Daniel Jones(II)

For Daniel Jones, a precocious young man who by age 26, had sold 10 million albums around the world, one would find it difficult to imagine anything wrong in his seemingly fairytale existence. But appearances can be deceiving, as Jones knows all too well. Jones, the 'quieter' half of internationally acclaimed pop band 'Savage Garden' had it all by such a young age, but what was it 'all' really? Material goods, a far too hectic touring schedule that required round the clock touring and practicing for the next tour/show, rehearsals, band management, interviews and all the other 'glamorous' things that went along with being half of the most successful pop act out of Australia in the 1990's. Jones was less than thrilled. Jones was born in England in 1973, and he moved to Australia at a young age. Throughout school, music was his main focus, and in the early 90s he began forming little bands that played the pub circuit around Australia, to small acclaim. It wasn't a highly paid job, but Jones was doing what he loved and getting paid for it, so it would be wrong to say Jones was less than happy. All this changed when through his musical talents he met up with another young man by the name of Darren Hayes. Hayes was interested in forming a band and upon meeting Jones, they realised that they had dual talents in songwriting, and would make quite a band together. Savage Garden was formed. Hayes was indeed the front man, and while Jones was legging all the work with most of the songwriting, programming and synthesising, Hayes was having the time of his life, playing it up as a good looking front man, a sex symbol whose face was soon to be on the wall of many young teenage girls. together they managed to get out a demo of a song they had recorded using their own money to rent out recording studios. The song was, of course, 'I want you', an electronic pop gem that stormed the Australian charts in 1996. After recording it they showed it to several record producers before getting signed up and releasing the single through Roadshow, a popular record label. 'I want you' stormed the Australian chart in 1996, to both Hayes' and Jones' pleasure. Although peaking at No. 4, it still went platinum and was the 12th best selling single of the year. Hayes and Jones followed it up with the phenomenal 'To the moon and back', an astounding pop song, yet also on a deeper level, a metaphor for broken homes and the need to feel loved. Was 'To the moon and back' destined to be their first number one? Towards the end of 1996 it looked like it would peak at no. 4, yet in just the few remaining weeks it made it to no. 1. In 1997 came their self-titled album: To call it a success is to play it down. In Australia it went 13 times platinum (910,000 copies sold), making it one of the highest selling albums in Australia's history, beaten only by John Farnham with 'Whispering Jack' (17 times platinum). Their album went on to sell 12 million alnums worldwide, a feat rarely accomplised by any band. Hays loved it. Jones agreed that it had its perks, but this was not the life he signed up for when wanting to be a professional musician. The endless hours of self-promotion that had to be made for the album deteriorated his health, and left him in a bad state throughout much of the year. With the album's success, Hayes moved to America, but Jones chose to continue to reside in Australia. He could not handle much more of the hectic lifestyle that he had signed up for. When it came time to produce their follow up album, Jones had had enough. He told Hayes that he wanted out, and only agreed to do the album with Hayes after Hayes agreed to do virtually all the promotion for the album himself, leaving Jones out of the spotlight as much as possible. The album, 'Affirmation', sold 8 million albums worldwide, it also took the world by storm.... and it also took its toll on Jones. Jones and Hayes became virtual enemies, constantly fighting over the touring schedule, etc. While Jones did tour for all of the 'Affirmation' tour, it was clear to all that he did it out of duty, not love for touring. In 2001 Hayes had had enough. While not discussing it with Jones, he announced publicly that Savage Garden were no more, due to differences in direction and ambition between the members. Jones was not informed of this, and did not even discover it until his father rang him and asked him why Savage Garden broke up. While not happy with the decision at first, he settled down to it. The break up gave him the chance to do what he always wanted: Produce music, from behind the scenes. he became the key producer for Australian Band 'Anikei' and this gave him the chance to make music without worrying about the pubic eye on him. Out of the spotlight for a while now, in 2003 he announced that he was engaged to Kathleen De Leon from Hi-5. There have also been talks of a Savage Garden reunion, but with more than enough money to live on, Jones may well be happy making music from behind the scenes for the rest of his life.