Elegant Interviews!




Up The Garden Path
Full Bloom
How Does Your Garden Grow?
Who's Hot - Savage Garden
Savage Garden's Rosie Future
We Blew Up the Garden Gnome!
US Pops Hot for Lads from Logan





Up The Garden Path

Exclusive track-by-track with Savage Garden
TV Hits Magazine (Australia) May 1997

When they're not out conquering the world, Savage Garden call their old mates at TV HITS for the gossip on their hot debut album. Singer Darren Hayes takes YOU exclusively through each track.

Track 1: "To The Moon & Back"
This was one of the first songs Daniel and I wrote together. It was a beautiful, space-like instrumental that Daniel had been working on for quite a while. He showed it to me and I took it away to work on the melody and lyrics. The song came together very quickly. We recorded the song and included it on our first demo tape. Thank God we did because it is probably the reason why we got the record deal. Most people seem to zero in on this song. It is inspired by the life of a mutual friend. Recording the track for the album was a real challenge as we had become so attached to the original version that it was hard to be objective. The album version features members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the outro sections.

Track 2: "Carry On Dancing"
The scene is just before midnight ... a full moon at a masquerade ball ... avant-garde strings, timpani and even castanets create the gothic feel of the song, inspired by Anne Rice's vampire chronicles. The feel is grandiose and theatrical. We feel this song has a definite sound that we like to think of as our own. We see this feel creeping up a lot in our new work.

Track 3: "Tears Of Pearls"
A bittersweet take on the masks and illusions within relationships - the games we play and the emotions we hide. Originally the song was influenced by Seal, but the sound soon changed during the recording process. Now it is a hybrid of influences. If you listen closely you will hear string arrangements like old Diana Ross & The Supremes records - layered amidst the throbbing bass and anchored by the almost dance beat.

Track 4: "I Want You"
This song was always a wild card. The original idea was very simple: to use the voice as a rhythm instrument - cramming in as many syllables as possible into one phrase. Prior to recording the album we had about 40 songs to choose from. We narrowed down the list to record and came up with 15 tracks. "I Want You" was on that list but because it existed in a simple rough demo, it was not an obvious choice. The recording process really bought the song alive. The simple vocal in the chorus became a bed of 12 voices. Six of Darren and six of session singers that we sank very low in the mix to give the chorus the thick layer of vocals that you hear. When we finished recording, this song just jumped out as our debut single. Lyrically one of the more frantic and nonsensical things we have ever written, the song is based on a recurring dream.

Track 5: "Truly Madly Deeply"
A love song in its purest essence. This track was actually written in the last few weeks of recording and was originally intended to be a subtle, low-key ending to the album. Charles Fisher's producing and Chris Lord-Alge's mix really made the song a much stronger statement. Definitely a pleasing surprise for us. One of the few songs that ended up exactly how we imagined it would.

Track 6: "Violet"
A track which took on another identity during the recording process. The thick doubled fuzz base throughout combined with Rex Goh's funk/blues guitars give this song an almost Prince-like vibe. Lyrically a trance-like ranting describing a state of mind we would all like to get to at some point ...the disco inside your head!

Track 7: "All Around Me"
The most obscure track on the record. A quirky fantasy inspired by Daniel's obsession with Meg Ryan. Features a high camp rap overflowing with designer references and absolutely fabulous overtones. Definitely the shock track on the album. We will have a lot of fun doing this one live.

Track 8: "Universe"
During the writing process this song was originally an instrumental track possibly suited to guitar. We tinkered with it and added a Motown-influenced melody and the track seems to have taken on a Smokey Robinson feel, worlds away from where it began, but firmly rooted in the original structure. A sexy groove cemented by a fantastic mix by Mike Pela.

Track 9: "A Thousand Words"
One of the two songs about conflict in relationships. This track is a very personal snapshot of a real life argument and a play on linguistics and twisted meanings. The rhythm section of Terepie Richmond and Alex Hewitson take the track beyond its original Manchester feel and make it alive, grunting and believable

Track 10: "Break Me Shake Me"
Once again dealing with conflict, this track is schizophrenic. The slick moody bassline and held-back vocal in the verses are in direct opposition to the intense anger and release of the chorus. Turbulent mood swings and angry guitar hooks dominate throughout. When Rex Goh played the solo we were jumping out of our skins. Even though it goes all over the place we felt that the solo was perfect. It was a single take and was so angry we just had to keep it.

