SAT IN THE LOUNGE WITH SAVAGE GARDEN

Darren: Probably the best sunset I have witnessed, was this year on my birthday in a city called Perth on the West Coast of Australia, which has one of the most stunning sunsets, - I'm really bad at direction, but because we're so low in the southern hemisphere and the sun rises there and sets there. And so it was on my birthday and I saw sunset and sunrise and I got into trouble because I stayed up all night talking. So that was in Perth, Australia.

Interviewer: Do you usually enjoy this sort of thing when you are travelling?

Darren: It depends, you know, because one of the things about being in a band is travelling so much and I'm on stage and then I'm up here. I don't often get to see tourist things, or nature, or sunsets, so when I do it's always a special moment. And it's great because here in Italy we're very fortunate because the light is so beautiful. The summer is so beautiful here.

Interviewer: It's a very romantic moment of the day.

Darren: Everybody in the band wants to get married. Everybody: we're all just feeling very sexy! Except me of course. No, I am feeling very sexy.

Interviewer: Are you tired? Are you emotional?

Darren: Let me tell you about it. Three days before here I'd flown into New York City after touring for five and a half weeks in Japan and in Australia and we did not sleep for two days. I was in New York; I did a concert in the evening; the next morning I woke up at 5 a.m., performed on television; we flew to Boston; did a concert; we hopped on a plane for six hours to Italy; I slept on the plane; I jumped here; I had a rehearsal with Mr. Pavarotti; I came to the stadium; I did my song; I did about ten interviews, and then I spoke to you and I almost collapsed. I've never been that tired in my life! So last night I went to bed for about 13 hours, I've slept for 13 hours and today I feel great. Forgive me, but, oh my God, I was so tired.

Interviewer: What was 'O sole mio' like?

Darren: Beautiful. One of the most incredible experiences of my life. I got up on stage and Luciano had given me tips on changing the phrases yesterday. I was nervous and today I had some confidence and I sang it and the crowd cheered and he cheered.

Interviewer: Does Daniel sometimes give interviews or do you always do them?

Darren: He used to. It would be fair if he helped me, wouldn't it? But no, he used to and lately it's just been easier, he's not someone who is comfortable in the public light at all. It's just been easier on this album. We've definitely had separate tasks. He'll be at soundcheck rehearsing with the band while I'll be talking to you. It's just easier. I don't know how solo artists do it. I think that what people don't understand is that we're quite a global band. I mean we're not the biggest sellers in the universe but we've had the same amount of success in almost every country in the world. We're always touring and always travelling. It gets quite exhausting sometimes.

Interviewer: How do you relax?

Darren: I'm so bad at relaxing. I go to my house. I've just bought a house in San Francisco and I have decorated it and often I just cook. I cook for people or I go out for dinner. Just a conversation with 3 or 4 people helps me to relax.

Interviewer: So you're a great cook.

Darren: I'm not a great cook. I'm a terrible cook, but I love doing it. I love Italian food and everyone knows that about me, because when we travel I always get taken to Italian restaurants and the band gets sick of it; because everyone knows I love it, so everywhere we go to eat it's always Italian food. I try to cook Italian food at home but I'm not great, I'm OK. I love pasta and insalata caprese, that's my favorite thing to eat in the world. I love . is it mozzarella cheese? Yeah, it is. It's beautiful. It's that buffalo mozzarella?

Interviewer: Mozzarella di bufala, not buffalo mozzarella!

Darren: Oh, yeah. [laughing] I love things like that. Tagliatelle pasta. It's really simple, I love the way , especially here actually, we've been eating . every meal, is always pasta. And it's always so fresh. The pasta is made fresh and there's lots of garlic, it's very simple. In America sometimes Italian food is very different. It's not as good as here.

Interviewer: How did you decide to sing "O Sole Mio"?

Darren: You know, we were invited by Mr. Pavarotti and the organization to come and be involved in this event and they asked us if we wanted to choose a song we would like to sing of his and I had no idea what to choose. I think he is such an incredible vocalist and I just said "you pick something and there were a few things we decided upon but this is the one. Mr. Pavarotti wanted me to sing and I didn't realize that it was in Neapolitan that's slightly difficult pronunciation for me, but I'm enjoying it very much.

Interviewer: Had you heard the song before?

Darren: Many many times from the opera version to Mr. Pavarotti's version to Elvis Presley's singing "It's Now or Never". So I'm very familiar with the melody but the dialect is definitely not for me, so I'm learning. I'm struggling. I have all my lyrics here.

Interviewer: Can you sing a bit of it?

Darren: No, you'll see it tomorrow.

Interviewer: Please

Darren: No, tomorrow

Interviewer: Do you like mixing styles? I mean Pavarotti likes mixing things....

Darren: I love that, I love the fact that there are no divisions in music, you know, I love the fact that you perform with everyone from U2 to the Spice Girls, to Brian Adams, to the Savage Garden

Interviewer: What about the Eurythmics?

Darren: I am a big fan of the Eurythmics and George Michael so I'm just a little kid in a candy store.

Interviewer: What do you think about the net?

Darren: I have a lap-top that's broken. That's in the shop being fixed and without my e-mail I'm lost. I think that the internet is important for music, I think that there's a lot of things going on at the moment. It's new ground and we're just working it out. But I think it's bringing people together and the internet in some way is more like a new millenium radio station. I think that's how we should treat it.

Interviewer: The internet plays an important role in your latest album...

Darren: We wrote and recorded a lot of songs and sent them over the internet, via e-mail, so it is a big part of the recording of our album.

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