James Cannon: OK, give me some of the background to your new single 'Hold Me'...

Darren: 'Hold Me' is the fourth or fifth single from 'Affirmation' and it's deceivingly quite sad for a love song. It's real, like most of the songs on this record and it's about the breakdown of a relationship

James Cannon: Is it about your breakdown of your relationship with your ex-wife?

Darren: Yeah, it is, pretty much, thanks for bringing that up! And the video was shot right here in London, and you're right, it's the brand new single.

James Cannon: Well, let's just go through a bit of background, you're an Aussie...Brisbane is where you were brought up but you now live in New York?

Darren: I live in San Fransisco actually, it's been about a year that I've been there. I've been in America for about two and a half years and you're right, I was in New York for about a year of that while we wrote this record. You know what? I just got my Green card, like last week, I've got my Californian drivers licence, so I guess I'm a bit of an American resident. It's quite exciting.

James Cannon: How easy was it to get your Green Card?

Darren: It took two and a half years, so it's not that easy...

James Cannon: So you haven't married someone dodgy...

Darren: Nope... people can marry me if they want to stay there now! Yeah it took quite a long time of being rejected every time I walked into the country, I got held in this little room. I was called a 'Paroling Alien' but now I'm a 'Permanent Resident' so there you go.

James Cannon: So what are you actually listed as, your occupation?

Darren: Entertainer, I think.

James Cannon: So is that quite easy on the green card thing? 'Cos loads of people want to live in America...

Darren: What it's about is showing them that you can generate income for the country and that you do something that no one else can do. So it's pretty easy to prove that no one else can sing Savage Garden songs! And because we sell records - there's quite a lot and tour a lot. I create industry there and I also pay a lot of tax in America. So they wanted me I guess.

James Cannon: And residency follows does it?

Darren: Well I am a resident. I'd never become a citizen. I'm Australian, so I'll always keep my Australian citizenship.

James Cannon: How long have the band been together?

Darren: I met Daniel over eight years ago. So eight years I guess.

James Cannon: 'Affirmation', has been played on the radio, about a gazillion times...

Darren: Apparently, I was really blown away. We really fought for it to be the single in America because the UK really pushed for it and I have to say that our record company and the fans here really turned this album around with the song 'Affirmation', so much so that the US record company changed their mind on the single and released 'Affirmation', and it promptly flopped! But they released it in the US because of the success it had here.

James Cannon: You have this website called the 'Savage Garden Request Line' I don't know if you know about it?

Darren: Yeah I do...

James Cannon: Basically it's mobilising Savage Garden listeners to vote for you. You're not behind it are you?

Darren: No way! I know who it is, it's our biggest fan, she's called Cindy Green and she's from Minnesota (note: I have to make a correction here..Darren, I'm really from Michigan..but you were close, honey! *lol*). She should have a marketing degree because what she does is get all the fans from around the world - it's actually quite legitimate - and gives all the request lines for all the places in the world. So if you live in Iowa, or if you live in Birmingham or London, she's got the phone numbers and the emails and the request lines for how to requeast our songs. And they do it. But I've had to post a message on our site and say politely, 'Could you all back off, just am little bit?' because it's offending people because they're very, very supportive.

James Cannon: Well, we're in there and it says 'Request form for Capital FM London' and it tells you what you should do. 'Email request for songs find the DJ homepages with links for emailing. Don't bother with Chris Tarrant as he doesn't do requests!' She does her research doesn't she?!

Darren: (laughs) You know what it is, she is amazing in that she understands what it is that gets records played and the last thing I'd want it is for it to be fixed. Or for someone to like mail out to a million email addresses. And I kind of had to say that to the fans, 'Look, honestly, I'm confident in our songs and generally, if you're a fan and you live in that city, OK, ring up and request a song, but you don't have to ring Alaska, it's OK!' But I've got to say God bless them because they're beautiful.

James Cannon: Can you imagine this London accent ringing up a station in the midwest...

Darren: (Putting on a fake London accent) 'Hello, is that New York? After you've played the Spice Girls, could you play some Savage Garden!' It wouldn't really go down too well, would it?

The interview continued onto another page on the Capital FM website, but the page would never load and then they took it down! So I will eventually transcribe the rest from the tape I have of it...coming soon.

[Return to previous page..Interviews]

Thanks to Sharon for the allowing me to use two of her great pictures of Darren that she took with her snappy

Disclaimer: None of the photographs of Darren Hayes or Daniel Jones or the music group Savage Garden on this site belong to this site or site owner and are here for entertainment and informational purposes ONLY. NO claim has been made regarding these photos and no profit is being made from said photos being posted on this web site.
Copyright © 1999-2001 Cindy Greenleaf. All rights reserved.
Only I, as the author and creator of this work, am entitled to reproduce or distribute this material. Nobody may access my web site and copy my layout, text or graphics without my prior written permission, and only in the manner that I approve.