By Susie Salva – With his out-of-this-world vocal range and unique musical style, Adam Lambert is the ultra-glam, rock superstar who has taken some time out of his busy schedule to discuss his music, touring for his latest album and more in his follow up live conference-call interview.
Q. Could kind of describe what a typical day is like for you not when you’re touring but when you’re at home just trying to do all you do from interviews to appearances to meetings with your management and all that do you see a time coming up where you’re ever going to be able to coast or is it just going to be a 24/7 kind of thing?
Adam Lambert: Well, first of all I’ll answer it in reverse. Probably after the new year I’ll probably have some time off just to kind of rest a little bit, to start writing some new music and work on my next album. But aside from touring a typical day – I have my days off here and there but it’s just really a hustle, you know, there’s always something to work on, there’s always either an interview or a photo shoot or some sort of paperwork I have to do, or rehearsal. We spent a lot of time before the tour doing a lot of international promo for the album and that was really exiting but that was definitely very consuming, three weeks at a time working like every day doing interviews and appearances and signings and radio station business. There’s something to be done every day and that’s great because I really do feel like this album is a really strong piece of music and I’ll do anything to kind of promote it.
Q. You’ve had an amazing run of success with your American Idol Season 8 showing, your chart topping “For Your Entertainment” CD and now the mostly sold out Glamnation tour. I just wanted to know if you were utilizing any personal philosophies for success like The Secret or other similar things like that to help you along on your path to achievement.
Adam Lambert: I definitely was really fond of The Secret. Right before the American Idol experience started I was really, really, really engaged in positive thinking and trying to project and manifest my success and it worked. I’m kind of – all the dreams that I had kind of put out into the universe are coming true. I do believe in karma and positive energy and I think that right now where I’m at personally as far as touring and the video that I just put out and the single that we have out right now I feel like everything is aligned and it truly reflects who I am as a person and as an artist.
Q. What kind of stage show have you put together? And what are fans – or what have fans been saying about this so far?
Adam Lambert: The show is – it’s predominantly music from the album and I tried to give it like an emotional through line so that it kind of went from kind of the dark and mysterious to light and celebratory. But of course my version of dark and serious is also very tongue and check and kitschy with lots of rhinestones. It’s – it definitely has a lot of theatrical sensibilities to it. I have four dancers on stage for a handful of numbers and my band’s on stage all the time and there’s some costume changes. Lot’s of fashion to look at. And it’s definitely glam.
Q. What do you mean when you characterize your music and your tour as glam. But if someone who didn’t know you as an artist were to just hear your music on the radio is there anything about the songs alone that you would personally characterize as glam or is the term by definition sort of a reflection of the total package of the costuming and the makeup and the attitude?
Adam Lambert: Probably the majority of it has to do with more of a visual presentation, I guess the glam thing does. But I would say that the current single “If I Had You” definitely has a glam sensibility in that it’s not to be take too seriously. That’s one of the great things about glam rock and glam pop is that it’s all kind of tongue and cheek. It has campiness to it, it has lightness to it and it should put a smile on your face and it should make you feel like dancing and dressing up.
Q. Do you make your music intentionally catchy or is it just something that sort of happens?
Adam Lambert: Yes, I think the best pop music is music that’s catchy. I think that that’s – it’s been that way since, you know, since music has become popular in the last century. I mean look at the Beatles, you know, those melodies and those hooks are classic and get stuck in your head for a reason. I think that that’s what makes great music.
Q. So have you noticed any difference in the audiences between playing like Australia or London or Japan and playing here?
Adam Lambert: Internationally, we didn’t really actually play any dates. That’s kind of something that’s going to come up later this year. It was more of a promo thing. I went and just talk to radio stations and news casters. I didn’t really perform much. We had two performances in London and did some television shows internationally. So I’ve kind of yet to see what the live experience will be internationally. But there’s definitely a slightly different outlook maybe more of like liberal slant internationally. But so far on this Glamnation tour here in the United States, I’ve seen nothing but smiles and positivity coming from the crowds. They’ve been sold out every night so far and I think the people that are buying tickets are open minded and want to come see a show and be entertained and that’s great. That’s what I’m hoping it attracts.
Q. Do you want your music to appeal to everybody? So what kind of fans are you seeing out in the crowds now? Is it like a wide range of demographics? Is it all ages, all sizes and shapes?
Adam Lambert: It’s really exciting. I’ve been seeing for a while the main fan -portion of the fan base that I was exposed to were mostly women, middle aged like from like 40 to 60 somewhere in there. And they’ve been so sweet and so great with this amazing almost maternal type energy. And then at the shows I’ve been really surprised to see teenagers both female and male, I’ve seen like husbands, I’ve seen grandpas, I’ve seen a mix of men and women which has been really exciting. And I’ve also seen a broader cross section of different ethnicities, you know, it’s really exciting.
