Take 5 with Darren Hayes from Savage Garden

When you look back at the Australian artists who've made their mark internationally, Savage Garden are right up there. Two guys from Brisbane who went Number 1 around the world, cracked the notoriously tough U.S. market and sold nearly 30 million albums with hits like 'I Want You', 'To The Moon And Back', and 'Truly Madly Deeply'. They may have only been together for two albums, but the legacy of their pop breakthrough continues, as does frontman Darren Hayes' incredible story.While he was sailing the highs of global fame, behind the scenes, Darren was dealing with a fractured band relationship, battling depression, and in the closet, unable to be truly himself. As a now proudly out gay man, he continues to sing his stories as a solo artist, but the road hasn't always been smooth sailing. Growing up in Logan, Queensland, the youngest of three in a home shadowed by severe domestic violence, who could have predicted that this sensitive kid who loved to sing would one day stand on the world's biggest stages?Darren's story is extraordinary: 250 rejection letters before anyone would sign Savage Garden, a manager who mortgaged his home to make it happen, and a partnership with Daniel Jones that produced some of the most iconic pop of the '90s before it all came crashing down. There have been plenty of lows too; being told by his own record company to hide who he was, the sudden loss of his mother, and a terrifying accident that shattered his jaw and nearly ended his singing career for good. But Darren Hayes is back, and he's got stories.This episode was captured at Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles, which was the building originally built by Charlie Chaplin, later home to A&M Records, and the exact room where "We Are the World" was recorded (Quincy Jones directing Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, and a room full of legends). It's a space steeped in music history, and if you believe the people who work there, a few ghosts as well. It was the perfect place to sit down with Darren and travel through a life defined by music, survival, and healing.Darren Hayes' song choices: The Dream Academy - 'Life in a Northern Town'HAIM - 'Hallelujah'Young The Giant - 'The Walk Home'Coldplay - 'O'Maisie Peters – 'Two Weeks Ago'00:00 Introduction and Setting the Scene at Chaplin Studios02:31 The History of Chaplin Studios: From Charlie Chaplin to A&M Records04:00 Karen Carpenter's Ghost and the Sacred Walls05:13 The Theme: Songs of Healing and Music Saving a Life05:41 Growing Up with Domestic Violence in Logan, Queensland06:05 Music as Escape: AM Radio, The Carpenters, and Auntie Jenny's Records06:56 Learning to Sing from Diana Ross and His Mother's Voice08:01 The Dream Academy - 'Life in a Northern Town'08:50 Catharsis Through Melancholy and the Sentimentality of Childhood10:52 Transitions: Missing His Siblings and "The Morning Lasted All Day"12:12 The End of High School and Not Wanting to Grow Up14:23 Growing Up in Logan: Feeling Like a Prince Despite Poverty15:12 A Hyper-Masculine World and Making Star Wars Toys Kiss15:44 Deciding He Was Famous at Age Ten: Protective Armor Against Bullying16:38 Being Called the F Word by His Father Before He Knew What It Meant18:05 Either Be Famous and Magical, or Die18:27 His Job Was to Keep His Mother Alive19:21 Hockey Sticks and Midnight Escapes: Surviving His Father's Violence20:15 Haim - 'Hallelujah'21:02 The Sound of Grace: Guardian Angels and Being Protected21:58 Being Uninvited from a Party and His Mother's Comfort23:30 "You've Got a Hallelujah": Surviving Childhood24:46 When Did Music Become the Path? High School Choir and Musical Theatre25:50 Feeling the Molecules Change When He Sang27:57 The First Band: A Death Metal Audition and Joining Red Edge with Daniel Jones29:26 Throwing Up on the Way to Toowoomba: Playing Aussie Classics He Didn't Know30:14 Leaving Red Edge and the Beginning of Savage Garden31:05 The First Song They Wrote Together: A Thousand Words31:25 The Australian Music Landscape: Grunge vs. Pop and 250 Rejection Letters33:26 John Woodruff Mortgaged His Home and No One Was Laughing Anymore33:46 Global Fame, Fans as Mirrors, and the Exhausting Rollercoaster35:58 Secrets: Being Gay, Depression, and the Record Company Hiding Who He Was36:45 Young The Giant - 'The Walk Home'37:24 Why Savage Garden Ended: Daniel's Unhappiness with Fame37:49 The Sum of the Parts and Beatlesque Chemistry in the Studio38:32 Touring the World Knowing It Was Over39:51 His Relationship with Daniel Now: "We Don't Talk Much Anymore"41:21 Solo Records, Coming Out, and the Album Called Homosexual42:0