SOME SAY THEY'RE THE MOST PROMSING AUSTRALIAN POP DUO FO OUR TIME. OTHERS SCOFF AT THEIR SNOTTY WAYS. BUT BEFORE YOU MAKE UP FOR YOUR MIND ABOUT SAVAGE GARDEN, GET A LOAD OF STELLA THNG'S REVEALING INTERVIEW WITH THEM!

Blame it on the haze. It's cast a sickly pallor on our city and it must be the reason why Daniel Jones and Darren Hayes are in such a "blah" mood. Barely three minutes before our interview, the duo blithely informs us that they won’t pose for portrait shots. But oh, they wouldn’t mind posing for casual pix provided I'm in the picture with them. I pass politely on the offer. Besides, our photographer, suddenly relieved off his duties, has scampered off.

Okay, so the guys are big enough to call the shots: after all, they recently picked up 10 awards at the 11th Annual Australian Industry Association Awards (ARIA) Ceremony where 'Truly Madly Deeply' was voted Best Song of the Year.

But as if to show us that they're nice guys at heart, Darren gives us a tour of the presidential suite where they're staying, taking care to point out the specially fitted sauna and the spacious walk-in closet. He even serenades us with a Christmas carol!

Getting down to business, I suggest we get the interview going. Poor lads, judging by their tired yawns, they must have been dreading this. To wake up the Savage sleepyheads, we threw some hot topics their way!

FAME AND FORTUNE:
Daniel: The best thing about fame is travelling all over the world and experiencing different things. There is this small forest-like place in Germany that’s beautiful, somewhat surreal with strange flowers and the best scenery in the world. And the people are so friendly when they recognize us; they'd just walk up to us in the streets and say "hi".

Darren: We've seen the whole world like, a few times over, except Africa, which we haven’t stepped foot on yet. I love New York City the best. We used to send postcards to everyone we knew when we first started travelling. We hardly do that now.

Daniel: And I'm starting a collection of little souvenirs from places we visit. Too bad I didn’t start earlier.

FAMOUS PEOPLE AND THEIR HANG UPS:
Darren: Oh, we don’t have any hang ups, we're too nice! We're pretty normal people. The best "star treatment" we received was in Taiwan.

Daniel: Oh yeah, we had two personal servants who with us like, 24hours around the clock. They stand outside our door. Every time we leave the room, they'd pop in and tidy up, fluff up the cushions and straighten the tablecloth just right. We didn’t feel very comfortable.

Darren: We used to peep at them through the keyhole. Every time we open the door, they'd stand at attention and ask if we need anything. And they follow us wherever we go. We kept telling the hotel that we didn’t need personal servants but they insisted on providing us with the service!

SHOPPING:
Darren: We shop, oh yes! I love spending money. Its not so much spending money but spending lots of money on something totally not worth it. I bought silk sheets that cost $1000! Generally I have expensive tastes. I usually spend on dinners and going to clubs. In Singapore, I bought CDs, a T-shirt, these socks (sticks out his feet) and deodorant. Oh, and I have this thing about sunglasses. I've got four pairs of really nice ones.

Daniel: Once I bought this T-shirt with six eyes on it. It looked horrible and I paid US$600 for it!

BEING AUSSIES:
Darren: The environment is just beautiful and we have so much space to grow. We're very lucky to have the kind of chances Australia gives us.

Daniel:
I think the platypus best describes Australia's versatile lifestyle. The platypus is out national animal. It's furry, has webbed feet and can live on both water and on land.

CRYING:
Darren: The last time I cried was when I watched "Jerry Maguire". It's such an honest film. I think we should always tell people we love them, you never know what’s going to happen.

Daniel: And I cried when I watched "To Gillian on her 37th Birthday". Yeah, I also cried when my dogs died.

TEENAGE YEARS:
Darren: Oh, we were both hunks, definitely! (Both burst in fits of Laughter).

Daniel: I was rather sporty so I probably fit into the hunk image more! And then I got more involved in music, so I sort of dropped sports a little.

Darren: Uh...I was a happy little freak. I'd be lost in my imagination all the time, creating little fantasies. I didn’t stop until I was 12. I used to put on lots of plays and I was really into musicals at school.

VAMPIRES AND OTHER SPOOKY BEINGS:
Darren: When I was a kid, I'd look for pixies and fairies in my garden. I wanted ET to come to my house and visit. I believe in the supernatural and unexplained, but not in vampires. It's pretty scary to think there are creatures out there going around and sucking our blood. No, I don’t think I'm morbid just because I’m obsessed with Anne Rice's vampire novels. They're pretty erotic, I think. Yeah, maybe that’s why I read them.

Daniel: Once I spoke to a pilot whose been flying for 25 years. You'd be surprised at the kind of things he sees and hears. I don’t want to disbelieve anything just because I haven’t experienced them personally.

CHRISTMAS:
Daniel:
I remember my best Christmas. I was seven that year. My two brothers and I woke up on Christmas morning and rushed to the tree but there weren’t any presents under it. We were so disappointed. Then our parents showed us the BMX bikes they'd locked in the room downstairs. We spent Christmas morning cycling all over town!

Darren: My best Christmas was when I was about eight years old. We were quite poor all year round mum kept telling me that we won’t have any money to celebrate Christmas. I'm a huge Star Wars fan. And when I woke up that morning and looked under the tree, mum had bought me every Star Wars figurine there was. We were really poor then and she spent all that money on me! I've always wanted to go caroling but the trouble with living in a tropical country is you just don’t have the mood to go "lah lah lah"...you'll sweat your brains out!

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