Carol
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 |  Subject: Ain't no idol threat  29.03.10 1:22 | |
|  - Quote :
- It's hard to imagine Adam Lambert being ordinary.
This is, after all, the glammed-up singer whom venerable US music rag Rolling Stone said had "single-handedly saved American Idol". He returned the compliment by coming out in the magazine, via a cover shot that showed him reclining on a chair while a thick, green snake hovered near his crotch.
Lambert is also the 2009 American Idol runner-up, whom millions of fans worldwide (including plenty here in SA) believe was robbed of the title because he failed to ditch the eyeliner and lip gloss.
He's also the one who proved - with a full-on snog with his keyboardist at the 2009 American Music Awards - that girls (Britney and Madonna) can kiss on awards shows, but when boys do it, people turn squeamish.
So when I get on a Trans-Atlantic call with Lambert, I'm expecting him to be in some exotic location, stirring up more controversy or at least knee-deep in make-up, preparing for another twirl in front of the camera. Instead, he tells me, he's sitting at his dining-room table, a cup
of coffee in front of him, contemplating the day ahead, well away from the paparazzi that trail him daily.
Lambert admits it's not easy being famous.
"When I want to do something ordinary like go and see a movie, I put on a baseball cap, very large glasses and a simple little sweatshirt and jeans and people don't recognise me," he confides.
Although Lambert's got an undisguised love for tasseled, big-shouldered jackets, Elvis-sized quiffs and black, leather gloves, he tells me he didn't go to that first American Idolaudition early last year with the idea of becoming famous. "I wanted to make music. That's it. But the fame that now comes along with that makes for an interesting journey."
It's also a journey that, right now, precludes one of America's most high-profile gay men from pursuing a relationship. "It would be difficult to have a serious relationship," he says when I ask about life outside the music. "There is so much going on it wouldn't be fair to a partner because this is a time of my life when I am committed to one thing - and that is getting my music out there."
The music to which Lambert is referring is on his debut full-length album, For Your Entertainment, which was released late last year and features a cover shot of Lambert in full blue glow, looking like a post 21st-century picture of androgyny. It can't have been easy, I comment, to insist on a cover like that in a market where being different loses you Middle America?
"I guess there was a certain amount of bravery in what we did with the album," he says. "But, you know, American Idol gave me such a wonderful platform and a great opportunity to be exposed to so many people. Once I had their attention I wanted to give them something different that showed the real side of me."
If the genre-busting tracks on For Your Entertainment are anything to go by, the real Lambert is as multi-faceted as mainstream artists come: the music on his debut is probably best described as futuristic pop, but rock and glam are also jostling for position.
In pop music, "most people hone one sound and I really wanted to avoid that", Lambert says.
The 28-year-old was looking for something more eclectic in sound and style that would hang together off the common thread of his supersonic voice, which he thinks is "the one consistent aspect that allows me to explore different sounds on the album without losing listeners".
In creating For Your Entertainment, Lambert called on the big guns: Lady Gaga, Weezer's Rivers Cuomo, Linda Perry and P!nk are just some of the A-list songwriters helping out.
He's winningly low-key about what it means to be able to call on these kind of heavyweights. "That's where you see the perks of having done well on a show like American Idol," he says.
Lambert has also made no secret of his love for UK act Muse, covering one of their songs and telling MTV at last year's VMAs that "[Muse frontman] Matt Bellamy is the most incredible singer".
Soon after those comments, it was announced that Bellamy had written a song for Lambert, called Soaked. "I was honoured and taken aback," Lambert says.
But even though For Your Entertainment is as strong a debut as an artist can hope for, Lambert's not fooling himself. Like all Idol debuts, the album was recorded in the three months following the show's finals last year and, while it shows off his vocal versatility, it's not the definitive Lambert record.
What the album - and its artwork, videos and promo performances - achieves is to give a sense of Lambert's individuality, and that makes him a far more interesting artist than most coming out of mainstream USA.
"American Idol is the ultimate in people pleasing," Lambert confides. "One of the challenges after the show is to gain credibility as an artist by establishing yourself, and I have tried to do that by giving something different and unexpected. I know that it may alienate some of the American Idol fanbase but, you know, I've always been something of an outsider so it really doesn't affect me."
That may seem easy enough to say, but Lambert appears to be living those words. When he came out in Rolling Stone, he did it boldly, saying "There are so many old-fashioned ways of looking at things, and if we want to be a progressive society, we have to start thinking in a different way.
"There's the old industry idea that you should just make sexuality a non-issue, just say your private life's your private life, and not talk about it. But that's bullshit, because private lives don't exist anymore for celebrities: they just don't. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder all the time, thinking I have to hide, being scared of being found out, putting on a front, having a beard, going down the red carpet with some chick who is posing as my girlfriend. That's not cool, that's not being a rock star. I can't do that."
"Sexuality is a very hot topic here (in the US) right now with people feeling very strongly one way or another. It is becoming like a civil rights movement for many people because it does make our lives more difficult and there is a consistent battle to be fought.
"Other parts of the world seem more comfortable with the idea of gay marriage, like South Africa, I've heard. I can't wait to get to Cape Town by the way."
Lambert cites the possibility of global travel as one of the best spin-offs from his time on American Idol and the record contract that came at the end. That and the big house he rents. "I have a lot of friends but the context in which we socialise has had to change. We can't easily go to clubs and restaurants without being disturbed but my new house is large and we just hang out. Having a healthier bank account than I have ever had feels pretty good."
It's not only Lambert's bank balance that's healthy: his attitude to the rollercoaster of sudden fame is too. "It's important to be able to not take things too seriously. I want to be an example to other people who deal with being different every day. I want to show them that you can stay true to who you are and build a force field to keep the negativity away while pursuing what it is that makes you happy."
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article354620.ece/Aint-no-idol-threat | |
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