IGN: How are things going on your end? Gary Jules: They're good, man. Here now is Part 1 of our interview with Gary. We recently caught up with Gary Jules, just after he returned from an overseas tour, and he talked about the song and his career. In fact the subtle ambient tones and Jules plaintively forlorn vocals make it an entirely different song altogether.
Granted it's a cover of a long lost '80s classic, but Jules and Andrews take on it is wholly their own. Now he's a bona fide pop star with a #1 hit to his name. Now Jules is no longer the critically acclaimed, but almost unknown singer/songwriter from SoCal. Let's just say that the Brits (and the rest of Europe) take their chart positions really, really, really, really seriously and they take the Christmas slots even more seriously.
The fervor surrounding the song slowly and intently escalated until this past Christmas it reached the #1 slot on the charts in the U.K. The duo's version of the song began to hit a chord with fans of the film and soon took on a life of its own via the wonders of Internet file sharing and downloading. Jules included the song on his sophomore album, Trading Snake Oil For Wolf Tickets, which he and Andrews produced and released on their own in 2001. Jules and collaborator Michael Andrews recorded a decidedly low-key version of Tears For Fears "forgotten" classic "Mad World." The song ended up as the aural accompaniment to the end credits in Donnie Darko, a film that was not only critically lauded, but that also developed a rabid, underground cult following.
And while the album was critically acclaimed, it didn't make Jules a household name. The Southern California based musician more or less quietly released his major label debut, Greetings From The Side on A&M records back in 1998. Singer/songwriter Gary Jules led a somewhat quiet existence until about 4 months ago.