Speaker 1: Jason Lauren, Good morning Melbourne. You're on the air with
Speaker 1: Jason Lauren. Clint heer as well. We grew up with
Speaker 1: Savage Gardens. This man then peeled off to do his
Speaker 1: own solo career and we love that just as much
Speaker 1: as well. And he is back with his own memoir
Speaker 1: which is out now. Darren Hayes, good morning and Walking
Speaker 1: and Nova.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 3: Darren Hayes.
Speaker 1: So I've got history with Darren.
Speaker 2: We were never going to talk about that, and also
Speaker 2: I was very confused about my sexuality.
Speaker 4: I've got a compliment. You're the best smelling guest we
Speaker 4: have ever had in this studio.
Speaker 2: That means a lot to me.
Speaker 3: He looks mixologist I am.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the truth as to why I smell
Speaker 2: good though, right, it's part of a thing that I
Speaker 2: think that anyone who is slightly famous should do, which
Speaker 2: is leave an impression.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, unlovable is the memoir that's mouth I
Speaker 1: was going to bring up. We've got history, so I've
Speaker 1: interviewed you numerous times over the years. In fact, when
Speaker 1: I was a young fellow, I was at the big
Speaker 1: ceremony in Brisbane growing up on the main streets of Brisbane.
Speaker 2: And the keys to the city.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the keys to the city Savage Garden were given.
Speaker 2: Back in the day. Do you need to get into
Speaker 2: a building?
Speaker 1: I don't actually know what they do, but they do.
Speaker 2: They well, I can get into most people's homes.
Speaker 4: It's a thing.
Speaker 3: Or do you get to keep them for the rest
Speaker 3: of your life?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's hilarious. Note it's ridiculous, isn't it. It's just
Speaker 2: like a wooden, plastic thing that they present to.
Speaker 1: You up in Brisbane.
Speaker 2: Yeah. My book launch in Brisbane is at that same town.
Speaker 2: Been there since I got the Keys to the city.
Speaker 1: Will it be trauma?
Speaker 2: No, it was an extraordinary thing. Yeah. So the memoir.
Speaker 2: Was it cathartic? Yeah, of course it was. I had
Speaker 2: never planned to write a book. It's I don't consider
Speaker 2: myself a celebrity. It's not a celebrity memoir. It really
Speaker 2: is a book about overcoming trauma. I grew up in
Speaker 2: a family, which I wrote about in Savage Garden and
Speaker 2: all throughout my career, but no one really put the
Speaker 2: pieces together.
Speaker 4: The song I think we don't you know, we hear
Speaker 4: pop stars and these amazing musicians like yourself write these
Speaker 4: incredible songs, but you kin'd of you sing along to it,
Speaker 4: you don't really think about the trauma or the story
Speaker 4: behind us.
Speaker 2: Sure like two Beds and a Coffee Machine is a
Speaker 2: song from Famous Look at Me So I've got tickets,
Speaker 2: But it's a song from Affirmation about me, my mom,
Speaker 2: my sister, and my brother being on their own, living
Speaker 2: in hotel rooms with two beds and a coffee machine.
Speaker 2: Running from my dad and people at the time, he
Speaker 2: used to say, God, that song is so sad. Who
Speaker 2: is it about? Back then, I was so ashamed I
Speaker 2: couldn't tell anyone who it was about.
Speaker 4: Ah, what did you say? How did you answer that
Speaker 4: question back in the day.
Speaker 2: I think I avoided it out of respect for my mum,
Speaker 2: who was so brave in letting me put that song
Speaker 2: on the record. But this book came about because for
Speaker 2: my last album, I think, you know, Look, I'm fifty
Speaker 2: two now and and I had and have lived with
Speaker 2: a severe depressive disorder and PTSD from my childhood all
Speaker 2: my life, and I've had great treatment for it. But
Speaker 2: I did an article in the UK which was a
Speaker 2: childhood picture of me and I was ten sitting on
Speaker 2: my bed, picture of Michael Jackson on the wall, and
Speaker 2: I looked like a happy little kid. And I wrote
Speaker 2: the story behind the picture, which was that nobody knew
Speaker 2: the horrors of what was going on in my home.
Speaker 2: And I had two book offers, one of them was
Speaker 2: thankfully from Penguin Australia, and they said, would you write
Speaker 2: that story? And I guess I was ready to.
