Outlook Magazine (US)
June/July 2007 Issue
The Resurrection of Darren Hayes
By Michael Hammett

The Resurrection Of Darren Hayes
His Savage Garden highs and solo lows behind him, the artist rises again with a new album, a new attitude and a husband by his side.
By Michael Hammett

Darren Hayes never expected to achieve the level of success he experienced as one half of the pop duo, Savage Garden, which rode the airwaves during the '90s - playing to sold-out crowds, selling 25 million records, generating five number one hits (Truly Madly Deeply; I Knew I Loved You) and seeing his bank balance hit the stratosphere.

"I came from very humble beginnings - and that's being polite," said the Brisbane, Australia-born son of working-class parents, during an interview from his home in London. "I never expected to be paid what I was paid."

When he left the "Garden" to go it alone, he enjoyed some quick success - moving a couple of million units of two solo albums and enjoying several dance hits - but soon disappointment knocked at his door. The music industry was changing, and so was the artist.

"I was struggling with being a gay man," says the 35-year-old. "I wasn't happy about it and had no successful relationships with men. I went through intense psychotherapy and channeled it into making a record. After two years I turned in the record and the record company hated it."

The executives at his label, Columbia Records, said they wanted to "sit with it for a while" which told the artist everything he needed to know. Like a love affair that had run its course, his business relationship was ending and rather than pretend it wasn't happening, he decided to take control and make a clean-break.

"I was with one of the biggest record companies in the world," he says. "When I got out of my contract I thought there would be a stigma with not having a deal - will it look like I'm over?"

He made the rounds to myriad record companies in search of a deal that would allow him to explore his craft outside of the Savage Garden-box. As the talks progressed, staying independent began to seem more and more appealing.

"It's a very scary time to be an artist in the music business," he says. "A lot of the decisions are made on the bottom-line. If leaving meant the end of my life at a major record label, then so be it. It's highly probable that my most successful years are behind me."

STARTING OVER

On August 20, Hayes will release a new double-CD, This Delicate Thing We've Made, on his own Powdered Sugar label. He is the proud papa-to-be awaiting the arrival of his child - he knows he loves it regardless of its fate, but there are plenty of unknowns: Will it be healthy? Will it thrive? Will the world embrace it as much as he does?

"It's been finished for three months," he says. "Now it's just sitting there teasing me."

And he is teasing his fans. Earlier this year, Hayes released a sample track, Who Would Have Thought, with an accompanying video animation created by his husband, Richard Cullen, via his My Space page.

"I wanted to reconnect with fans, especially Americans who, god love you, must have thought I was dead," he says. "We wanted to introduce people to the record before the first single was released. We crashed the server for my domain within an hour."

The collective appetite was a relief, but he knows it is just the first step in taking this record beyond his rabid fans, and into the ears of the masses. He doesn't have the deep pockets of a major label to put this release on the same playing field with others vying for attention and your dollar.

"To be honest I don't expect it to explode out of the box," he says. "I don't have the resources to engage in payola. It will take time to develop."

LOVE AND A MUSIC MAN

Hayes is not the man he used to be, and that's a very good thing, according to the musician. Two things happened like thunder and lightning, in the storm of his life, that changed everything.

"I had a flop (his last solo album) and I met Richard," he says. "My life has changed to the point of almost being unrecognizable."

He says he was drawn to Richard for "loving me in spite of my life" and that he knew it was true love because "I was nursing bruises, yet I was jubilant."

Last June, the couple became legal via a civil ceremony in London. (This was his second time to the alter - his first was to a woman named Colby Taylor, in the late '90s.)

Hayes and his main man live a quite life in a 1800s-era Victorian townhouse that they meticulously restored over the last two years.

"We are a very traditional, monogamous couple," he says. "We'd like to have a child one day."

More homebodies than party boys, they shun the clubs, preferring quiet nights at home, alone or with friends. He enjoys grocery shopping, walking the dog, and answering phone calls - all the ingredients of a "normal" life.

"I never have been into clubs - but please say I take lots of drugs and go to the clubs every night - that'll help my reputation," he laughs. "I never got into the drug culture. I'm really a nerd and very shy."

OH, WHAT A RELIEF IT IS

"I'm proud that I never lied about who I am - never showed up with a fake girlfriend," he says. "Most of the industry knew I was gay, but (not being out) was uncomfortable and kept me from relaxing. Coming-out removed a huge barrier between me and the audience."

Which is a good thing, because he is relying on his fan-base more than ever. And his fans continue to reach-out to him.

"I spend three to four hours a day answering emails," he says. "I'll get an email from a farm kid in Iowa struggling to come out. It's such a complex psychological journey."

Still being an "out" man doesn't make him a gay musician. "I don't make gay records," he says. "I don't think by looking at me or listening to my records that you'd say, "That's a gay man."

THE RELEASE

"For me the idea of a double CD is I had too much I wanted to talk about," he says. "I wanted pop songs, hits on the radio and to explore some other things."

His husband will craft about ten more video animations to accompany the songs on This Delicate Thing We've Made and he is already doing gigs to give fans a live taste of what they can expect. He is playing small houses around the world and tickets are selling-out within minutes of going on-sale.

"I have grand plans of putting on an incredible arena tour," he says. "This record will allow me to put on an incredible show."

Still, he insists, "I'm starting like a new artist - playing tiny shows and writing back to fans on My Space. Financially I could just support Richard's career and adopt a child - what drives me is singing, telling stories. I'd be a sad man if I couldn't do it."

MORE:

http://www.Darrenhayes.com

http://www.Myspace.com/darrenhayes

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