. We never thought, if this happens. Right from the beginning, it was always, when it does".
They spent almost 12 months in a home studio writing and recording. The unknowns sent out over 150 unsolicited demos, under the name 'Bliss', to record companies and publishers. There was limited interest in the five-track demo, and there were outright rejections. It wasn't until the tape hit the desk of veteran artist manager, John Woodruff (Baby Animals, Diesel, The Angels and Icehouse) that their global potential was spotted. He immediately flew to Brisbane to meet the pair. Despite sheltered, suburban surroundings, Woodruff was impressed with the songs and with the duo's attitude. All the frustration and the waiting had paid off. They were offered a management deal and a record contract from Roadshow/Warner Music.
From the outset, Darren and Daniel displayed a confidence in their work and a will to succeed.
Mid 1995, he set them up in Sydney with noted producer Charles Fisher. The album took almost 8 months to record. Although they suffered setbacks, the self-titled album was finally completed.
The first single 'I Want You' was released on July 1st 1996 and quickly went platinum (selling in excess of 70 000 copies). Peaking at number 4 on the ARIA charts, it was the most added track to radio and the biggest selling Australian single for 1996! It was also ranked No. 12 in the top 100 selling singles. The next single 'To The Moon & Back' went all the way to Number One, as did 'Truly Madly Deeply'.
Bidding for the band among three US labels was won by Columbia President (US) Don Lenner and A & R Chief, Mitchell Cohen, who say they were swayed as soon as they heard the first three Australian singles. Columbia signed Savage Garden to a worldwide deal (excluding Australia and New Zealand). The American interest began when radio consultant Guy Zapoleon, of Houston based Zapoleon Media Strategies, attending a radio conference in Australia, heard the first single and took a copy back to the US where he made copies for radio associates. Before it's label release, 'I Want You' was already getting airplay on as many as 50 US stations. This scenario allowed Savage Garden to build airplay long before the product was commercially released; as a result, its USA breakthrough was particularly dramatic. And as they say, the rest is history...
Hi, all Savage Garden fans...
Read about how Savage Garden swept the 11th Annual ARIA Awards (1997)
. An extract from the Guinness Book of World Records :
"The record for the greatest ever number of ARIA (Australian Record Industry Association) Awards won by an artist in one year is 10 by Savage Garden in 1997. They were nominated in a record 13 out of 26
categories " Read about Savage Garden's 'savage'
success at the ARIA's.
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