Planting the Seeds
The son of Robert, a merchant seaman, and Judy, a nurse, Darren--who had two pet kangaroos as a kid in Brisbane--says he's been singing since he was a toddler. By his teens, he was landing gigs in his school's choir and theater productions. Accepted into a performance academy after gradutating from Mabel Park High School in 1989, Darren declined when his then girlfriend was refused admission. She dumped him six months later, leaving him stranded in his new profession--teaching kindergarten. Fate interceded in 1993 when Darren answered an ad in an Australian newspaper placed by British-born Daniel, who was looking for a singer for his cover band, Red Edge. "We'd audtioned several vocalists, and the last one was Darren," says Daniel. "When he came in, he looked completely different from how he does now--blond hair, really young, baby face, slightly overweight. But as soon as he sang, I thought, 'Man! This guy's got a really emotional voice.' After all those singers we'd audtioned, he was a breath of fresh air." Red Edge broke up within a year, but Darren and Daniel stuck together and eventually called their new act Savage Garden. A five-song demo led to a deal with an Australian record label, and in 1996 Savage Garden scored big Down Under with its driving debut single, "I Want You." "I still remember the day I quit teaching," Darren says. "It was when the kids came in and said, 'We saw you on MTV last night!' I thought, 'OK, it's finally happening!'" That was just the beginning. The song led to a U.S. recording contract with Colombia Records. Released in the States in 1997, the duo's debut, Savage Garden, sold 12 million copies worldwide. Success, says Daniel, "brought a certain amount of insecurity for us as artists. We sort of go, 'Hey, don't like it too much because you'll frighten us away from wanting to do it again!'" That didn't turn out to be a problem. Dissatisfied with what he considers to be the superficial lyrical tone of Savage Garden and inspired by the confessional songs of Lilith queen Sarah McLachlan, Darren dived into his diary while writing Affirmation. He e-mailed his lyrics and sent tapes of his melodies to Daniel, who had recorded the musical tracks at his home studio in Brisbane. "A lot of this record for me is about acceptance and forgivness and making peace," he says. The newfound inner peace has resulted in an all-around healthier attitude. "It started me off on a whole chain of talking to kids about demystifying fame and its process and saying that it's just a game," says Darren. "I think there's a real danger in this business of beliving your own hype. I mean, the clothes I wear in photos might be from fancy designer labels. But most of the time, I haven't paid for them, and I sure don't get to keep them. And if I did have to pay for them, I don't know if I'd buy them. It's ironic that we who can afford to buy these things get them for free and then [they] sell them to the people who can't." Darren isn't just paying lip service. At a recent show in Japan--a U.S. Summer tour commenced in July-- he urged gift-bearing fan to instead donate money to charity. Personally, he's partial to the Starlight Children's Foundation, which assists ailing kids. "I love children," says Darren. "I think I have a natural affinity for kids." He even invited a couple of them to the opening act for a Savage Garden Disney Channel concert filmed in in San Francisco a few days after the Japanese gig (the special aired in July). After sifting through stacks of demo tapes from aspiring teen singers and auditioning three acts, Darren and Daniel chose the young pop group duo Kelly and Kamille to kick off the show.
A Star's Orbit
Back at the restaurant, two young female fans at a nearby table have recognized Darren and begin angling for his attention. One of them walks back and forth in front of the table, pretending to have dropped an earring. "I don't want to be swallowed up by the whole starmaker thing," says Darren, without acknowledging the antics of his admirers. "I'm not at all the schmoozy parties. I'm not best friends with this, that and the other celebrity. So a lot of this record was me making peace with where I've come from and with where I'm going." A few minutes later, the girls--visibly frustrated--have given up. Reluctantly, they return to their parents' table. "Will you just look at that!" Their father suddenly gasps. "Look at that gorgeous moon!" Darren smiles. With a moon like that to gaze at, why bother staring at stars? |