Speaker 1: That's what I was about to say back then when
Speaker 1: you were asked about it with the song, you probably
Speaker 1: just won't ready as well.
Speaker 4: It's so interesting because I know people who have not
Speaker 4: the same stories. You know, one's got the same story,
Speaker 4: but a similar story many people.
Speaker 3: There, and kids carry.
Speaker 4: So much weight protecting their parents from like you, you said,
Speaker 4: the embarrassment of it and wearing this shield because you
Speaker 4: didn't want your mum to feel embarrassed about what your
Speaker 4: family was going through. It must have been such a burden.
Speaker 4: And you're certainly not alone in that, right there, families
Speaker 4: listening to this right now that no, oh my gosh,
Speaker 4: that's me. I would hate for people to know what
Speaker 4: my mum goes through. But being able to speak about
Speaker 4: it so truthfully and honestly is so powerful.
Speaker 2: I dedicate the book to my mom. I mostly wrote
Speaker 2: this because I think the thing I care about most
Speaker 2: in the world is women and violence against women. I
Speaker 2: know in this country it's a pandemic. It's I mean,
Speaker 2: there are so many women who are murdered by their
Speaker 2: disgruntled partners. What saddens me about this book is that
Speaker 2: back in the seventies when we were dealing with this,
Speaker 2: there were no laws to protect my mom. She couldn't
Speaker 2: leave my dad, he was an ex police officer. When
Speaker 2: she went to the police, they all just year. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm saying, there.
Speaker 3: Are laws about it now, and people are still.
Speaker 2: And they're still being murdered. Women are still being murdered.
Speaker 2: It's that's the thing that it really really moves me. So, yes,
Speaker 2: this book, a lot of it is about me, but
Speaker 2: it's really about women because my mum was such a victim,
Speaker 2: and it's about breaking cycles of abuse.
Speaker 1: I want to say Kurdos to you, because just by
Speaker 1: opening up and telling this side of your story, you
Speaker 1: would be helping so many people, more than you'll realize.
Speaker 2: I really want to, And that's the whole gist of
Speaker 2: the book. You know, like it was scary to lift
Speaker 2: that veil and be so vulnerable, really joyful, really happy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're going to come back more with Darren Hayes
Speaker 1: on the other side of this Serah on Nova. We
Speaker 1: are hanging out with Darren Hayes this morning, truly, madly, deeply.
Speaker 1: Do you do you still get into.
Speaker 2: That I've never stopped singing the songs. I don't know
Speaker 2: that the general public ever knew that, because the breakup
Speaker 2: of the band was just so messy.
Speaker 1: I find as a true fan, I find it if
Speaker 1: like you guys don't even talk now, do you you?
Speaker 2: He was incredibly unkind to me and he didn't tell
Speaker 2: the truth when the band broke up, And I go,
Speaker 2: do you think there's any chance if he If no,
Speaker 2: I'll just stop you there.
Speaker 1: Even if he reached out, No, because.
Speaker 2: He has reached out several times and offered to go
Speaker 2: on the record and kind of apologize. What he did
Speaker 2: to me was public. Look, no one wants to hear
Speaker 2: about that stuff. Fans want to just hear songs.
Speaker 1: I got something joyful to player. You love this? This
Speaker 1: was doing the rounds online.
Speaker 3: This guy, I love this.
Speaker 1: This got me Okay, So this is for hurligans. This
Speaker 1: is a whole full pub.
Speaker 3: Choir pase English footy fans.
Speaker 2: Here we go, hard men, I.
Speaker 3: Love it, arms around each other.
Speaker 2: Do you know what's so sweet about this is because
Speaker 2: we've always been very protective of that song. But what
Speaker 2: happened was I think it was the World Cup was
Speaker 2: falling on Valentine's Day and this was this amazing marketing ad.
Speaker 2: It might have been via Adidas or something, but I
Speaker 2: just loved the message and it was like, Hey, love,
Speaker 2: I'm going to go to the footy. Please don't break
Speaker 2: up with me, but I love you. And these are
Speaker 2: real footy fans.
Speaker 1: Well, if you're protective of the music, you do not
Speaker 1: want to see videos of Lauren having a crack at karaokeing.