Track 11: "Mine"
This is also one of the first tracks we ever wrote. This song is about delay. Every instrument is cycling through a delay in its own time, creating a swirling continuos swell that culminates in the instruments finally locking together. Lyrically based around the notion of desire so strong and yet so completely unobtainable.

Track 12: "Santa Monica"
This track appeared as a bonus track on the "To The Moon & Back" single. When we released "Moon" we felt that the song had more potential than we had at first thought. Then when we went to America, the record company fell in love with the track. It really was written about Santa Monica, about feeling so out of place in a new city but seeking comfort behind the mask of a telephone. We were just getting into the Internet and we found it interesting how in cyberspace you are only as interesting as your mind. You can be anything you want to be. So sitting in a cafe in Santa Monica on day, this strange thought came into being.

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Full Bloom

TV Hits Magazine (Australia) January 1998

Savage Garden has had quite a year - after amazing success overseas, they scored a record-breaking 10 ARIA awards back home! TV HITS grabbed Darren and Daniel for a chat about fame, the US and their next CD.

Savage Garden has come a long way since recording songs in Daniel Jones's house in Loganholme, a suburb near Brisbane - they've taken the whole world by storm! No one was more surprised than the boys though, as Darren Hayes humbly admits. "It's unbelievable. We had this crazy Kamikaze belief that we could succeed - and hopefully on an international level. Now, something we set out to do three or four years ago is a reality. It's kind of scary!"

With their hot new single, Universe and an Aussie tour coming up in February, Savage Garden love to get back home to their friends and family. "I can handle the travel but when you want to switch off, it's nice to do it with family and friends," Daniel says. The guys have to cope with long periods overseas, but always love coming back to Oz. "You know what it's like in Australia - it's the most laid back country in the world," Daniel says. "People will admire you talent and say, 'good-on-yer', but they won't stop their life for you, which they tend to do (in the US) a bit for actors and the whole star system. It's as big as religion."

So, is it weird for the guys to have made such an impact on the hard-to-crack American market? "Success in your own country is a wonderful thing to have, but success in America, being the entertainment capital of the world, is quite a bonus," admits Daniel.

While it's rewarding to see the group's hard work paying off, Darren doesn't understand all the attention the guys get. "It's not curing cancer...we are paid too much for what we do. We would do it for free. It's fun - it's our life's dream," he explains. "We've worked hard for a living in the past and had parents who worked hard and this is what we wanted. It's easy to become self-centered, but we are not kidding ourselves."

Sure, the guys enjoy the money they've made and Daniel especially enjoys buying presents for his mum and dad. "My parents have been so supportive all my life, so my plan is to repay that. The first thing I'm going to do is pay off their mortgage," he beams.

What makes this success story so amazing is the fact that Darren and Daniel are just average guys from downtown Brissie - and Savage Garden's beginnings were modest to say the least. After advertising for a singer, Daniel found Darren and they clicked straight away. "It had a destiny-vibe thing," Darren says. "There was a special feeling about the conversation." The guys were totally focused on getting a recording deal and sent demo tapes to all the record companies, managers and agents they could find. "We sent them to everyone in the world, because we wanted to be heard," Darren explains. "Then we just sat back and waited." And they didn't have to wait long. Savage Garden is now a household name all over the world, but have the guys let their success go to their head? No way! "We don't wake up every day and think, 'Oh, we are well known now,'" Darren says. "We just get on with the job and record songs."

Believe it or not, Darren and Daniel are quick to point out that they are happy with what they have achieved so far, and say that if their success stopped tomorrow, they would be content. "I wake up every day with a smile on my face, I go to sleep with a smile on my face - this is what I dreamed of!" Daniel laughs.

