Oh, we're recording. Hello. I'm Darren Hayes, and you are logged on to aazianwrites.com.
And because we're so down with the kids and up with the technology, Aazian and I are going
to do this interview via a web blog. Or rather, he's emailed me some questions that you can't
see, but they're on my desktop. And I'm going to answer them for you. So first of all, let
me say it's a thrill to be on here because this is my favorite music blog. I love it.
And I do love Aazian. So it's all good. And I get a lot of my new records from this site.
So it's all good. Let me just read some of these questions and see if I can answer them
for you. I'm in London, by the way. So if you're wondering why I'm wearing a scarf, it's cold.
First question is about my new DVD. And in fact, Aazian seems to think this DVD is my
live concert DVD, but it's not. That's so like five minutes ago. That's like, give me
more. And this new thing is like, Ormonizer, if you know what I mean. No, there's a new
DVD and it's called This Delicate Film We've Made. And it's taken about a year to make.
So you can be forgiven for thinking that it's all very confusing because it is. I made an
album that was essentially a concept record. It was a double album that came out in 2007.
And then I toured and filmed a DVD of it. But this is 13 remixed songs from the album,
remixed in 5.1 Surround Sound, and 13 animated music videos. Some that you might have seen
before. We started releasing video clips early on in the promo campaign. And one of them
was Step Into the Light. One of them was Casey and Words, you would have seen. But there
were 13 in total. Had to build a time machine, waking the monster. I can't remember them
all. But most of it was done by my partner and genius godlike animator, Richard Cullen,
who did an extraordinary job. And a guy called Damien Hale from the award-winning 1.0. In
fact, Richard has been nominated for a Beamer Award, which is the British industry of something
or other. For his work on Who Have Thought, that is the video with the origami bird. Anyway,
it's all interconnected. It's all sort of thematic. The best way I could describe it
is almost like how I wanted you to see the album. So the stories have all sort of come
from mine and Richard's head. One of the videos I wrote and directed myself, the video
for Neverland. I even made all the costumes and the sets and maybe the nightmare glitter
for days. Anyway, it's all coming out December 1st, so if you go to my website, darinaze.com,
you can see a trailer for it, whatever. That's like a super duper expensive deluxe one, but
there's only 2,000 of them. I think it's almost sold out. The other version is a standard
version that comes out February 3rd in the UK only. Sorry. But the super duper deluxe
one on my site has 3D glasses and all, so it was one of the videos in 3D. That's that.
What's the next question? The next question is about Prop 8. Gosh, where do I start? We're
talking about Proposition 8, obviously. I am a gay man, but I'm a human being first,
and then I happen to be gay, and I am very happily married to my partner Richard, who
thankfully is all gay. We live in England, where in England our civil partnership is
recognised, and that is essentially a union just like a marriage. We have all the same
legal rights, and I have to say the same respect as a married couple do, and it feels great.
Obviously, my home country of Australia and the United States do not have anything like
a civil partnership yet. Prop 8 was a huge blow to me personally, but I think to the
world in terms of civil rights. Where do I stand on it? Probably should read my blog
on my space, because I'm not angry so much as determined. I truly think as a culture,
we will be embarrassed in 20 years time. I think we'll look back and we'll be embarrassed
that we actually tried to legislate discrimination. Here's where I think it all boils down. I
think there's a lot of confusion here. Marriage is not just a religious union. Simple as that.
There are many different faiths in the world, and I don't care to get into them or judge
anyone, but I do think it's wrong when the belief system of one religion is affecting
the government and the legislation of an entire country and therefore the entire world, because
let's face it, I love America. America is the most influential and powerful country
in the Western world, well, in the world. We look up to you, America, and we believe
in you, and this is something that simply we won't do. I won't hop on about it much
longer, suffice to say that a marriage is many things. It is first and foremost an agreement
between two consenting adults to share their life together and to ask for all of their
respect, and their responsibility is not just to walk in the park. All the responsibilities
of a marriage and all the protections that a marriage entails. We give you a tiny anecdote.
One of my dearest friends, he lost his partner to HOV, and his partner had a terrible, painful
death, ultimately, of cancer. His boyfriend, partner, whatever, had to pretty much lie
to get into the ICU ward because he wasn't technically married. He'd spent his whole
life with this man, and he nursed this man into his grave, and the law didn't treat
him as an equal, and I think that's shameful, and that's what Proposition 8 is about for
me personally. Anyway, moving on. Thanks for listening to that.
Right. What do I think that gay people or people in gay communities can do to promote
change? I think listening to Martin Luther King, I think passive resistance is the way
to go. If we want to talk religion, what would Jesus do? I think you've got to love
everybody, but I think you've got to stand up for what's right. I think there are ways
to get what you want. For me, it's through being a positive role model. I never thought
I wanted to speak up about my relationship. I've always been a private person, but I
can't afford that luxury anymore. I lead my life proudly. I'm very proud of my relationship
and my marriage. It's a bloody good one. That's what I do. I talk about it. Okay, next question.
Something lighter. What was the first single I ever bought? Arjun says his was beat it.
Very cool. I think I can beat you because my first single was probably Into the Groove,
which was the B side to Angel off the Lyca Virgin album. We'll talk about Madonna here.
It was Into the Groove and I still love that record to this day. Word is that you're recording
again. This is Arjun. He says that there's a room around the street with the Z that I'm
recording again. What am I working on? I'm not recording. No, that's just a room. Although
this is my new studio. It's not finished yet, but I spent the last four months renovating
another old English house. This one's just a little bit more livable and there's room
for me to have a studio here, which has been a dream of mine for ever. Most of next year
I'm going to spend time writing songs for other people. I've got other little things
in the works that I don't really want to talk about yet. The main thing is that there's
not going to be a new record for me next year. I adore my last album. It was a double record.
It took everything I had out of me. I kind of just want there to be some space. I want
to make sure that the next thing that I say and do is very precise and very clear. I want
to have my ear to the ground a little bit more and listen to what's going on. Just dream
up some more stories. I have a title for the record. I already know what it sounds like.
I've got a few melodies and things, but I want to just let it cultivate. No music. When
you're at the end of 2008, what is your favourite song and album of the year? This is the last
question, by the way. I don't have a favourite album, but I've got lots of favourite singles.
I think number one would have to be Love Lockdown by Kanye West. I think it's a genius song.
If you haven't checked out his blog, he's got such a great blog. I think it's KanyeUniversity.com.
He's a style icon. He's got such a great eye. I think he gets a hard time in the press,
but he's bordering on genius though. I love Love Lockdown. I adore Katy Perry, but I think
everyone does. I loved I Kissed a Girl. I think that Kathy Dennis is an incredible songwriter
in that song. She's a genius and she's fun. Chocora Keen, that would be my new favourite
song of this year, Spiraling. I think it's genius. That's it. Thanks for talking to me.
I hope you like my dimly lit new digs. Hopefully next time I'm chatting to you online, whether
it be here or on my website or my space, I've got some more news to tell you. In the meantime,
it's really late. It's almost midnight in England, so bye.
