A Look At Savage Garden Essay, Research Paper
Savage Garden is an Australian duo formed in 1994 by Daniel Jones and
Darren Hayes. Daniel Jones, born on July 22, 1973 in Essex England moved
to Brisbane, Australia as a young child, he plays keyboard, guitar,
programming and sings back up. Darren came from a long line of musicians,
so his love for music started when he was very young. When he was little, his
brother had a drum set and when he went out, Daniel would sneak into his
room and play then, he took piano lessons when he was seven. By the age of
ten, he was playing the keyboard and drums in pubs and hotels. Daniel?s
musical influences were, Peter Gabriel, XTC, and Tears For Fears. Darren
was born May 8, 1972 in Brisbane, he is both the lead and back up singers.
At a young age, he began showing alot of intrest of getting into entertainment
by singing and acting around the house which led him to act in many school
plays when he got into high school. After high school, Darren attended
college, to study journalsim, Drama and education. His influences include,
Prince, The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and Duran
Duran. Both the guys are songwriters. Daniel was playing with another band
called Red Edge, when he put an ad in a Brisbane music paper for a lead
vocalist, Darren was studying to be a teacher when he decided he wanted to
get into the music scene, he saw Daniel?s ad and responded, ?We clicked
imeadeatly?(Darren Hayes, SavageGarden biography) Darren joined the band
and in 1994, He and Daniel decided they were tired of playing other people?s
music so they left the band and devoted their time to writing and the band,
Crush was formed. Darren and Daniel soon found out another Australian
band also had that name so, they bought the name from them but, then they
found another English band called Crush so they decided to call the band
Savage Garden which was thought of by Darren, it was from an Anne Rice
novel where ?she describes the world as two levels, one as a very beautiful
place but,in the other, underneath, we?re all savage beasts?(The conception of
savage garden) in the other,Darren
out over 150 demo tapes to record companies and management all over
Australia. One by one they got rejected until John Woodruff heard their tape
and thought they had a chance, he immediately flew to Brisbane to sign them
to JWM, his record company. Their first self titled album was recorded in
Sydney, Australia. It was produced by Charles Fisher and mixed by Chris
Lord-Alge. Woodruff released the record to an independent label, Roadshow
Music and in 1996 their first single, I Want You, was released in Sydney. The
single went platnum and became the highest selling single in Australia for
1996. It was also nominated for a Aria Award for the Best Debut Album in
1996 just two weeks after it?s release and it rised to #3 on the national AMR
charts. It debuted at number 31 on the Billboard charts which was ?the
highest chart entry ever for a debut single from an Australian
artist.?(village.com) It had a slow start until Rosie O?Donnell who loves the
part in the song that says ?chick-a-cherry cola? began playing it on her show
and eventually invited them to appear and preform on the air. Their Second
single, To The Moon and Back, ?which adresses the insecurities of a teenage
girl? (savagegarden.com/bio)quickly became a hit, reached number one and
sold 135,000 copies in Australia and was in the top 30 in the US. Their third
and most sucessful, Truly Madly Deeply which is a love song ?distilled from
the purity of heart? (savagegarden.com/bio),sold 160,000 copies and debuted
at number 25 on the billboard charts. Their album was released on March 24,
1997 and debuted at number 1 on the national ARIA chart where it spent 19
weeks. The album has sold 9 times platnum, 670,000 albums, in Australia
alone. Savage Garden launched their first live tour in Australia, May 1997,
preforimg at sold out shows. Then in 1998 they were on the road again with
their The Future Of Earthly Delites World Tour. Their cd was number 9 on
the top ten best selling albums list from Dec 29, 1998 to Jan 3, 1999. They
are currently in the process of making a new album which shoud be out
sometime this year.