So, how would they describe their cool tunes? "Unashamedly pop," says Darren proudly. "And no, I'm not scared to say that," he continues. "When you get to a stage of writing music, you react to your influences. When I was growing up, my world was Star Wars, Michael Jackson and Duran Duran. I like to think that we might have evolved, but while you might find a few loops, underneath we're made up of pretty basic rock 'n' roll structures. And lyrically, I would hope we offer more than the average Milli Vanilli record!"

Jokes aside, Savage Garden has had the success most musicians only dream about. The boys are working on their next album, so are they fazed by the pressure to follow up their debut CD with another mega-success? Nuh-uh. Darren fills us in, "People are starting to say, 'Oh you must really be concerned about the next record. You must be feeling the pressure.' And it's like, 'Well, no...' Obviously, because we are doing very well at the moment, we may come down a bit in the future, but we never worry about that," he says. "We're in the business to write good songs."

Now all their hard work has paid off, how will the guys enjoy their success? "First, I plan to run around the room and do backflips," Daniel says. "Then I want to make the next album great, write new tracks, get involved in the artwork, everything. You have to constantly re-adjust for what you want next."


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How Does Your Garden Grow?

Girlfriend Magazine (Australia) May 1997

Pretty quickly if you're Savage Garden! At your request, we present an in-depth quiz at the most fertile gardeners in Oz.

In two separate corners of the globe, less than a year apart, two little bubbies were born. Who knew they would grow up, meet and form Savage Garden, the coolest Australian band in yonks?

Daniel Jones popped into the world in Essex, England, the youngest of three brothers, before moving to Brisbane as a young child. "My brothers picked up musical instruments from the time I was about eight. I just followed suit really."

Darren Hayes was born in Brissie, also the youngest of three. "I'd never left Brisbane until this year - music's the only thing that's ever taken me out of the country." Despite coming from a pretty non-musical household, baby Daz swiftly developed a reputation for being a little loudmouth. Basically he annoyed the hell out of everyone around him with his non-stop crooning.

The fateful meeting of the boys was, um, pretty unexciting actually. Dan had a band and needed a singer, so he put an ad in the paper, and who should show up...Darren! Still, for the boys, the meeting was significant. Daniel says, "We both knew it wasn't going to be too long before we were writing songs together away from the other guys in the band."

Darren continues, "We were both incredibly ambitious. We really connected that year and there was a lot of positive energy and positive thinking in terms of us getting together. I think Daniel and I just shared a common goal, we were interested in the same kinds of music and the way that we wanted to handle it was very similar."


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Who's Hot - Savage Garden

Dolly Magazine (Australia) May 1997

Make room silverchair! This is Australia's latest pop sensation and we love 'em. With two hit singles under their belts from their self-title debut album, the only way is up as far as Daniel Jones (the man behind the great tunes) and Darren Hayes (that totally cool voice) are concerned. I Want You scored an Aria nomination in 1996, To The Moon & Back zoomed up the charts to Number One this year, and their next offering, Truly Madly Deeply, is already a Top 10 hit.

Having played in bands since he was 14, Daniel put an ad in a music paper for a singer five years ago, but little did he know that choosing Darren would be the best decision he ever made. After hearing Darren sing, he knew he'd finally found the right formula. As Darren says, "I think we kind of knew it would happen. We just sort of clicked."

They spent two years playing covers in clubs and pubs around northern NSW and then started writing and singing their own stuff. And so began the cool tunes that are Savage Garden.

And what about that name? "Originally, we had about four names," says Daniel. "Like Dante's Inferno and Bliss. But every name we chose was already taken - it was really frustrating."

The final choice actually came from an Anne Rice novel (author of the Interview With The Vampire trilogy). "Anne talks about the world as a savage garden," says Darren. "There are two levels. One is beautiful but in the other, underneath, we're all savage beasts. We thought that was quite fitting - but we don't want to sound too poncy. It's all just pop music!"

These two cuties couldn't be happier with the success of their first album, but say that they're not that surprised. "Without sounding big-headed, when you go for something like this, you put a lot on the line," says Darren. "We went into this expecting to success."

