The B105 morning crew talks to Darren first, then Daniel. This is how the phone call begins.....

Darren: Hello?

B105 DJ - Jamie: (guitar starts playing and Jamie sings)...Let me play you the animal song. Don't you stand on the back of my thong. Savage Garden's animal song. Yee Haw!

(lots of laughs)

Darren: (laughing) Is that what you think it sounds like Jamie?

Jamie: I'm not sure..no one's heard it yet..but I'm thinkin'..

Darren: Well, it goes like this..(singing) And on that farm there was a pig…eeeiiii eeeiii oooo!

(more laughter)

Jamie: Yeah, well no ones heard it so I figured it was an animal song it might be something like that…I could be wrong.

(Darren laughs)

Darren: (starts singing)...Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree...

(they all laugh)

Female DJ:Awww…You're still Australian through and through

Jamie: How ya doing?

Darren: How are you?

Jamie: Oh, we're well…and you?

Darren: Oh, I'm really well. It's good to hear you actually. I haven't been home for a little while so it's great to hear your voices.

Jamie: You guys...you're recording your new video clip.

Darren: Yeah, we're just filming a video for "The Animal Song" but we're just about to go back into the studio and…I guess we've just been sort of madly writing songs for the next record the last 3 or 4 months and we're just about to go back into the studio and commit them all to tape.

Jamie: Now what was the word? Was Daniel home here and you were in New York and he was emailing you words to songs?

Darren: Well, no..here's the deal….basically what we would do…like I went home for a little while and we worked on sort of music together..and then I went back to New York and he would send me zip disks, which are like..you know.. computer disks of music and we both have like a hard disk recording studios in our apartment or in our home so …I would get his music..I would put my vocals and lyrics down and then I would send that disk back to him and he would then add more music and we kept to-ing and fro-ing that disk until we had finished like a demo. And we didn't actually meet up until San Francisco in the recording studio and recorded the song… It was very high tech (laughs).

Jamie: Are you happy with it?

Darren: I love it! I just ..it's funny…I have been like thinking that our next record would be all dark and mysterious and very Alanis Morisette and this song...is just...it came out of left field. It's very happy and it's a very honest song and I guess it's a little bit how I feel at the moment I guess with life. I feel very blessed but it's very crazy. And we saw this film..it's a Gary Marshall film called "The Other Sister" and we saw that about November, last year when we were on tour in America they gave us a screening of the film..and it's just the most beautiful film and they asked us to write a song for it and this is what came of it. And it's um, I think it's the best sounding thing we've every done, but hey I'm a little biased.

(they asked him a question but the sound cut out)

Darren: Ahh, it has but it hasn't...you know it's so funny...I think...you know a lot of people have assumed that...you know...we sold all these records and then Darren goes off to America and he's got this fabulous life. I actually, you know I'm in New York and I have a very simple life. In some ways I kind of went there to run away from it a little bit because no one knows who I am in America really. I mean...we sold a few million records but hey...so has everybody else. And you know...I go to the grocery store and I take my garbage out and I run around in my pajamas, it's just been really relaxing. I've spent a lot of time just writing songs and just..you know...working out what this incredible journey has done to us and what we can get from it and I guess we've come to the conclusion that we have such a great job and we really love making people happy and making music and when I came home recently it was just the best feeling. Like Daniel and I just went straight back into the whole song writing thing and you know..it's just..So in some ways nothing has changed. Does that make sense?

Jamie: You know..you're not the first person that's run away from Logan mate. I'll tell ya!

(everybody laughs)

Darren: But you know what? I miss it sooo much! I'm coming home very soon actually. I rang my Mum up and I said..cause I’m a vegetarian and I haven't eaten meat for years, right?.. But I rang up Mum and I said "Could you cook me a roast? And could you make scones? And can I take you on a drive to Tamborine Mountain?" I just really miss so much about Australia. So I just..you know..I'm going to be back. I'm sure I'll be at the Hoyts Centre (?) seeing movies 24/7 (laughs)

Jamie: Good on you. I was just wondering...when you said nothing else/nothing much has changed in your life. How long is it since you've looked at your bank balance?

Darren: (laughing) Oh..the truth? I look at it daily!

Jamie: (laughing) Yeah, me too!

Darren: No, um. You know Daniel made a really good comment the other day.

Jamie: Yeah? What did he say?

Darren: (continuing) Seriously...which was that...you know what? We managed to live...you know, 24-25 years of our lives with skint, with nothing, and the last couple of years we've had money and it could come and it could go but really...look, I know money changes your life and money can let you pay bills and things like that. I'm not going to underplay that, but really...I can't say that I'm any more happy because of money. And I know that money can go tomorrow. I mean, look..for every Savage Garden there is a Wa Wa Nee. We're very aware of that. Our next record could completely flop and you might not want to call us up and interview us (laughs)

Jamie: We wouldn't mate. We wouldn't. I promise you. Although, we didn't want to know you before. (laughs) I promise we would still call you afterwards.

(Darren laughs)

Darren: You know, it doesn't mean anything. It's all very personal and it's more than anything...it's just we get paid to do something we love to do and ummm We’re very grateful for that, very blessed for that, but I don't think for one minute that it's my God given right to earn this much money or to be this successful forever so we just take it every day as it comes.

Jamie: It's a great so try to see someone do what you've done. It just makes everyone feel good I think.

Darren: It makes us feel good. That's the thing. It's funny. I was driving out to the video shoot today and there's a station here called KISS FM which is like the B105 of LA.

