highlights from  Australia's ROLLING STONE, June 1998. 
.
Savage Garden deal with fame,
Screaming teenage girls and the
TO THE MOON AND BACK
pressure of making a follow up
album that shows they're for real...
.
by Craig Mathieson             photography by Robin Sellick
.
..
Ok, the Rolling Stone interview you're all so eager to hear about is a big
one, so I ain't transcribing it yet, but here are some highlights!
..
"You all go to school, don't you?" asks Hayes.  The girls indicate yes.
"Well let me give you a lesson about school.  All the kids that were popular
end up on the dole with babies.  All the nerds end up pop stars."
..
"All Darren Hayes could think was, "This is not happeniing!"  It was a
mantra the Savage Garden vocalist kept chanting to himself, but it wasn't
taking.  The nascent pop star went to take a sip of his Powerade, but then
the Edge cracked a joke and Hayes involuntarily laughed, spitting purple
liquid all over himself.  Supermodel Helena Christensen giggled as the
singer coughed and spluttered."
..
[Lol]
..
"Right now, SG are working it for photographer Robin Sellick's camera.
Hayes is a natural, staring off into the middle distance while standing in
the foreground, masking his face in the very definition of broodiness.
Jones face stands behind him, biding his time for a practice he clearly
doesn't place a great deal of faith in (although he's never less than
professional).  As the shoot moves from hallway to penthouse, Hayes takes
front and centre in every shot.  "I'm always aware that I'm in the front of
every photograph, but it's not because I step in front of him," he says,
"Daniel takes two steps back. People just assume I'm an egomaniac."
..
"My mission was to be a star," he [Hayes] remembers... With his then
girlfriend, a fellow Madonna fanatic, the pair auditioned for theatre
college.  "I got in, she didn't, so I gave it all up for her.  And three
months later she dumped me. I was gutted."
..
i declare that DARREN TOTALLY DESERVES WHAT HE'S GOT - HIS DREAM!
..
"Darren is brutally honest, even to himself," answers Jones when asked to
describe his bandmate.  "Sometimes he's his own worst critic.  He's so
honest that anything he's feeling comes to teh surface, which really helps
clear the air in the type of intense relationship we have.  He reminds me of
a kid, not in a bad way, but in his naivete."
Asked the same question, Hayes replies, "He's probably the most intelligent
person I've ever met in my life.  He doesn't say anything unless unless he's
thought it through and it's right.  It might take him two or three days, but
he'll come to you and say, 'I think you look really insecure when you do
that.  I'm just being honest.' And you'll go red because he's absolutely
right.  He's intuitive. Intelligent. Calm and confident.  He's devoid of
insecurity."
..
..
ok, the last paragraph that someone said would make you cry...
..
"Bono leaned closer to Hayes and grabbed his hand, putting it to his chest.
Hayes could feel the pulmonary kick of the Irishman's heartbeat.  And then
he spoke: "As long as the music comes from here," he said, pushing Hayes'
hand harder against his chest, "then it's going to scream louder than any of
the kids will."  And for the few seconds that followed, Darren Hayes felt at
peace with himself."
..
.. Now THAT'S the encounter you'd want with your idol!!
..
ok - sorry if this took a while to load, but...!  :)  forgive me!
.
BACK