Perhaps I should eat. NAH
Because I am in fact a HUGE nerd and obsessed besides, I'm typing up this interview with Rufus Wainwright from... *checks* erm, I dunno where it's from, but Peter Robinson is the interviewer. It's pretty short, and hilariously funny, because Rufus is a doll. <3 <3 <3
Hello, Rufus. You're supporting Sting. Are we liking Sting at the moment, then?
Oh, yeah. Sting did one of the sweetest things for me recently---I arrived in Helsinki to start the tour and he was waiting in my dressing room for me! Naked, in the lotus position! No, I'm kidding. But he was there, just welcoming me onto the tour. And no other artist has ever done that to me.
Sting was inspired to go into music by catching his mum shagging the milkman. Are there any similar flashpoints in your own road to pop semi-stardom?
My main connection with music was that when I was about 13 or 14, I knew I was gay and I knew very much what I wanted to do. So I started experimenting, sexually, at a very young age. In retrospect, I think that basically there's a reason why statutory rape laws exist. I had one really bad experience in London where I was molested. It was a rude awakening, and I lost my innocence. And that was like, 1985, with the emergence of Aids and the common belief that if you were gay, you were going to die. It punched a hole in my universe and propelled my musical hunger and artistry, and also initiated my love of opera. The drama, the relationship with death, the solitary existence... it was the only music I could relate to. That was the catalyst.
So there weren't any milkmen.
No, just British rapists.
What music shall I listen to while I'm writing up this interview?
You have 'Judy at Carnegie Hall,' right? You've GOT to get that! It's Judy Garland---they've just re-released it on two CD's. It basically created us. It created gay people. There were no gay people before that concert. We were spun from the footlights of that concert!
In Straight Eye for the Queer Guy, how would they make you over?
I would say... (Long pause) They'd definitely... (No idea where he's going) Er... (Blast of inspiration) HE'D HAVE TO HAVE SEX WITH ME! He'd convert me into a straight man. (Eh?) No. Ah---I know! Straight guys have a good way of showing off their butts but in a non-obvious way. They always have a good tightness of pant, which is on one hand revealing but on the other hand subtle. Gay men have never quite mastered that. Gay men are too over the top with their pant area.
I read that Jake Shears says you're beautiful...
Aw...
...and that you drove him to Philadelphia to see Ween. Is he a good passenger?
He's very nice. We met each other at a very intense crossroads for both of us---I was just starting my record, and he was just finishing his. He was excited but also I think nervous. I gave him some tips, but I haven't seen him for awhile.
What tips did you give him?
Get a good lawyer.
And now he's more popular than you.
No he isn't!
Well, the Scissor Sisters have had hit records. When are you going to have a hit?
I don't need a hit!
I want you to have one, though.
Hmm. Well, I'll try. But I'm very happy with my level of success because I know what I've garnered is pretty solid and reliable. But you're right, a hit would be great. But I think hits need to happen on their own, don't they?
Isn't your new album supposed to be out by now?
Well, the main problem was that, right, as "Want One" was being released, the label disintegrated. But I am in the studio now, working on "Want Two." There are some songs I've been doing live, like "Gay Messiah." It's just so topical at the moment---to be gay and Jesus!
That surely has Christmas single written all over it.
Ooh! I actually did a Christmas track for a charity album. I wanna make a French record. I love singing in French. I've heard recently that Jane Birkin is a fan of mine, so I might go down that avenue. I'm also from the same town as Celine Dion, and she could definitely use some sort of song. For her career. I love Celin Dion! She's like, a real thing! She's the incarnation of what's really happening in the world! There's no pretense.
Have you come across transsexual band Les SheMales, also from France?
No. That's great! Are they good?
Barely.
That's a shame.
Haiku please.
OK. 'James Brown's head wiggles/Sun and moon.' (Very long pause) Isn't that a haiku?
No, haikus are three lines.
Oh, come on, fuck off. OK. 'James Brown's head wiggles/Sun and moon for sale to you/Love me or leave me.' Heeey! That was scary, but we did it.
Well, thank you, Rufus.
Thank you. Goodbye!
