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Savage Garden were an Australian pop rock performance and songwriting duo. Darren Hayes (vocals) and Daniel Jones (keyboards, sequencing, guitar) formed the group in Brisbane, Queensland in 1994. Their international success occurred between 1997 and 2001, including number one hit singles with "Truly Madly Deeply", "I Want You", "To the Moon and Back", "The Animal Song" and "I Knew I Loved You". Their first two albums, Savage Garden and Affirmation reached number one in Australia and peaked in the top ten in both United Kingdom and United States.
The group won a record number of ten ARIA Music Awards in 1997 for their debut album and its related singles. The band took a hiatus in 2000, and while they originally intended to reform, Hayes announced its break-up in 2001.
In 1993, multi-instrumentalist and producer Daniel Jones placed an advertisement in Brisbane newspaper Time Off seeking a vocalist for his five-piece covers band Red Edge which he had formed with his brothers. Darren Hayes, who was studying at university, was the only respondent and joined after his first audition. Red Edge played venues along the Gold Coast pub and club circuit, while Hayes and Jones started to write original material.
In June 1994, Hayes and Jones left Red Edge to pursue a career together originally as Crush. The new duo was renamed Savage Garden after a phrase from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, "The mind of each man is a savage garden".
By year's end, the pair had enough songs for a demo tape, they sent 150 copies to various record companies around the world. John Woodruff (The Angels, Baby Animals, Diesel) was the only positive response, he became their manager and negotiated a contract with Roadshow Music/Warner Music. In 1995, they entered the studio to work on their debut album with producer, Charles Fisher (Air Supply, Moving Pictures, 1927).
In late 2000, there was media speculation that the band would break up due to Hayes starting his solo album project. He announced that Jones was taking time off to work on a record label he had founded. The band took a hiatus but was expected to reform by early 2002, however in October 2001, Hayes announced that Savage Garden had broken up. Hayes and Jones had agreed that they would break up after finishing their tour for their second album. It was reported that Jones did not learn about the actual date of the break-up until he read the report of Hayes announcing the split. After the announcement, the band's website posted a statement:
“We are extremely grateful to our fans all around the world for their incredible support over the years. The success of Savage Garden and our time together has been an amazing experience.. one that we will never forget. We just hope that you all understand our individual needs to continue growing ”
In an interview on the musicMAX network, Hayes claimed that a few weeks before the release of their second album, Jones did not like the fame that the band was receiving and was not happy. Hayes wanted to move on in the music industry as a solo artist. His first solo single, "Insatiable", was released in January 2002 and his solo album, Spin, followed in March. It spawned several UK Top 40 singles, including "I Miss You", "Strange Relationship", and "Crush (1980 Me)". Hayes has released more solo albums.
Jones started his own production company, Meridien Musik, and built a recording studio, Level 7 Studios, to record young Australian artists including Aneiki and Bachelor Girl.
In August 2007, Hayes was asked by The Daily Telegraph if he and Jones would ever consider a reunion, he replied abruptly, "No, never. I once said I'd only do it if it cured cancer, and that's still how I feel."
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