They've taken you "To The Moon & back" with two platinum hits and now
they're set to take you even further with their upcoming debut album. We
grabbed Savage Garden's Daniel Jones to see how our fav pop duo is coping
with their cosmic success.
TV Hits: Hey Daniel. Congratulations on the band's
huge success!
Daniel: Thank you, it's great. I don't know how you're supposed to feel
about it. Once it happens, you just sort of go "Yeah" and sit back and
say "This is great!" You don't want it to stop. This is addictive. It is,
because after the success of one song, you just go up for it and you want
it again. I think when you become disillusioned by what level of success
is satisfying is when you usually trip up. It's a great feeling, it's awesome
to be at the top.
How are you guys keeping from getting bigheaded
about fame?
Well, I know this sounds a little cliched, from being busy! We're constantly
doing things, constantly keeping our minds on the whole project. So, you
know, we'll pace ourselves all that time. Some days we need to come down
a little more than usual (laughs) but, you know, overall it's pretty good.
There's so much work to do and there's so much to actually make this happen,
that you don't quite realise it, you know. So, yeah, we're pretty cool.
We're not going to get big heads. Not just yet, anyway!
Were people surprised "To The Moon & Back"
wasn't "I Want You Part 2"?
Yeah, definatley, and at the same time they're giving us quite a bit of
credibility for it because they're saying, "OK, obviously it's great that
you don't risk doing the same thing, you're going out there with different
intentions for different songs all the time." And I think Savage Garden
will slowly become about songwriting more so than the sound. People love
songs, no matter who sings them really. If it's a good song people love
it and that's what we've got to go.
And now that you're multi-millionaires (!), how
have you spent all your money?
Oh, it's gone back into the business. We had so many debts before we started
so we're just going back straight into paying people we owe money to. But
that's happened and hopefully, we'll get on top of it and be able to live
a little comfortably. I'd love jetskis and motorbikes and that sort of
stuff. So I'm going to buy myself lots of little toys down the track. And
lots of clothes, of course.
Do people treat you differently now that you're
famous?
A little. It's strange how it works. I think people are a little bit overwhelmed
if they see someone they've seen on TV in front of their face. Like, they're
not quite sure how to handle it. They kind of think, "You've been in my
house on my TV and now I can approach you, no problem." People think, on
initial contact, that they actually know you!
Have you had any psycho fans?
Erm, we're getting a couple of letters from this one particular person
at the moment. It's a little scary and it's slightly ... erm ... I can't
tell you all of it, but we're making sure to keep an eye on it. I mean,
this person could be very creative, she could help Savage Garden. All the
ideas she has are very creative, I'll tell you that.
Do women throw themselves at you now that you're
a big pop star?
Um, no. (laughs) That's a "no" of regret. Um, but it's not any harder to
go out and meet a nice girl! And I've never done that old, "Hey babe, I'm
from the Garden!" pick-up line thing, either!
Has success given you confidence with the babes?
Yeah, it has, only because in the last year or two, we've met so many people.
You just break into conversations with people you've never met and that
gives you confidence, meeting a lot of people. So, my advice to everyone
is just go out and meet everyone and be friends with everyone and talk
to people because you just get so much out of it. You know, there's no
point sitting at home thinking about it, just go and do it.
Tell us about your new album.
It's completely finished, and we're just waiting on two tracks to be remixed
over in America. So, they'll be back here soon and then the fun part in
getting all the artwork will start to happen and it should be out in about
March. We haven't got a name for it yet ... maybe we should run a competition
for it? We need a name!
How's the overseas response going?
We've actually had some fan mail from Indonesia and Malaysia! And in America,
they're playing "I Want You" throughout Texas, San Antonio, Waco, LA, New
York, they picked it up on an import and radio have just gone crazy. It's
a big, big thrill for us!
If you could go "To The Moon & Back", what
would be the first thing you would do?
Build a McDonald's drive-thru! (laughs) We'd just sit there, hovering over
the moon, eating all the cheeseburgers and quarter-pounders!
Do you have a message for all your fans?
Yeah, thanks a lot to all the TV Hits readers. People have really got behind
us and told us we can actually do this, so we're going to pay these guys
back a hell of a lot of times. We're getting an official fan club started
up now, too, and we can't wait for you guys to hear our album.
