Australian Duo Savage Garden Earning International Success

Australia might be best-known for koalas, “Crocodile Dundee,” Foster’s lager and Vegemite sandwiches.

The land Down Under has never been synonymous with dance music - and especially not the sort of dance-pop that tears into the U.S. top 40 before an album is even released.

But that’s what happened with the music of Savage Garden, two young Brisbane friends who realized early that international success might not be such an impossible dream.

Singer Darren Hayes and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Jones are currently selling around 30,000 copies a week of their debut album, “Savage Garden” (Columbia), now in the top 30. The first single, “I Want You,” peaked at No. 4 on the pop chart after TV host Rosie O’Donnell received an advance copy and played it daily on her show.

“We did aim high,” Hayes said. “We thought the best we’d do at first was get a record deal in Europe, while America was something we’d really have to chip away at. But we got a lucky break.”

After first signing a production deal with John Woodruff, a manager who has handled some of Australia’s biggest bands, Hayes and Jones set out to put their songs on tape. The moniker Savage Garden is derived from the Hieronymus Bosch painting, “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” which decorates the inside of the group’s CD booklet.

“He (Woodruff) was part of our global thinking,” Hayes said. “We were in the studio about eight months recording. Nobody was pretending this was anything more than what it was. The feeling was, ‘Let’s make a pop record.’ “

The upbeat, ‘80s-style guitar-and-sequencer-driven single, “I Want You,” was released on an indie label at home. Then, an American attending a music conference in Australia picked up a tape of the band and gave it to a local radio disc jockey in Texas.

The song was in high rotation at the station before Savage Garden even had U.S. representation. Soon, O’Donnell was spreading the gospel.

“At the time we were working on the songs, Pearl Jam was the biggest band in the world,” Hayes, 25, said during a recent visit to Los Angeles. “What we were doing wasn’t considered cool. A lot of people didn’t quite get it. They said things like, ‘You’ve got to get more of an edge’ and ‘It needs to be more organic.”’

There’s a strong R&B element in Savage Garden’s sound, particularly on such songs as the ultracatchy lead-off track, “To the Moon & Back,” released last week as the second single.

“I grew up listening to Motown, Michael Jackson and George Michael,” Hayes said. “The first record I bought was Michael Jackson’s ‘Off the Wall.’ Pop music doesn’t really have much to do with where you’re from unless you’re doing traditional music. Rock ‘n’ roll really doesn’t have a distinct home.”

Jones comes from a musical family and knew he would become a musician, but Hayes was studying to be a teacher when the two met four years ago and began writing together.

“I used to think everybody wanted to be a star,” Hayes said. “I realized I was wrong. I thought with me it might go away, but it never did.”

Hayes cites U2’s Bono as his favorite singer. In fact, Hayes and Jones stuck around Los Angeles an extra day last weekend to catch U2 at the Coliseum.

“The charts here seem to be returning to songs,” Hayes said. “Even though I see the value of angst, we’re a little more direct.”

At home, the band is up to its fourth single, and the album has topped the charts for more than a month. When touring, the duo work with a five-piece band but haven’t performed in the United States except for a May 20 appearance on O’Donnell’s show.

“We want to be real honest about what we’re putting out there,” Jones, 23, said. “After a couple of singles, we’ll be ready to go on the road here.”