HAYESOMANIA

27 June 1999

Hi everyone,

You may be asking yourselves what the hell I am doing here, updating the Savage Garden website. I have been Darren and Daniels Australian publicist since they released I WANT YOU in that country back in April 1996. It is only recently (ie. last week) that I have started working for them as their personal assistant. This is an exciting prospect for me because it means I get to travel all over the world with them, live in New York with Darren in his new apartment and basically just pretend I'm fabulous!!! .

I wasn't due to start working with them until the end of July, so you can imagine how flustered I became when on the 17th June I received a phone call from Darren telling me they wanted me in San Francisco to start work on the 20th June! The reason for this urgent call? This website!! The band had promised that they would keep you updated with their recording process and what was happening over here, but as is always the case, without somebody to oversee the process it proved difficult to make it a reality.

After a gruelling flight from Brisbane to America, I walked through the gates at San Francisco airport to see Darren standing there. It was like running into a breath of fresh air. He looked so happy to see me, which of course made me immediately feel extremely popular (and even more fabulous!).

Darren and Daniel have been in San Francisco for a few months now recording this album, and although I'd heard a couple of the songs when Daniel made some flying visits home to Brisbane, I was yet to hear the majority of them. So, when we got in the car to head back to Wallyworld (the home recording facility) I forced Darren to play me some tracks. It is difficult for me to comment on the songs without coming across as grossly biased (which of course I am!).. but, MY GOD.. these are two talented songwriters, I cannot, even now after I've thrashed the songs, tell you which is my favourite. All I know is that each song I've heard is a potential single (should I even be saying that!!!??). The songs are mature, fresh, and distinctly Savage Garden (if they read this they are going to kill me for going on like a complete fool).

The album is being produced by legendary producer, Walter Afanasieff, a man who's daily attire includes tennis whites, baseball cap and a laid back attitude. It's hard to believe that this quitely spoken, extremely low key man has been responsible (in a producing capacity) for close to 400,000,000 record sales! Previously he has worked with such artists as Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton and Kenny G.

Walter has created an artistic haven in Wallyworld Studios. The compound (that is the only way I can describe it!) is located on the outskirts of San Rafael, in Marin County, which is a 45 minute drive from San Francisco.
As Darren drove me up to the gates the morning I arrived here, I really had no idea what to expect.

So, picture this, I have just come from your typical suburban life, living in your typical suburban home on a typical suburban street. The sight that greets me as the electric gates swing open is one of luxury overload! Shocking as this may seem, I have found myself slipping quite easily into this lifestyle. God knows what I did before without a team of people to cater to my every little whim and desire.

n amongst all this beauty sits a grand piano. On my first night here, I was treated to the first (of what I'm hoping will be many) impromptu performances by Darren and Daniel. Daniel just sat behind the piano and played the first few chords to one of their new songs, and without missing a beat Darren stepped up to the piano and started singing the song. It was quite a beautiful and special moment.... tears actually came to my eyes and I wanted to close them and freeze frame the image in my mind forever. Unfortunately, when they finished and they immediately launched into a conversation about the merits of 'The Wedding Singer', I realised that this was not a shared moment with the guys, but merely an every day part of their life. I tried to get a group hug going to no avail.
The day after I arrived, the mixing engineer came to mix three songs.. It is amazing how the mixing process changes the whole sound and feel of the song. It is as though it just takes a raw song and turns it into something that makes sense. I tried to appear knowledgeable when I listened to Darren and Daniel discussing these mixes and what needed to be changed and I strained to hear exactly what they could hear in the song that would turn it into the finished product. I guess this is the difference between being a songwriter and a personal assistant.
The weekend came and we had to fly to Los Angeles because Darren and Daniel were doing their album photo shoot with renowned French photographer, Stephane Sednaoui. Have you ever been to a photo shoot?? It really is 95% sitting around and 5% shooting. We arrived at the studio at 9.00am and Darren and Daniel did not have their first shot taken until 1.00pm. The whole promotion, photo shoot, video shoot circus is definitely the part of their jobs that the guys dislike the most. It is not that they don't want to get their music out there and heard, it is because it takes them away from the creative process - which is the songwriting , recording and performing live. I think if you spoke to any successful artist, they would say the same thing.

Darren and Daniel were styled for the shoot in an edgier, more rock (as opposed to fashion) manner, and aside from the normal portrait shots, Stephane created a couple of very different looks with them. They did a few different set ups before it came time to get ready for the crucial album cover photo. The lighting for this shot was intricate and took over two hours to set up, which meant, just as they were slipping into comas from the excruciating boredom and exhaustion, Darren and Daniel were called to the set. By this time it was around 11.00pm at night.
This shot was taken against a stark white background, it was brightly lit and Darren and Daniel were both dressed all in black. They looked gorgeous and it was hard to believe they had been going for 14 hours. Stephane will put his signature touch to the shots in postproduction.. which will make them look quite extraordinary.

Okay.. it is time for me to go now, I am being summoned away. Have a look at the photos we have put on the site this week, they were taken in and around the studio and on the set of the photo shoot.

I will be back next week to let you know what has been happening in the world of Savage Garden... we want to keep you updated on the progress of the album until the release of it! So stay tuned!

Bye
Leonie Messer