Sincerely Savage Whatever The Hairstyle
(New Zealand Herald, March 30)

I'm an anti-pop-star kind of pop-star," he says proudly. Funny that,
considering that Darren Hayes was, until recently, half of Australia's
Savage Garden and ostensibly one of his country's biggest pop stars.

Also interesting was the pop-star gossip about Hayes which meant fanscouldn't be sure about which they should pay more attention to:
Hayes' newly blond hairstyle or his new solo album?

Gossips had it that Hayes was so keen to distance himself from the band with which he had risen to fame that he had - shock, horror - changed his whole look.

They also speculated that his new hairstyle had caused the reshooting of Australia's most expensive music video, for the first single Insatiable, taken from his debut solo album, Spin.

"No, no, that video rumour is false," Hayes says, not the slightest
bit annoyed. "And I just stopped dying my hair and grew it a bit.
It's the colour I was born with."

Despite the good-natured replies, Hayes definitely dislikes this kind
of chit-chat. "Because I want you to know about the songs I sing and the music I've created as opposed to how I am on this really great miracle diet or something," says the 29 year old ruefully (and before anyone gets too excited, he's not on a miracle diet).

"I think with my ethics and with what I strive for, it's basically
similar to what an old-fashioned entertainer might want. You know, I
want to hot that high note, I want to be consistent.

"I look towards the people who've lasted, the people who could do it
and who were not just these products of the publicity machine."

Because the publicity machine is something Hayes knows all too well.

After meeting in a Brisbane covers band, Hayes and c0-writer Daniel Jones formed Savage Garden in the mid-90's.

By 1997 their debut album had sold 10 million copies and they'd
become the first Australia's to reach No 1 in the United States since 1987.

Which meant that by 1999 Savage Garden were at the top of Australia's rich list, with earnings of more than A$35 million. Over the four years they were together they sold 20 million records. They had also unintentionally been tarred by the boy-band brush.

The pair went into songwriting as a studio project, but now
everywhere they went they were greeted by mostly teenage, mostly
hysterical and mostly female fans.

"It was funny. People didn't really know what genre we should be in
because we didn't dance and we wrote our own songs," Hayes recalls sarcastically.

Behind those healthy bank accounts Hayes and Jones weren't exactly laughing all the way to the bank. And late last year the truth came out. Savage Garden had secretly spilt almost a year earlier.

In fact, even after the first album the band mates were estranged
with Hayes going to live in the US and Jones staying in Brisbane.
Most of the second album was written on seperate continents and via email.

And when it came to touring and promotional work to launch that secondalbum, Jones was even more reluctant, telling Hayes he wanted to leave.

At the time Hayes, who was also going through a divorce, said: "I
freaked out. If said, 'This is your responsibility. If you don't
release this album you're going to mess up my career. I've stood by
you'."

So the plan was that Jones wouldn't officially leave the band and thatHayes, who's always been described as the public face of Savage Gardenanyway, would promote the new album on his own.

"It was a marketing nightmare," Hayes told Australian reporters last
year, "trying to market this band that was two people, with one guy
blurry in the background."

However, happily for Hayes, he has come a long way since then. While the bandmates are unlikely to be what he calls "buddy-buddy" again, at least he's now promoting an album that's all his own work.

Although Spin doesn't venture into any particularly new musical
territory, former Savage Garden fans are sure to enjoy what Hayes
believes is a more intimate, sexier and slightly less saccharine
offering.

More romance-friendly, middle-of-the-road pop music then? Maybe.

"I would take that as a criticism if what I was doing was
calculated," Hayes replies, still good-natured.

"But it's not. This is sincere and it's done with pure intention.

"People always ask, 'Is he for real? Is he really that sweet?' Well,
I guess you either dig this kind of music or you don't."

The vegetarian, yoga devotee with a soft spot for cartoon characters
the Powerpuff Girls also reckons he's made some important choices
about the quality of his life.

"Just simple things. I live in a place that's pretty secluded, just
out of San Francisco. It's not really the epicentre of cool or of the
business.

"And I spend my money on things like flying my family to be with me or
travelling with someone I can do yoga with - rather than fancy cars.

"Basically," the earnest, honest anti-pop star concludes, "I'm
focusing my energy on making sure I remain a real person with my feet on the ground."

Darren Hayes' Spin is available now.

Photo caption: FEET ON THE GROUND: Since going solo, Darren Hayes reckons he's made some important choices about the quality of his
life.