In addition to an endless round of interviews, flights and meetings, Hayes has been busily selecting and rehearsing a new band to accompany him to Australia next month for a series of showcases. The singer doesn't deny his world class solo effort Spin has a more soulful agenda than the two Savage Garden albums. "It's blue-eyed soul...but it's interesting being a white kid from Woodridge singing soul records."

Hayes's is an unusually talented voice, transformed as a teen by hearing the aching vocals of master soul man Marvin Gaye. And as he moves into solo mode, the music scene is embracing him on a level even beyond the blooms of Savage Garden - the most successful pop act to emerge from Down Under.

"Lately, I've been feeling like a real singer," he says. "The other day, I did this UK TV program, the Pepsi Chart Show. The young pop bands, boy bands and people I'd never really heard of before were coming up to me and saying things like "Oh my God, your voice - I'm such a fan of yours".

"I'm like the grandaddy of pop at the moment but it feels good."

Turning 30 in May doesn't seem to present any fears, although along this new road he's come up against the odd new obstacle. One example was the extreme interest the newspapers recently showed in the color of his hair. As the papers would have it, Hayes scrapped a wildly expensive video for his debut single Insatiable after his US record company objected to him reverting to his natural blond hair color because fans mightn't recognize him. "It was a false rumor printed on the website and was picked up by papers all over the world," Hayes says.

"It was the first time I'd really seen the sheer power of tabloids. Even Mum rang up and said, "Have you dyed you hair black again, love?" "Well, no I haven't. It was all myth. Certainly we did make a second video because the first one - which wasn't as costly as reported - just didn't capture the message. It left you feeling a bit empty. It's happened before. We shot three videos for Truly Madly Deeply and three for To the Moon and Back. Just to get it right. It's your baby. You wrote the song and the video is the performance. They're the things I care about."

Hayes has invested much time and many early mornings in his attempt to tune Europe into his new public face. And there are the new economic realities for musicians on mainland Europe, where record sales are down 50 per cent.

"In many ways, music has been devalued because of how easy it is to burn it and rip it. People's attention spans seem to be very small. Music has to change. People are looking for a little bit of substance. We need record companies to invest in new music. And ditto for radio.

"I don't need any favors from them but there's a lot of people who do."

Hayes is spending most of the coming week in the UK guesting on TV shows before heading back to the US where he's lived for the past four years. He expects to arrive back in Australia about April 1 and will spend a few days in Brisbane at the beginning and end of a showcase promo tour. A committed family man, Hayes says his parents will join him on tour. "I had the whole family over at Christmas for 2 and a half weeks and it was great. I miss my mum and dad and I miss the kids. My nieces and nephews are at that age where three months can go by and they've grown a foot taller."

Asking us to send his regards to Brisbane mates, he noted: "I'm really feeling like a brand new artist these days...people know who Savage Garden is but they don't know who Darren Hayes is". They will soon.