Q. My question is do you have a specific message that you’re trying to convey in your music?
Adam Lambert: It’s all song by song for me. I couldn’t make a blanket statement saying that I’m trying to convey one thing with all of my music. I think each song is about a different emotion. And with the current single as I’ve said it’s about positivity, connection, love and unity and almost a utopian type dream. And the last song, “What Do You Want From Me”, it was more about asking questions about vulnerability and relationship and hope and trust. And then “For Your Entertainment”, the first single was about being sexy. So it’s always about something different.
Q. As someone who can really sing and has Broadway musical experience, how do you feel about artists who lip sync when performing and use auto tune in the studio?
Adam Lambert: At the end of the day whatever they need to do to make the song sound good is kind of what it’s about for them. I don’t judge it. It’s not for me. I’m not going to be lip syncing anytime soon, I’m not really fond of auto tune abuse. But it’s a style and it’s cool and it’s catchy and it’s if it makes you sing along and it makes you dance then the song’s doing its job and that’s the whole point. I just happen to prefer the style where it’s more vocally driven.
Q. Where does video fit for you in terms of all the other things you do creatively?
Adam Lambert: I actually really love the process in making a music video. It’s one of my favorite parts about this. I’ve always loved music videos. I think as an art form their really cool to be able to take a song and provide visual accompaniment for it. I think it’s really cool. I’ve just released my third video off the album – well kind of fourth because if you include “A Time For Miracle” it’s fourth. But “If I Had You” was a great process. I had a lot of ideas that I brought to the table and collaborated with this great director, Brian Barber and he had a lot of great ideas and I think we achieved it.
Q. With the “If I Had You” video again I see you providing exposure to the art tribes particularly the West Coast ones. I know there’s others that do exist. But on the grander scale, (burner’s), (light in a bottle) people. On a smaller scale. Do you plan on continuing that kind of promotion for the art tribes and might we see some of these gypsy troops in later videos and the tour?
Adam Lambert: Wow you did your research. I’m impressed. Yes. I would love to. I mean it’s definitely a community or various communities that I grew very attracted to over the past couple years in LA. Really kind of woke me up to the possibilities of creativity in the city. And I’ve just met a lot of incredible people that are part of these groups and I wanted to bring them along for this video and really kind of highlight that there’s this whole community of people that think out of the box as a community.Like I said it’s almost a utopian sensibility. And just the mentality of that gypsy type way of life is really romantic to me because I think that it reminds you that you don’t need a bunch of material possessions to feel validated in life and you don’t need those things to be successful. All you need to do is stay happy and have connection to others and all the other stuff you can kind of get through.
Q. On your current album you worked with a lot of big names like Lady Gaga and Pink just wondering going forward who’s on your wish list of people you’d like to work with? Given your theater background is that something that you see yourself returning to one day? Like have you been approached by Broadway to maybe come do a show or something?
Adam Lambert: As far as a wish list, I’ve been putting it out there I would love to sing with Christina Aguilera. I’m a huge fan, I think she’s amazing. I’d love to work with David Bowie, I think that would be a dream come true. I’d like to write more again with (Max Martin), I think he’s incredible. He produced and wrote “What Do You Want From Me” with Pink and also “If I Had You”, the current single. So our track record’s pretty good. And, yes I would love to do theater again eventually. I don’t have anything on the horizon right now and I think for the time being I’m working really hard with my recording career. But who knows what the future will bring?
Q. What have you learned about bridging that gap between your rock, maybe the 70s glam and the more modern pop fans?
Adam Lambert: I tried to mix it up as much as I could on the album for that reason but I think at the end of the day even though the album is titled “For Your Entertainment” and it’s done for the fans and for the audience when it really comes down to it I just have to trust my own instructs and if I like the song then I’m going to sing it.I think that I have heard some, you know, some support and some criticism about my choices as far as genre goes and I think the whole concept of genre is kind of passé anyway. I kind of think that we’re living in the post-modern age and it’s – I think that the key to music right now is mixing it all up. And I think that for me I’m doing a lot of pop music with a lot of guitars. So it has it’s rock edge and it has it’s pop edge.
Q. When you were on American Idol obviously there were certain things you couldn’t do that were, you know, not appropriate for TV or for kids or whatever. Do you feel like a sense of relief that now you can go out as a headliner and just like do what you want to do and be like this is, you know, be outside of the Idol box?
Adam Lambert: It’s funny I don’t really feel that much of a difference. I mean what I’m doing on stage in my tour is I think for the most part is all stuff I would be able to do on Idol technically. The only exception to that rule is that one AMA performance that everybody likes to assume was me trying to characterize a new Adam that would always be that Adam and it was merely one performance. So, you know, I’ve heard some hooing and haaing like, “Oh, you know, his tour is very family friendly,” and this and that. And I’m like well it’s just me. I’m just putting on a show.
Read more from his live interview here…
REad about Adam Lambert’s charity of choice that he supports here…