They were right to be confident. Although it's still early days for Savage Garden, these Brisbane babes feel they have the right stuff to be around for a long while. And we truly, madly, deeply think they do, too.

By: Kate Jobling


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Savage Garden's Rosie Future

When popular Brisbane duo Savage Garden return to the U.S. this month, they have an important date to keep.
Influential talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell has demanded they appear on her show. She declared on air that the duo's debut single, I Want You, is her favourite song.
"She gets the audience at her show to sing the chorus," Daniel Jones says.
"We really like her, so we're looking forward to going on the show. "Savage Garden" - Daniel, 23, and Darren Hayes, 24 - have taken the Australian and U.S. charts by storm.
I Want You went Top Five in Australia and it's now in the U.S. Top 15.The duo's second single, To The Moon & Back, went to number one in Australia, while their third single, Truly Madly Deeply, is now in the Top Five.
Savage Garden have just released their self-titled album in Australia. It comes out in the U.S. on April 15. "It has happened really quickly," Daniel says. "I guess we've been really fortunate that we landed in the right place at the right time. I hope nobody holds it against us."
Darren says: "There's been a hell of a lot of good luck involved. We've always been doing this, and suddenly it's the right time for it." Darren says Savage Garden "is unashamedly pop".
"When I was growing up, my world was Star Wars, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran," he says. "These were the super-gods of my youth. When you get to a stage of writing music, you react to your influences."
Darren and Daniel say they're surprised to suddenly be pin-up pop stars. "If people think we're pleasing to the eye, that's good," Darren says. "But we haven't pushed that side at all. Savage Garden is first and foremost about the songs."
Darren says he loves to surf the Internet.
"You can pretend to be other people, and I'm not 'Darren from Savage Garden'.
"But I have to add that I've honestly wanted to be a star since I was five years old. I'm embracing this with both hands. I feel more comfortable with it (celebrity) than Daniel does."
Daniel says: "I think anyone can look good, it's just a case of getting the right camera angle."
He says he's happy that the songs have connected with people of all ages.
"That's something to be quite proud of. I think the music's a little bit spiritual and people of all ages and backgrounds can relate to it." Darren and Daniel have put together a five-piece band and will start a national tour soon.
Their worldwide assualt continues with the release of I Want You in Europe on April 17.
And they say they are already halfway through their second album. "We've written 15 songs," Darren says, "and we'll set aside a month at the end of the year to finish them."

By: Jeff Jenkins


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We Blew Up the Garden Gnome!

One is a bit of a wag. The other is a nerdy swot. They are the complete opposites- the Ying and Yang of pop, so to speak!
Diane Godley finds out what make Savage Garden roar.

Have you ever been savaged by a garden?

Daniel: I've been stung by bees before, *laugh*
Darren: We blew up the garden gnome to destroy any future references to gardens. Savage Garden is actually inspired by Anne Rice novels about vampires (the author of the book interview with the vampire) I love those books. Its got a deeper meaning. Its not about garden gnomes.

What were you like at school?

Daniel: I dunno. I didn't go very much. My nickname was "waggin" *laugh* I was in control at school. I had older brothers who went through the school before me. They didn't have a bad reputation, but they didn't have a good one either. So my reputation was a spin-off of theirs- instant credibility.
Darren: I was normal. a completely normal kid: the school nerd. In grade eight and nine I got picked on. I was a freak - no one understood me. I was the kid who wanted to be abducted by ET. Then all the losers left in Year 10.
Daniel: I was one of those losers!
Diane: So was I!
Darren: I was quite good at school and very artistic. In Year 11 it was a turn-around. I was one of the coolest kids in school. I was in school musicals: the kid who could sing. It was bizarre. I loved school. It's an amazing little world. The rules inside school are totally different from the outside world.

Spell "reservoir"

Daniel: Reservoir Dogs - R-E- I'm not a good speller. that comes from wagging school, haha! I can spell dogs. D-O-G-S.
Darren: R-E-S-E-R-V-O-I-R. Is that right?
Diane: Yep

What's the square root of 625?

