Savage Garden

Suburban Savages

From "The Australian Magazine" 15-16 March 1997

    SO, IS SAVAGE GARDEN THE "NEXT BIG THING?" It's almost the poisoned chalice of pop to carry such a tag.  For every silverchair or INXS, there are 20 would-have-beens-if-they-could-have-beens, those who were heralded to make it overseas but never quite got there.
    If you're over 20 and never listen to top 40 radio, this duo from brisbane has probably failed to register.  But for eight months they have been rearranging the local pop charts, coming from nowhere to sell 200,000 singles.  Their first, I Want You, was the biggest-selling Australian single last year, and their follow-up, To The Moon & Back, reached number one.
    Their third single, Truly Madly Deeply, is out now and their self-titiled debut album will be released later this month.  The big news, however, is the signing in New York by international big-hitter Sony.  I Want You has since reached the US top 20 and they are about to embark on a promotional campaign that will carry them across America and Europe.
    For two young men from the burbs - Darren Hayes, the dark haired singer, is 24, and Daniel Jones, the blond-haired keyboard player and electronics wiz, is 23 - it's now about keeping their feet on the ground and their minds on the job.  "We come from strong family backgrounds" says Hayes. "If we're ever in danger of getting big-headed, there's always someone around to put us in our place."
    Indeed, they are proud of their suburban ordinariness and the unashamedly pop style of their music with it's broad teenage appeal.  They wonder, jokingly, of course, whether they should work up a bit of a "bad boy" image - drugs, drink, the whole deal.  "Come back in a year and see what we're like." jests Jones.
    They met more than four years ago while playing in a covers band and started writing songs together.  While having an ear for the commercial, they also fancy the exotic.  The bands name is derived from author Anne Rice's description of a vampire's world being beautiful but primitive, like a savage garden.
    Hayes and Jones are managed by veteran rock identity John Woodruff, whose involvement with bands dates back to the rough and tumble days of The Angels and Cold Chisel.  Woodruff, like a lot of others, was sent an unsolicited tape of their material.  He heard the potential, rushed to Brisbane and signed them.
    After the initial success here, he started hawking them internationally, thinking that Europe, with its penchant for commercial pop music, would pick them up.  He was pleasantly surprised, however, by the bidding war that erupted in the US.  Three of the biggest, Sony, A & M, and Arista ended up vying for the band.
    "It comes down to having the right songs at the right time" Woodruff admits. The American rock scene, after it's fascination with grunge and alternative rock, has rediscovered pop in its more innocent forms.  "The big names, the Pearl Jams and Soundgardens, will remain strong, but American radio has embraced the pop end of the market again and this fits perfectly."
    Woodruff agrees Hayes and Jones are handling their success well.  "They're very sane with it.  But what can you say?  You buy one ticket and hope the ride feels good.  This one does."

MIKE SAFE



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