Adam Lambert had television audiences on the edge of their seats with each performance bigger than the next on American Idol's eighth season. Adam's first album, For Your Entertainment, debuted number three on the Billboard 200. He continues to keep the crowds guessing what he will do or wear next on his new Glam Nation tour.
Windy City Times: Hi, Adam. I met you at Roscoe's when you were in town last time for the Oprah Show taping.
Adam Lambert: Hi. How have you been?
Windy City Times: Good. So now you are heading out on your first official solo tour, any collaborations?
AL: As of now, it's pretty much me collaborating with my band and my dancers. Things may change. I don't set anything in stone.
WCT: Are we going to hear anything besides songs from the album at the show?
AL: There is a surprise cover in there, one or two. But I'm kind of leaving them as wonderful surprises, as a way to place the show.
WCT: Can you tell us more about the show itself?
AL: It's being visually inspired by kind of like a blend of turn of the century New Orleans meets psychedelic classic rock. I had a lot of fun with the projectionist and my costume designer and we're working with a fashion line called Skin Graft Designs, which I have worn a lot of their pieces in the past on Idol and since then. And yeah, it kind of has its own little world.
WCT: Are people who were up in arms about your American Music Award performance going to be comfortable at this show?
AL: I definitely think they will be comfortable. That was kind of an artistic experiment, the AMAs, and I learned a lot from it. I learned kind of what my limitations are. I learned what my audience wants to see. And there is definitely—the concert definitely is sexy. But I feel like if anybody felt that that was not tasteful, this is tasteful.
WCT: What tours inspired you growing up?
AL: I have always loved like the big pop tours, people like Michael Jackson and Madonna and even my first tour that I ever saw was Paula Abdul. People that put on a show, you know what I mean? They take their music and they create a visual and a story and a theme and they kind of reinterpret maybe a song both musically and visually to kind of give it a context and that is something that is really important to me.
And also I think that my background in musical theater really came into play a lot with this production. I wanted it to be first and foremost about the music but a close second is giving the audience something to look at and giving them a reason why okay, this is the next song in the set, this is the next song. There is a thematic through line throughout the show.
WCT: So being the first openly gay pop artist to be on a major label, did you feel a lot of pressure during that time?
AL: It definitely comes with some pressure. There are a lot of challenges that I have faced I think just being one of the first and dealing with the business side of it because I think they are also learning. There is a lot of pressure but it's also really exciting. It's exciting to be like a novelty in that regard.
WCT: Is it easier for you to emote songs that you wrote yourself versus songs that were written for you?
AL: I think usually when I write music I write from personal experiences. So it is a little more familiar to me, whatever emotion I was writing about. But I will also say that all the songs that were chosen for the album are ones that I felt like I could relate to.
So if I couldn't feel like I could emote them I didn't want to put them on the album, so I think I can emote all of them. But obviously the ones that I write are the ones that come from a personal experience.
WCT: How was coming out after Idol? Was it a necessary step to your career?
AL: For my career, I wanted it to be an open book. I have always as an audience member watched celebrity culture and rolled my eyes at people that were keeping a lot of secrets and kind of trying to put forth an image that was manufactured. And for me I was like you know what, I'm just going to be who I'm going to be because it'll be a hell of a lot easier and I knew that people would know about my sexual preference and my history being in Los Angeles as a performance artist and somebody that had been out and about.
So I figured there was no point in keeping a secret. I might as well own it. I'm proud of it and if the audience doesn't like my sexuality then they can find some other artist to look at. It's not a big deal.
WCT: What was all the drama with the finale of American Idol this season?
AL: I think there was like a miscommunication that happened. There was a group number that was a tribute to Simon that apparently I found out after the fact came together very, very last minute. I didn't realize there was going to be a performance or else I might have rethought my attendance. They invited me to sit in the audience and watch and unfortunately I was so busy with rehearsals for the tour that I just need to work.
So yeah, it was just a little bit of a miscommunication but there was no drama or hard feelings or any—I think there was a tabloid article that was run that was like, "He didn't show up." But I was like, "I didn't show up to rehearsal? What are you talking about? I wasn't invited." So I don't know. It was a big old to-do for nothing.
WCT: Any advice for Chicago's own Crystal Bowersox?
AL: Well, there is a lot of work to be done. I think that I remember being done with the finale of Idol and going, "Whew, okay, I can breathe now." That was a lot. That was really intense, now on to my career.
WCT: Did you have advice from artists?
AL: I think that my interaction with Madonna was a great example of that because she basically said, "You can't pay attention to all the extraneous crap. You can't listen to the critics. You can't be affected too much by what people want."
You have to keep your eye on the prize, and even though your intention and your goal is to entertain people, you have to follow your own instincts. And that is what I have been really working at, and I think that I've come to a really great space of late of how to achieve that and what my goals are and just coming from a positive productive place. I feel like that's the best I can do.
WCT: How do you describe your image?
AL: I always have been fond of the glam-rocker title. I think "glam" is a broader term than maybe people realize because I think that there is definitely the '70s glam [ and ] there was the '80s glam movement.
There is a fashion company named Skin Grafts that I have worked with for the last couple years and they are designing a lot of custom pieces for the tour so I'm really excited to show everybody.
WCT: What are your plans for the future, such as a second album?
AL: I think that my first album here was completed in three months and I'm really proud of what we were able to accomplish in that amount of time. The second album is going to be even better because I think that getting a little more time to spend is really kind of lovely, a lovely luxury.
I have also been able to be on the road for a year and I'm about to go on this tour and I've done a lot of promo. I have learned more about the business and about myself as an artist and about the audience expectation. I just think I'm going to be more artistically educated this next time around.
WCT: Well, you have plenty of time.
AL: Yes, I think it's a little ways off. I think that in the New Year after January I'll probably get to start working on it. So at this point my focus is really on continuing singles from my current album and this tour, which I'm so excited about.
WCT: Well, we are excited about seeing you at The Venue!
Adam Lambert will bring the Glam Nation tour to the Venue, 777 Casino Center, Hammond, Ind., on Thursday, June 17. To purchase tickets, call 219-473-6060 or visit www.thevenue-chicago.com .
