A Logan city pop duo are about to do to their town what the Beetles did
to Liverpool and Nirvana did to Seattle - put it on the map. The duo, Savage
Garden, look set to become the next big thing. Two weeks ago they released
their first single, I WANT YOU in the United States where it debuted in
Billboard' s Top 20. Today it sits at number 16 with a bullet. In Australia,
the single went platinum and became last year's biggest selling single.
Their second single, To The Moon and Back quickly became No 1, while the
latest, Truly Madly Deep;y, is waling out of the shops. The two Logan lads
who make up Savage Garden, Darren Hayes, 24, and Daniel Jones, 23, are
about to release their debut self-titled album later this month.
"How did two boys from Logan end up writing songs like this?" Asked
Gary Beitzel. Beitzel runs Woodys, a record shop that nestles itself next
to K mart in Logan, an area where heavy metal and grunge still dominate
CD players. Beitzel knows Hayes almost better than anyone. For five years,
the Mabel Park State High School student worked at Woodys, where he developed
alove of music. "I would Say that the biggest influence on Darren would
have to be Michael Jackson," Beitzel said. "Not only did he love his music,
but he loved the approach Michael tool to the whole industry."
Friends of the boys both remark on how deserving they are of their
success. But already they are getting caught up in the publicity machine
that absorbs and ten spits out pop stars like chewing gum. Last year, Jones
was unable to address the graduation Year 12 students at his old high school,
Shailer Park State High, because he had to be in New York for a photoshoot.
Their record company, Roadshow Music, would not allow The Sunday Mail
to interview Savage Garden last week because of prior exclusive arrangements.
But their number one fan, Anna Nilme, 24, who met Hayes at QUT's Kelvin
Grove campus where they both studied to be teachers, said the boys would
keep their feet firmly on the ground. "They are pretty down to earth,"
she said.Coming from Logan helps. Both grew up in the area, but because
of the geography they never met and went to high schools separated by freeways
and shopping strips. They met when Hayes answered and ad Jones had place
in a Music magazine, looking for a singer. For two years they played covers
band called Red Edge, until they ditched the band and formed a pop duo.
Hayes who loves Anne Rice novels, named the duo Savage Garden after a reference
in the book Lestat.
"They are chalk and cheese," Ms Nilme said. "They are great friends,
but because they work so close together they never socialise together."
School girls at Mabel Park State High talk about Savage Garden in the
same breath as Take That.
"They are better than Take That," They scream. "And they are bigger
babes!"
