Interview: Nads Talks To Adam Lambert

Hey Gasmii, I had the chance to talk to Adam Lambert and Kris Allen last week. I’ll post Kris Allen tomorrow, but for now here’s my quickie with Adam.

Here’s the interview:

Nads: After the Idol tour this summer what’s the first thing you want to do? Broadway, Album?

Adam: I think my direction right now is to try to become a recording artist. I spent time doing the theater thing for a number of years. I’m not turning my back on it, but I’m definitely going in the other direction right now.

Nads: What artist do you look to for inspiration?

Adam: David Bowie, Michael Jackson and Madonna.

Nads: Did you love that Katy Perry wore your name on her cape?

Adam: Oh, my gosh, I was shocked and I was completely honored and I had this huge smile on my face the minute I saw it. I wasn’t prepared for that. I didn’t know she was going to do that so you can imagine my surprise.

Nads: Did you get to hang out with her at all or talk to her?

Adam: Afterward, yes. I gave her a bit hug. She’s really, really cool, very down-to-earth. She had some good advice for me. She said, “Just make sure that you keep your friends that you had before all this started around you and keep them close.” I think that she’s super talented and has a really good head on her shoulders.

Nads: Tell me about the after party finale night…

Adam: It was crazy; it was pretty crowded and the whole evening was overwhelming. You can imagine that the party, just trying to interact with as many people as I could. It was so exciting and I got to speak with Paul and Kara; we got to chat a little bit. It was really nice being able to kind of be off-the-record, off camera and just interact. I was really thankful for that experience.

Nads: What was your personal favorite Idol performance?

Adam: I’m so bad at favorites. I really had a lot of fun doing “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin. That was a great moment. We were really excited that it cleared; that we got the rights to use the song. It’s an all-time favorite tune of mine and I felt very empowered onstage getting to sing that with the band.

Nads: You’ve taken so much heat for being “theatrical”, does that affect you at all?

Adam: I never really listen to what people say. My thing is my favorite artists are artists that are theatrical. Obviously when you are doing a recording things aren’t going to translate as over the top. Doing a live performance of something it takes on another life. I really enjoy the recording process and it’s going to represent itself differently. Anybody that bought an iTunes version of what I did on the show could say, “Okay, I get how he sounds in a recording session now versus how he is live.” It’s different. The live performance takes it to a different level. I think people are in store for a treat; I think it’s going to be a really cool album and I’m excited to start working on it.

Nads: Do you have a message to your disappointed fans and the people that were rooting for you?

Adam: I know it sounds cliché, but I really feel like I won by getting to the final. I felt like to me it’s not about the title of American Idol, it was the experience. I made music and I got to do a different performance every week and I was able to use American Idol as a platform to get myself out there and now I have a career. So there’s no need to dwell on the negative. We should look forward and be excited about an album and the rest of my career. That’s where I’m at.

Nads: When you got off stage, did you have one of those, Wayne’s World “Mr. Big Moments”…where someone just comes up to you and hands you a recording contract?

Adam: You kind of have “what if?” type meetings during the show…like they say to you…”So in theory this is kind of what we want to do, but we’re not going to make any official offers.” I knew there was interest and we started talking about ideas and stuff. I’m just thrilled that now I get to move forward and have a career in the industry. That’s why I auditioned for the show and that’s really what kept pushing me forward. That’s why I feel like I’ve won. I don’t feel like the title of first or second place really matters at this point.

Nads: Would you have changed anything from your final performance?

Adam: No. I had a blast; I really did have a good time. The Mad World thing was really fun because I got to change the way I performed it from the first time and I think Simon was a little confused because I think he expected what he saw the first time. To me, I don’t really like recreating things. I like making something different every time so I wanted to take it to a different place. I had a blast singing “Change is Going to Come.” I hadn’t really gotten to do that style of music on the show and I really enjoyed going there. The “No Boundaries” single is such a great song; it’s hard to sing live and I think if anything the only thing I could change is I would have liked a little more rehearsal with that song.

Nads: Did anyone try to reel you in at all, or did they just let you do your thing?

Adam: The really cool thing about the show is that they’ve been 100% supportive of everything that I’ve done, every aspect of everything I’ve done from the music to what I’m wearing to how I perform. I would go into a vocal session like, “I have this idea, can we try it?” “Yes sure let’s try it.” Rickey Minor and the band would be like, “What about his? Can we try something like this?” “Yes, let’s try it.” It’s been very positive and creative and never once for a second did I feel stifled in any way.

Nads: When will your debut CD be coming out?

Adam: I don’t know; I think we’re probably shooting for some time within the year.

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I want to thank Adam for taking the time to chat!! He was my fav!