Fair Game |
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The blonde former Savage Gardener talks about issues neither hair nor there, writes Chad Watson Pop artists know they have reached the big time when their hairstyle hits the headlines. Darren Hayes dyed his locks black when he was half of Savage Garden, the Brisbane act that sold 20 million worldwide and topped the US singles charts. But he reverted to his natural blonde wisps about 18 months ago after splitting with multi-instrumentalist and music writer Daniel Jones. If you believe some sections of the Australian media, Hayes hasn’t been having much fun as a blonde. It was falsely reported that American label Columbia Records dropped had dropped him from its high-priority list. Anonymous company sources were quoted as claiming that the singers new look made it difficult to market his maiden solo album, Spin. But there has been no such trouble in Australia, where Spin debuted at No. 3 and lead single Insatiable was the most added track on radio. Or in Britain, where Hayes counts an old queen, Boy George, and future king, Prince Charles, among his loyal subjects, and Spin sales are set to eclipse the Garden’s two albums (the 1997 self-titled effort, which won a record 10 ARIA’s, and Affirmation in ’99). Prince Charles asked to meet Hayes and several other stars after they appeared before 100, 000 punters aat London’s Radio in the Park concert in July. “But it was five hours later, and I didn’t really want to sit around and watch the rest of the show so I went and had some lunch didn’t I?” Hayes explains. “I had a couple of beers and came back a little bit buzzed when I met the Prince, so I don’t know how much of a yobbo he thought I was.” Little wonder Hayes reckons the rumours about the state of his career are ‘ridiculous’. Columbia bigwigs have also declared their support, refuting any priority downgrading. “Sadly, its only been in Australia,” says Hayes, now based in San Francisco but visiting Down Under as part of his ‘Too Close For Comfort’ tour. “It’s a bit hard to take because I love my country and I’m very proud of what I do. Its funny, you know, because Spin is just about to notch up a million copies in the UK and that will make it the most successful album I’ve had over there. But nobody really knows about that here because there’s just so many things that are written about me that are just untrue. Everything from me being dropped by my US record label down to issues about my hair – none of it based on a single fact. I spend a lot of my time when I come here defending rumours about me but I’m not bitter about it because I’ve had it good.” Hayes admits he was ‘spoiled in many ways’ by the domestic press during his celebrated time tending the Savage Garden. “I’ve never felt that sort of backlash before” he says. “I guess its my turn…and if I didn’t feel confident about what it is that I do then I would probably be devastated. But I know it’s a period I will get through and people will forget that they ever picked on me.” Not that the 30 year old, who studied journalism at the University of QLD, is prepared to take any further scuttlebutt lying down. “I’ll go to court” he says “It really affects my career because the average person in the street believes its true…but I actually feel that its getting better because what else can people say about me? Jesus! It’s like, hang on, what is my particular crime here? You know, I released a single in America and the single only went to number 21. Which other Australian artist’s singles have been to number 21 in the past 5 years apart from Kylie? I guess the crime I’ve committed is that my album isn’t as successful as a Savage Garden album has been in America. But I’ve released one single and its been out 5 months. My whole take on this is “Give me a break” and “Don’t write me off yet because I’m not going anywhere”. Actually, Hayes an his entourage are going almost everywhere during the next 5 months. The singer usually travels with his manager, Leonie Messer, assistant-come-trainer Sharon Millington and hairdresser Troy Brennan, all of whom are Aussies, when on the promotional trail. He adds a seven-piece band, tour manager, road crew, and sound engineers when playing shows. “Its less people than we had with Savage Garden but its great having Australians around me because we share a real camaraderie as well as a sense of humour.” Hayes says. His eight-city Australian run includes Newcastle’s Civic Threatre on September 5 and coincides with a 3rd local single, Crush, which follows the disappointing Strange Relationship. The singer will then cover the UK, Europe, Asia, and Latin America before having another crack at US radio. Savage Garden made significant inroads into Asia and Hayes sees further potential. “They love a good ballad over there, what more can I say?” enthuses Hayes, named international artist of the year by MTV Asia. Hayes, however, acknowledges that Insatiable ‘didn’t do as well as anyone expected’ in the US. “The only truth to any of that matter is that it has the record company frustrated” he says. “The head of the company is a guy called Don Lenner, who’s extremely rich and powerful and famous and people fear him. I’m one of his biggest priorities at the moment, but in America, the music scene is either (rapper) Ja Rule or (hard rockers) Linkin Park and they’re different extremes. There really isn’t a place for my kind of music in America this week. “Rather than crying about it, we all decided to visit the places my album’s working” Some long-time fans suggested that the perceived ‘backlash’ against Hayes stems from how Savage Garden was publicly uprooted. At the time, musical partner Daniel Jones told interviewers he was unaware the duo had folded. Hayes, who announced the split, puts the subsequent conjecture down to miscommunication. “It was his decision, so of course he knew,” Hayes says. “But in his defense, I think Daniel was trying to do the right thing contractually because he didn’t even know if we were allowed to speak about it. In retrospect, we should have had a press conference together, but I wasn’t in the country.” Savage Garden diehards should note that Hayes’ support act on this tour is Aneiki, the Brisbane duo nurtured by publicity-shy Jones. Hayes’ bracket will also include Savage Garden favourites such as Truly Madly Deeply, I Knew I Loved You, To The Moon And Back, and Break Me Shake Me. “I’m sure I’d get stones and tomatoes thrown at me if I didn’t play some of those songs” he quips. Hayes says Aneiki’s presence proves things are ‘fine’ with his fellow former Gardner. “They’re his band, so we’re certainly not enemies – that would never happen.” He says “We have very different lives and we’ve chosen different careers. But the way the band break-up was portrayed in the media here was almost like a bushfire and there was nothing I could do to change that perception.” |