Jamie: (Interrupts) yeah, but they're not good right? They suck! (laughs)

Darren: They probably suck a little (laughs) but what I'm trying to say is they are a very popular station (other DJ's are laughing) and they played their commercial of what KISSFM music is and they played "Torn" and they played "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and one other song and I thought...that's 2 Australian artists that this radio station in Los Angeles is advertising that this is the kind of music we play. And you know..I'm just really proud. I'm proud of bands like Bachelor Girl that...

All the DJ's interrupt with comments at the same time like "Yeah, they're good. They're mates of ours".

Darren: They're incredible. I went back to..when we were at the ARIAs I was just talking to them and was saying "you know you're just...you're amazing" and I'm very very proud of everything..our films..I'm proud of the film Elizabeth, and you know it's just I think our entertainment industry is just really kicking up and I'm really proud to be part of that..the whole movement.

Female DJ:Now has your image changed much especially for like the new album and things coming out?

Darren: You know what?

Female DJ:What?

Darren: Oh, it's funny and I'm going to give you the scoop.

Female DJ:Oh quick!

Darren: Here's the deal..Ok..Dazla, that's me, I was growing my hair out. We all know Darren...he frequents the hair dye...not many people are born with jet black hair

Jamie: (interrupts laughing) Excuse me, well..

Darren: (continues) unless you're Asian, unless you're...Anyway, so basically on New Years Eve, I got my hair cut off into like a crew cut. And I spent the last 5 or 6 weeks growing it out and found out that I had this fantastically interesting hair color of "mouse brown". And I went to a hairdresser and he was just going to lighten it slightly. Anyway, 2 hours later when I looked like Richard Cunningham, we decided that that wasn't a very good look, very bright red. So my hair is now jet black and short so nothing has changed (everyone laughs) Daniel Jones had grown his hair. It was almost down to his shoulders, he looked fantastic! He comes into the trailer today for the video shoot. They are styling his hair. Suddenly, I'm on the set and everyone is saying Daniel is late, Daniel is late...he's getting his hair cut. Low and behold..he walks out and he's cut his hair off! So we basically look EXACTLY the same! (They all laugh) We just can't do the Madonna thing, but anyway... (laughs again)

Jamie: Mate listen, thank you for your time this morning. We look forward to the album coming out sometime this year as yet untitled.

Female DJ:And of course you will come and see us when you come home, won't you?

Darren: Oh, I come home all the time. I just don't tell many people that, but yeah...I can't wait!

Jamie: Mate, you can depend on the B105 morning crew, when the album stiffs, we'll be the first ones on the planet to say we knew it wouldn't last (all laugh)

Darren: Good on you (laughing)

Jamie: All right mate

Darren: Thanks guys

Picks up with Daniel. Answering a question but I didn't hear what the question was...

Daniel: Ah yes, both actually. Did Darren explain how it was written?

Jamie: Yeah, amazing!

Daniel: Yeah

Other DJ:What's the film clip going to look like?

Daniel: It's sort of like a carnival parade type of thing. It's actually really fun and a lot of different characters in it. We've got marching bands and baton twirlers and elephants and it's like about 250 people on the shoot today so it's quite amazing.

Jamie: You could have shut down half the harbor down mate!

Daniel: (laughing) yeah we could have. There is definitely some elephants and koalas down there (laughs)

Female DJ:We have had lots of Daniel Jones sighting over the last probably 12 months. Have you been home a lot?

Daniel: Yeah, I have actualy. I had Christmas there. Yeah, I still can't beat that place to live in. I have been to sort of 30-40 countries now around the world and I still think that it's a really cool city to live in. I think when you live there all your life, sometimes you don't really get it? Where you're living? Until you travel and then you sort of understand that we've got it pretty good there? You know?

Female DJ:Now how is that mystery girlfriend you alluded to the last time we spoke to you?

Daniel: My mystery girlfriend? Well I think ..ah I went to school with her..

Jamie: (interrupts) How is Jonathan?

Daniel: Eh?

Jamie: (repeats) How is Jonathan?

Daniel: Jonathan? That's my brother. (They all laugh) I'm not from Tasmania, I'm from Brisbane! (they all laugh again)

Jamie: Well go on, tell us about this mystery girlfriend.

Daniel: She's not really a mystery girlfriend. I've sort of known her for all my life..like I went to school with her...at Shailer Park High School with her in grade 8. And ah...sort of I became good friends with her and she's got four brothers who I’ve sort of become mates with so...and ah yeah we sort of hooked up about 4 or 5 years ago and yeah, things are just going steady you know...

Jamie: Yeah, but you're over there and what if Liz Hurley comes up and says "Well..good day big boy"

Daniel: Oh well, you see, Michelle is in to that type of thing, so we can just share each other (all laugh)

Jamie: Oh, Well, we've got a bizarre triangle happen next week. You could be involved in.

Other DJ:You could be in the love triangle we're running!

(All laugh again)

Female DJ:So, is she with you overseas?

Daniel: No, she's not actually. She's looking after my two little puppies at home.

Jamie: Thanks very much for your time.

Daniel: You're very welcome

Jamie: We look forward to playing the song.

Daniel: Yeah, well I hope that it gets the reaction that you guys want.

Jamie: That YOU guys want

Daniel: (laughs) yeah well, that too

Jamie: All right mate!

Daniel: Thanks again, guys!

[Return to previous page..Interviews]

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