Make room silverchair! This is Australia's latest pop sensation and we
love 'em. With two hit singles under their belts from their self-title
debut album, the only way is up as far as Daniel Jones (the man behind
the great tunes) and Darren Hayes (that totally cool voice) are concerned.
I Want You scored an Aria nomination in 1996, To The Moon & Back zoomed
up the charts to Number One this year, and their next offering, Truly Madly
Deeply, is already a Top 10 hit.
Having played in bands since he was 14, Daniel put an ad in a music
paper for a singer five years ago, but little did he know that choosing
Darren would be the best decision he ever made. After hearing Darren sing,
he knew he'd finally found the right formula. As Darren says, "I think
we kind of knew it would happen. We just sort of clicked."
They spent two years playing covers in clubs and pubs around northern
NSW and then started writing and singing their own stuff. And so began
the cool tunes that are Savage Garden.
And what about that name? "Originally, we had about four names," says
Daniel. "Like Dante's Inferno and Bliss. But every name we chose was already
taken - it was really frustrating."
The final choice actually came from an Anne Rice novel (author of the
Interview With The Vampire trilogy). "Anne talks about the world as a savage
garden," says Darren. "There are two levels. One is beautiful but in the
other, underneath, we're all savage beasts. We thought that was quite fitting
- but we don't want to sound too poncy. It's all just pop music!"
These two cuties couldn't be happier with the success of their
first album, but say that they're not that suprised. "Without sounding
big-headed, when you go for something like this, you put a lot on the line,"
says Darren. "We went into this expecting to succees."They were right to
be confident. Although it's still early days for Savage Garden, there Brisbane
babes feel they have the right stuff to be around for a long while. And
we truly, madly, deeply think they do, too.