(at the bottom of the page)
FYI:
-Rufus has made a film with Glenn Close, in which he plays himself
-He says that he doesn't have a 'good side' for the cameras
-This is because "they're both perfect." Well, quite
Is there any wonder I ADORE this man? <3 <3 <3 <3
Hello, Rufus. You're supporting Sting. Are we liking Sting at the moment, then?
Oh, yeah. Sting did one of the sweetest things for me recently---I arrived in Helsinki to start the tour and he was waiting in my dressing room for me! Naked, in the lotus position! No, I'm kidding. But he was there, just welcoming me onto the tour. And no other artist has ever done that to me.
Sting was inspired to go into music by catching his mum shagging the milkman. Are there any similar flashpoints in your own road to pop semi-stardom?
My main connection with music was that when I was about 13 or 14, I knew I was gay and I knew very much what I wanted to do. So I started experimenting, sexually, at a very young age. In retrospect, I think that basically there's a reason why statutory rape laws exist. I had one really bad experience in London where I was molested. It was a rude awakening, and I lost my innocence. And that was like, 1985, with the emergence of Aids and the common belief that if you were gay, you were going to die. It punched a hole in my universe and propelled my musical hunger and artistry, and also initiated my love of opera. The drama, the relationship with death, the solitary existence... it was the only music I could relate to. That was the catalyst.
So there weren't any milkmen.
No, just British rapists.
What music shall I listen to while I'm writing up this interview?
You have 'Judy at Carnegie Hall,' right? You've GOT to get that! It's Judy Garland---they've just re-released it on two CD's. It basically created us. It created gay people. There were no gay people before that concert. We were spun from the footlights of that concert!
In Straight Eye for the Queer Guy, how would they make you over?
I would say... (Long pause) They'd definitely... (No idea where he's going) Er... (Blast of inspiration) HE'D HAVE TO HAVE SEX WITH ME! He'd convert me into a straight man. (Eh?) No. Ah---I know! Straight guys have a good way of showing off their butts but in a non-obvious way. They always have a good tightness of pant, which is on one hand revealing but on the other hand subtle. Gay men have never quite mastered that. Gay men are too over the top with their pant area.
I read that Jake Shears says you're beautiful...
Aw...
...and that you drove him to Philadelphia to see Ween. Is he a good passenger?
He's very nice. We met each other at a very intense crossroads for both of us---I was just starting my record, and he was just finishing his. He was excited but also I think nervous. I gave him some tips, but I haven't seen him for awhile.
What tips did you give him?
Get a good lawyer.
And now he's more popular than you.
No he isn't!
Well, the Scissor Sisters have had hit records. When are you going to have a hit?
I don't need a hit!
I want you to have one, though.
Hmm. Well, I'll try. But I'm very happy with my level of success because I know what I've garnered is pretty solid and reliable. But you're right, a hit would be great. But I think hits need to happen on their own, don't they?
Isn't your new album supposed to be out by now?
Well, the main problem was that, right, as "Want One" was being released, the label disintegrated. But I am in the studio now, working on "Want Two." There are some songs I've been doing live, like "Gay Messiah." It's just so topical at the moment---to be gay and Jesus!
That surely has Christmas single written all over it.
Ooh! I actually did a Christmas track for a charity album. I wanna make a French record. I love singing in French. I've heard recently that Jane Birkin is a fan of mine, so I might go down that avenue. I'm also from the same town as Celine Dion, and she could definitely use some sort of song. For her career. I love Celin Dion! She's like, a real thing! She's the incarnation of what's really happening in the world! There's no pretense.
Have you come across transsexual band Les SheMales, also from France?
No. That's great! Are they good?
Barely.
That's a shame.
Haiku please.
OK. 'James Brown's head wiggles/Sun and moon.' (Very long pause) Isn't that a haiku?
No, haikus are three lines.
Oh, come on, fuck off. OK. 'James Brown's head wiggles/Sun and moon for sale to you/Love me or leave me.' Heeey! That was scary, but we did it.
Well, thank you, Rufus.
Thank you. Goodbye!
(at the bottom of the page)
FYI:
-Rufus has made a film with Glenn Close, in which he plays himself
-He says that he doesn't have a 'good side' for the cameras
-This is because "they're both perfect." Well, quite
Is there any wonder I ADORE this man? <3 <3 <3 <3