FIRST CAME ADAM

Seemingly unaware of his influence, Adam Lambert is more than just another singer off the telly. Open about his sexuality from the start in a notoriously right wing country, he came second in America’s biggest televised singing contest.

Congratulations! You are the first openly gay artist to have a No.1 Billboard album. How did you feel when you heard the news?

I didn’t realise it hadn’t been done before. I’m so proud to be given this privilege to be open and very comfortable with my sexuality in public. Especially in America, where it’s still wishy-washy, it’s so taboo. It’s not the easiest though, because it so easily overshadows the music when the media is talking about it. So it gets a bit like ‘okay, I’m a singer not a gay singer’.

Do you feel the subject your sexuality gets in the way of the mainstream media identifying you for your music?

I think for some people that get hung-up on sexuality it can probably supersede the music, but I think there are a lot of people out there that don’t give a shit. They either like the music or don’t like the music. But when you’re trying to do marketing and PR and maybe you come across a casual fan that doesn’t really know who I am and they read an article and then another article and then a third article and the headlines are all about gay, gay, gay… they might say to themselves ‘all this guy talks about is being gay’. When it’s actually very out of my control. I talk about whatever we’re talking about in the interview and there are often times, especially in America, where they love to turn it into ‘gay gay gay gay gay…’

This is my path and patience is a virtue and patience is helping me one step at a time and I think we’re making amazing progress, I think in time we’ll be able to move past the gay politics. Because it’s really about music, and while all the songs on the album are all very autobiographical, at the end of the day they’re all human experiences.

What can we look forward to on the new album?

It’s really fun. It’s a mix of funky dance, disco, electro and pop. I wanted to do something that’s a bit of a departure from the last album. I get to work with Pharrell, Bruno Mars… I think it’s a bit more soulful than the last album, which feels way more natural for me for whatever reason. I like singing to stuff with a bit more a groove, it’s more fun to do live and a lot more attitude.

I basically split it in half and the second half of the album is a bit more emotional, a bit sore and I think the larger scale idea of the album is to kind of say ‘look in order to be somebody who is individual and is going to be different, you have to project strength and fierceness and fabulousness’ but what lies underneath that sometimes is not always all that it seems.

Sometimes it’s not always super-confident, sometimes you’re not always as strong as one may think you are. But in order to be your own person, you have to put that out there. So [the album] talks about the posturing and peacocking that we do. Especially in the gay community. You have to put a game face on and be fierce and do your thing, but what’s underneath that game face, we all have our shit that we’re dealing with, we all have insecurities, we all have our heart broken, we all have our struggles. So it lifts the veil and I’m really happy about that.

Tell us about some of the more personal songs on there…

Well ‘Outlaws of Love’, which is towards the end, that’s a song that I wrote specifically about the LGBT community and our struggles with ignorance and the marriage equality issue right now and all the social issues that we’re struggling against. It’s quite a melancholy, sad song. There’re a lot of songs that are more humorous and light without taking things too seriously, but that one is the one where I really wanted to capture that feeling where, ‘it just sucks sometimes’. ‘Pop That Lock’ is like supper sexy, edgy. That pop dance moment, that’s like a super-empowering, let go work-it-the-fuck-out!

You executive produced it yourself after you left your previous management. Why did you make those choices?

It’s my name on the fucking CD. That’s the thing that’s so difficult about the music industry is that at the end of the day it’s my reputation to the mainstream audience. So I just really wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could creatively to make the album what it is.

I work with big people, it’s a team effort for sure and I’m not gonna take the credit for everything. I just wanted to be in the creative driver’s seat and make sure that overall, a vision was being upheld and there was a common thread through everything, sonically, lyrically… and I feel like we did it, it’s really exciting. Even the track listing, I feel like its ordered in a very specific way… that old school experience of listening to an album. Sonically it transitions and progresses and kind of tells a story.