Speaker 2: Everyone should sing. It's good for the soul totally. It
Speaker 2: doesn't matter if you think you can't sing or whatever.
Speaker 2: Everyone should sing.
Speaker 3: It just makes you feel what about you think you
Speaker 3: can sing but you can't asking for.
Speaker 2: Just I know quite well, just don't have a career
Speaker 2: in it.
Speaker 3: I mean the radio.
Speaker 1: I haven't heard this, but I just found out you
Speaker 1: released a cover of Last Christmas.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, we must put this on rotation. Yeah,
Speaker 3: George Michael, you got to meet George Michael.
Speaker 2: We became somewhat acquaintances him and George Michael. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: this is going to sound like a humble brand.
Speaker 4: Go for it.
Speaker 3: It's George Mike.
Speaker 2: So I sang this song and then maybe six months later,
Speaker 2: was invited by Pavarotti duet with him at Pavarotine. Friends.
Speaker 3: Hang on, you did a with George Michael or Pavarotti.
Speaker 1: And you're friends.
Speaker 2: I was the friend's friend single and I had to
Speaker 2: sing an Italian and I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2: It's the go to love me, I know that. Here's
Speaker 2: the deal. We go to Moderna in Italy. Guess who's
Speaker 2: on the bill Tracy Chapman, Annie Lennox, George Michael, and
Speaker 2: Darryl Haynes from Soundgarden right, and I'm thinking total imposter syndrome.
Speaker 2: Whatevervarotti friends couldn't have been nicer. Yet. The friends were
Speaker 2: aua aqua with Pavarotti traditional and actually the lead singer
Speaker 2: whose name, forgive me, I can't remember. She's a beautiful
Speaker 2: person and hasn't great voice. But here's the deal. The
Speaker 2: other guy was like, dumb on Bobby, I don't know
Speaker 2: if he can send so Pavarotti.
Speaker 3: Didn't say Barbie girl.
Speaker 2: He gave me singing lessons.
Speaker 3: Pavarotti.
Speaker 2: He took the key and he raised it five semi
Speaker 2: tones because in in Spanish, I'm sorry in Italian he
Speaker 2: kept saying, no, no, you're returning, you're atturning your antenna. I
Speaker 2: was just like whatever, But anyway, then George is on
Speaker 2: the same show and he walks up to me and
Speaker 2: he goes, you're saying summer mine, didn't.
Speaker 3: You George did?
Speaker 2: And I'm like, George, Michael knew about it, Yes, are
Speaker 2: you here for royalties? And I just went I sat
Speaker 2: there frozen, and he went, I quite liked it a
Speaker 2: little wink. And I just.
Speaker 4: Oh, Michael, because when he said it, were you like,
Speaker 4: oh my god, is taking a savvy in my song?
Speaker 2: Yeah? You know what. I once did a Prince cover
Speaker 2: and you know how Prince reacted to that.
Speaker 3: I didn't like it.
Speaker 2: He not that. Not only did he not like it,
Speaker 2: he said, please burn all copies? Was a live recording
Speaker 2: on a DVD.
Speaker 1: Can we find it on YouTube?
Speaker 2: No? You actually can? We must go it was it
Speaker 2: was my song popular match mashed up with Baby on.
Speaker 3: The Star, Please Burn? Or was that in a voice
Speaker 3: note or an email or it was.
Speaker 2: I don't know how are he communicated. I think it
Speaker 2: might have been at that point through invisible ink because
Speaker 2: at that point but yeah, we had filmed it in
Speaker 2: like HD cameras. It was a d v D about
Speaker 2: to come out, and I was so proud, and it
Speaker 2: was like he had one hundred percent of the royalties
Speaker 2: and he went burn it, burn old copies.
Speaker 3: Oh wow. I could imagine him saying that.
Speaker 2: You know him, he's a genius.
Speaker 3: The artist formerly known as Prince.
Speaker 2: He's a genius him terribly.
Speaker 1: Well, so are you, sir. Darren Hayes new memoir, Unlovable
Speaker 1: is available now.
Speaker 3: It's very good, So lovable smell.
Speaker 2: I'll be emailing through the concoction later on and I.
Speaker 1: Will reply with videos of Lauren hacking your song a karaokee.
Speaker 3: Lauren wake Up Feeling Good, Number one hundred Lauren socials
Speaker 4: MHM