This morning my boyfriend set his talking alarm to the sound of “Wake up Carly it’s time to call Darren Hayes”.
Say what? Call Darren Hayes? Well duh. He has his own talk show now – a podcast via Blog Talk Radio called Talk Talk Talk. The Internet grants us fans a whole new level of access, without being intrusive. And I’m an unashamed fan.
I’ve been listening to Darren’s podcast since it started – again, well duh. Of course I have been. Most of the time I don’t listen live, I listen via iTunes when it’s convenient for me. He has guests and fans call in each week, talking about life lessons, growth, music making, creativity, sadness, happiness, and pure inspiration. I love it.
It’s a great insight into a man I’ve been a fan of for so long (August 1996). He’s compassionate, articulate, smart and funny. His honesty is astounding. Some of the things I’ve learnt about Darren have made me sad, others were puzzle pieces that finally fit. It appears that all the magazine clippings and CD singles don’t tell the full story of an idol.
Darren and I have been chatting on twitter and last week he said he wants me to talk on his podcast sometime this year. As you can imagine, I flipped out!
He’s changed the time of the podcast to 1.00 pm Californian time – which is 7.00 am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time – this is far more doable than it was previously.
And so this morning being a public holiday in Melbourne, I called in.
“Is that My Carly?”, Darren asked. I melted.
Earlier in the podcast, he talked with Casey Stratton about uniqueness:
“The thing that make you unique make you a target;
The thing that makes you unique sets you apart.”
I talked to Darren about this concept -how when I was a child, all I wanted was for a classmate to touch my thumb in the game Heads Down Thumbs Up – but they wouldn’t because they didn’t want to touch me. And now, I have so many friends – I couldn’t imagine my life would be this way.
Darren went on to talk to me about why he reached down from the stage and kissed me at his Tension and the Spark album launch, back in 2004 – almost 10 years ago. (And he did it again at the same venue in 2007.)
Here’s a photo from that concert. All my band photos look like this because I stand too close to the stage!
And here’s when he grabbed my camera and took a selfie, with me in the background.
I cried when we spoke about this. He said talking about it made him cry too.
I told Darren this after the show: Thank you for taking my call Darren Hayes. It was an amazing experience to chat live with you. There’s so many more things I could have said – but I think the most important one that I didn’t get to say today was that your music, your own uniqueness and your inclusiveness was something that helped me get my confidence.
You can listen to our chat here – I’m around the 40 minute mark
New Lifestyle Podcasts with Talk Talk Talk Darren Hayes on BlogTalkRadio
My life is complete. Thanks for making the time to talk to me, Darren Hayes.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes
Subscribe on Blog Talk Radio
I've been part of Darren's fan base since 1999 and had seen your pictures over the years. It wasn't until recently that I found out you had Ichthyosis. For that matter, I didn't even know what Ichthyosis was until a few years ago…but I always admired you for your 'bravery' for want of a better word. There are so many people who would have hidden themselves away because they were different..but you never did- You reached out to Darren and he reached right back- You are both an inspiration to me.
Adorable! So happy and envy š Cheers!
I listened yesterday and was moved by the way Darren reacted to your story. You are a strong person!
So happy for you Carly.
Your friendship with the beautiful Darren is so special.
Two wonderful human beings making a difference in this world with their words.
Just wow.Xx
I have enjoyed reading your experiences with Darren. They are touching. I have loved him since I was 10.
I didn’t have a musical family and I was not allowed to watch MTV. I first heard Darren at a stereo store with my aunt and it was a transcendent experience and it never left me. Sadly, with my lack of access and being 10 and not knowing anything about anything, I lost track of him.
20 years later, I hear his cover of Last Christmas back in Dec 2017 in the grocery store, which I had not heard since he sang it on Rosie, and I was immediately taken back and knew exactly who was singing. I decided to find out what happened to him and that is when I discovered what I had missed in the last 20 years.
I got lost on a 3 month binge to reclaim the years that I lost. I am still reclaiming them. This discovery came at a time when I had been in a life or death battle for two and half years and was only finally starting to get better. The right medication mixed with rediscovering Darren saved my life. I went through and am still going through a metamorphosis since Dec because of him.
Anywho, the reason for this post is in the hopes that you or someone else downloaded his podcasts (either one) before they ended and were taken down and would be willing to send them to me.
Can you or anyone out there help me?