In a way it’s kind of about that feeling of lifting the veil. It literally could be about getting ready for a night out, prepping yourself and psyching yourself up to go out, put on an outfit and being out, being free and having an experience out in a club, meeting somebody, hooking up with them and then maybe it gets sour. It feels like it tells a story of that.

You’re also uniting with Queen for a series of shows. How did the initial connection between them and you happen? 

I’m so excited, I did the MTV Europe Music Award’s with them and that was so magical. It was so cool and we all just clicked, so at the end of the EMA’s we were sitting around having drinks at the after party and we said ‘we gotta do this again somehow’.

Will you be interpreting the songs in your own way or staying faithful to the originals?

I haven’t started rehearsing yet. I’m sure there’ll be some choices that I make that’ll be my own, and I think it’s about balance. I think the idea is to sing songs the way they were intended to be sung and make sure that the storytelling is intact. I feel honoured and I also feel like I wanna make sure that I conduct myself with appropriate respect and for Freddie’s memory too… I don’t wanna get up there and copy him, but at the same time I don’t wanna bastardise him.

Are you worried about performing Freddie’s songs?

I’m not worried… when I first heard about it I was really excited and then I started to become aware of things I potentially have to worry about. You know criticisms and things like that. At the end of the day, you’re gonna’ see a great show, if you don’t wanna see me sing Queen music don’t watch it! I think it’s gonna be a good night of good music.

Do you read criticism?

Sometimes a critical review can be constructive and it’s not the easiest thing to read, but it also keeps me humble. Sometimes reading that kind of stuff makes me think… ‘ok I’m still working for it.’

You made quite a few headlines when you were on American Idol. How did you deal with the media’s scrutiny?

When it all started I was a little overwhelmed, but I think I’m in a better place now, I think I’ve found a lot of balance in my life. Being in a relationship has really grounded me. I’ve been with my boyfriend for over a year and a half. That’s been really nice and I’m really happy in my relationship and I was always the single bachelor, so it’s new to be settled down.

We met in a club in Finland and I never thought I’d meet somebody that way… it’s so random but when we met, there was a great spark and we just went with it. It’s new to me, but you got to trust it when it feels that good, when it feels right and when you feel like you’ve got chemistry with someone, you’ve got to work and put the effort up to make it happen and give it the room to grow.

How was your childhood? When did you come out and how was that process for you?

My childhood was cool, I grew up in San Diego. I wasn’t out until I was like 17, 18, but I wasn’t the kid who was working really hard to make people think I wasn’t gay. I was in theatre, playing dress-up, playing with make-up and costumes so when I came out, everyone was like ‘yeah we knew!’ My parents are really cool, really liberal. I have a younger brother who I was doing children’s theatre with outside of school when I was 8 or 9 so I’ve always been a performer since I was a kid. So that made me feel like I had a passion that I could put all my energy into.

You performed at G-A-Y earlier this month. Do you adjust your sets for gay venues? 

I don’t think it’s premeditated, it sounds kind of cliché but I do reflect the energy that comes at me. I look at the audience when I perform, I like to make eye contact and see the people interact. It makes it a lot more interesting and if I see a bunch of queens out there, I’ll probably get a little sassy… naturally!

Has America changed in terms of accepting gay lifestyles? You could never imagine an out gay artist scoring a No.1 album or coming second on a national TV popularity contest!

I think that’s the best thing about it. I hope that the music industry opens it’s eyes a little bit too and realises that it’s possible to have commercial success and be out. I think people are generally feeling like, ‘okay, lets move forward’, we’ve been lingering on this for too long and now people want progress. I think there’s finally some clarity in that, you can have your personal feelings about this but let’s make us all equal under the law. That’s the next big step, trying to keep your personal prejudices and vices out of it and letting everyone have a fair shot.

• The single ‘Never Close Our Eyes’ is released 8th July and the album ‘Trespassing’ follows on the 9th July. Adam will be performing with Queen at Hammersmith Apollo on July 11th, 12th and 14th.

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