Darren: wouldn't have a clue. I got limited achievement in maths. I loved science- biology -but I hated maths.
Daniel: 12? Don't ask me questions like that!
Diane: Um... 25 actually.

When was the first time you heard yourself on the radio?

Daniel: I was sitting in my car. I knew the song had gone to radio - friends in Melbourne rung and told me they had heard the song on the radio - but I hadn't heard it and I was getting really frustrated. Then, one day I was sitting in my car and it just came on. It was a beautiful feeling.
Darren: I was actually working in a video shop and I was having a really bad day. Then the song just came on the radio and it just made my day. The first time I saw myself on TV I remember I hated it. I think you go through that period where you first hear your voice but I'm over that now. I can hear my voice now - I know what I sound like. So it's not that big of a shock to me. But to see myself on TV! I've dealt with that now too. It was like, okay, that's what I look like, all right, I'll deal with that. Everyone else has for 23 years. It was the first time I realized what I looked like in 3D.

Would you ever consider doing a remake of "Smoke on the Water"?

Darren: N-E-V-E-R. never. I'm not influenced by classical rock at all. I don't know if we'd ever do a cover version of anything. Live we would, but we'd never release anything. I thing we have too much to say - we can't shut up as it is.

When was the last time you went moshing?

Darren: I missed the entire mosh pit experience. I think I'm going to mature and be buried without ever having experienced to joys of guitar rock moshing.
Daniel: Although they're not really a mosh band, there was a mosh pit at a Hoodoo Gurus concert I went to once. That was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed being a yobbo for once in my life, haha!


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US Pops Hot for Lads from Logan

The Sunday Mail (Newspaper) March 9, 1997

A Logan city pop duo are about to do to their town what the Beetles did to Liverpool and Nirvana did to Seattle - put it on the map. The duo, Savage Garden, look set to become the next big thing. Two weeks ago they released their first single, I WANT YOU in the United States where it debuted in Billboard' s Top 20. Today it sits at number 16 with a bullet. In Australia, the single went platinum and became last year's biggest selling single. Their second single, To The Moon and Back quickly became No 1, while the latest, Truly Madly Deeply, is waling out of the shops. The two Logan lads who make up Savage Garden, Darren Hayes, 24, and Daniel Jones, 23, are about to release their debut self-titled album later this month.
"How did two boys from Logan end up writing songs like this?" Asked Gary Beitzel. Beitzel runs Woodys, a record shop that nestles itself next to K mart in Logan, an area where heavy metal and grunge still dominate CD players. Beitzel knows Hayes almost better than anyone. For five years, the Mabel Park State High School student worked at Woodys, where he developed a love of music. "I would say that the biggest influence on Darren would have to be Michael Jackson," Beitzel said. "Not only did he love his music, but he loved the approach Michael tool to the whole industry."
Friends of the boys both remark on how deserving they are of their success. But already they are getting caught up in the publicity machine that absorbs and ten spits out pop stars like chewing gum. Last year, Jones was unable to address the graduation Year 12 students at his old high school, Shailer Park State High, because he had to be in New York for a photo shoot.
Their record company, Roadshow Music, would not allow The Sunday Mail to interview Savage Garden last week because of prior exclusive arrangements. But their number one fan, Anna Nilme, 24, who met Hayes at QUT's Kelvin Grove campus where they both studied to be teachers, said the boys would keep their feet firmly on the ground. "They are pretty down to earth," she said. Coming from Logan helps. Both grew up in the area, but because of the geography they never met and went to high schools separated by freeways and shopping strips. They met when Hayes answered and ad Jones had place in a Music magazine, looking for a singer. For two years they played covers band called Red Edge, until they ditched the band and formed a pop duo. Hayes who loves Anne Rice novels, named the duo Savage Garden after a reference in the book Lestat.
"They are chalk and cheese," Ms Nilme said. "They are great friends, but because they work so close together they never socialize together."
School girls at Mabel Park State High talk about Savage Garden in the same breath as Take That. "They are better then Take That," They scream. "And they are bigger babes!"

By: Darren Lovell


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