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A Moment with Darren Hayes and Justin Shave
I don't normally post audio recording of my interviews with artists and I was a bit hesitant to go ahead and post this, but this clip is truthfully too good to pass up. It is candid, funny and moving.
As I previously wrote, I met up with Darren Hayes and his producer Justin Shave in New York back last June to talk about Hayes' splendid new album "This Delicate Thing We've Made" that will be in (digital) stores next week.(Pre-order it here .)
So picture us sitting in a boardroom in a Manhattan high-rise just chatting away. Justin is sitting on the head of the table, Darren sits on the corner and I am seated next to him. Darren is relaxed and has both of his feet up on the table, drinking some bottled water. This is hardly your usual interview setting, but we're all very comfortable talking so this is really a conversation and not a dry question and answer session.
The unedited audio is particularly interesting because it encapsulates the chemistry between the singer and his producer. Their joyful banter and humor comes across very well. And it's their special working relationship that has made Hayes' new album so darn good.
The Maestro of Electro Pop also explains why he chose to work with Shave, who he half-jokingly refers to as "the professor," and not with some of the other usual suspects, such as Stuart Price.
The clip also reveals how the two "met" back in 1999. A remarkable tidbit of information that hasn't been published before.
It is a pretty amazing coincidence that led to their fruitful collaboration. It is also interesting that a seed of hope was planted when Darren's personal life had just collapsed.
In the clip, Darren also refers to the "mood board" that is a collection of CDs with songs he selected and gave to Justin to let them know what musical aesthetic he was looking for. One of the artists who set the tone for this record was Kate Bush. Musically, her song "Cloudbusting" was a major inspiration for "Casey," one of the stand out tracks on "This Delicate Thing We've Made."
People not familiar with Darren's (slightly sarcastic) humor will get a good idea of it in this clip. It's all in the spirit of good fun. It all starts with me asking Justin what he though of Darren before they started collaborating...
Listen to interview sound clip
August 17, 2007 in Darren Hayes, GLBT Artists, Interviews | Permalink
Comments
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Arjan - I totally got shivers listening to that - I'm sure you had to pick your jaw up off the floor when you heard that story...Amazing. Thank you for that. Raj.
Posted by: EQ at Aug 17, 2007 10:39:11 AM
That was incredible, thanks Arjan. Just goes to show that fate really does move in mysterious ways and in this case all for the good. Thanks for letting us listen to it
Posted by: Joyce at Aug 17, 2007 10:49:59 AM
Thats was an amazing interview! Thanks so much for bringing us that incredible tale :-) x
Posted by: Kevin at Aug 17, 2007 12:17:12 PM
ty for that! :) love these 2 guys. met both of them and was able to talk to Shave for a few minutes and u really do feel the warmth and kindness from him. wasnt able to talk to Darren because the meeting was brief, jsut long enough to get a pic with him, and a handshake.
but its cool to hear them talking frankly about how they met, etc. thats amazing and i agree, things happen for a reason and their meeting wasnt coincidence. and the 2 of them are truly musical soulmates, and i hope they continue making records together.
ty again and keep up the great work. :)
Posted by: Dazzy at Aug 17, 2007 1:34:41 PM
Huge thanks for sharing that Arjan.
I loved it
Posted by: Manu at Aug 17, 2007 3:40:59 PM
I've been a daily visitor to your blog for quite a time. Been a fan of Darren's for longer. Thanks for posting the interview. I've mentioned it on Darren's my space blog, so you may get a few more visitors as a result.
Posted by: Robert at Aug 17, 2007 4:56:41 PM
Thank you, Arjan! That's a pretty wonderful story, isn't it?
I think the working relationship between Darren and Justin will keep going from strength to strength. I love what they are creating together!
Posted by: Tracy at Aug 17, 2007 5:31:35 PM
Thank you so much for posting this audio clip, it's beautiful, and it really makes me believe in destiny. Thank you :)
Posted by: Maria at Aug 17, 2007 5:39:56 PM
Thanks Arjan. What an amazing story. Goes to show you never know who you might be talking to at any given moment.
Posted by: Carolyn at Aug 17, 2007 8:34:54 PM
I'm getting a NaN (not a number) error when I try to play it, anyone got any tips? Lol!
Posted by: Sue at Aug 18, 2007 8:06:41 AM
I'm getting NaN also. Darn.
Posted by: Nat at Aug 19, 2007 12:38:30 AM
thank u v much ARJAN but sorry cant hear it.. there's an error accured =[
Posted by: sara at Aug 19, 2007 6:37:36 PM
Wow. That really IS amazing. That's so sweet to know. Wow. Thank you Arjan for sharing that with us all.
xxx
Posted by: Natalie at Aug 20, 2007 12:58:20 AM
Link to interview audio appears to be dead now. Any chance of being fixed?
Thanks
Posted by: Dave at Apr 8, 2008 8:22:49 AM
