child of our time
Successfully stepping out from the shadows of a famous parent is always hard for a musician but when Jay Richardson met RUFUS WAINWRIGHT he found a songwriter exceeding even his own high expectations.
ollowing in a great musician’s footsteps
has always been a mixed blessing for their
offspring. Initial noteriety comes relatively easy but sustaining that first burst to any great credible extent can often prove decidedly problematic. Bob Marley hedged his bets fathering l 1 children. but Ziggy. Julian and the others barely hold a candle to his fire. Wilson Phillips will always be first and foremost the daughters of Brian Wilson and the Mamas and the Papas. Nancy Sinatra. Natalie Cole and Kelly Osbourne all appreciated that a duet with Dad would steal them some of his limelight. hence the mildly incestuous ‘Something Stupid'. the
necromantic ‘Unforgettable’. and in the case of
Ozzy and his whiny progeny. their ‘Changes‘ were something far. far worse.
But few musicians appreciate the burden of
parental baggage quite like Rufus Wainwright. Not only did he once share a wild. debauched apartment with Sean Lennon. but he can sing movineg of Jeff Buckley wailing like 'mad ()phelia‘ and empathise with the creative strain to emulate Tim Buckley that the late singer endured. himself the son of folk music luminaries Loudon Wainwright Ill and Kate McGarrigle.
‘I just want to be my dad. With a slight sprinkling of my mother. And work at the family store.’ he sang on ‘Want’. from the opulent Want One album. But unlike Jakob Dylan. the Webb Brothers and Moonunit Zappa. Wainwright has succeeded in eclipsing his famous relatives. He‘s cotne through parental unease at his homosexuality. teenage rape and an addiction to crystal meth that caused him temporary blindness. and emerged a stronger. more focused songwriter for the experience. It speaks volumes that in the same fortnight that his father appears at the Pavilion. he‘s packing out the Royal Concert Hall. And yet the flamboyant 31-year- old believes he‘ll ultimately lose the fight for attention to his sister Martha. whose eponymous debut album is released this month.
‘I really believe that she has way more potential than I do in terms of hitting the big time.‘ he claims. ‘She has a real rock’n‘roll and pop sensibility. I think I'll always be respected and I think I'm going to earn my fortune by hook or by crook. but Martha is a diva in all the best ways.‘
Playing down his own commercial appeal. which has been respectable rather than spectacular so far. it's nevertheless Rufus who is currently receiving the tnost attention. This is in spite of the fact that his latest album. ll’unr Tim. is far from his most approachable. featuring the
six-minute violin and Latin of Agiius on. the mass for peace. as its opening track and a couple of French numbers as its closers. With a cover image of Wainwright as the Lady of Shallot.
‘lt‘s not the most accessible as a whole. btit there are tracks on it that have radio potential] he maintains. 'Whether it‘s “The One You Love" or “(‘rumb by Crumb". And conceivably "()ld Whore's Diet" is a dance track that can be played in a restaurant.
‘But I do think it‘s the tnost confident album I’ve made. It makes no qualms and I think in a strange way people can kind of relate to that. It feels contemporary.‘
A huge factor in Him! 'Iim offering such a unique sound and blowing such a gale of fresh air is the sheer breadth of musical stimuli Wainwright has assigned to his increasing ambition.
‘I can see that Rufus was very tnuch influenced by classical and what you might call show tunes. by American songwriting of the pre-rock era.‘
‘I JUST WANT TO BE MY DAD. WITH A SLIGHT SPRINKLING OF MY MOTHER. AND WORK AT THE FAMILY ST ORE'
Pet Shop Boys‘ Neil 'l‘ennant once remarked. ‘And I guess because of his mother and family he's got the folk influences. so it‘s a very interesting selection. And yet at the same time this is someone who‘s stood in gay bars when there‘s pounding liuro disco playing.‘
It is perhaps Wainwright‘s refusal to stand still musically has seen him gather plaudits from all
corners. He can be aligned with the likes of
angular. confrontatiomil polemicists like Ani DiFranco or Fiona Apple as a bold and single minded lyricist but there is always an inherent pop humanity in his music. something that the likes of Elton John — who has been touting Wainwright alongside Mylo and Scissor Sisters as his latest and greatest mtisical discoveries — finds so very appealing.
‘l‘ve always been a diverse lad.‘ Wainwright laughs. ‘I think it‘s something that just happens naturally. When I first started out in the business I was very much under the impression that being different and being an individual was an advantage. I soon learned that it's exactly the
opposite and counter productiye. But l'ye tried not to lose that ideal'
'l‘his desire for unique c\prcssion manifests itself in the most mischieyous ways. as he show ed at a recent gig in l.ondon.
‘A lot of people seem to cry out "Rtifus for President" at my gigs in America. and there was one doing that at this So I just said no. "Rufus for Pope". I couldn’t help but bring tip the fact that there's a \acancy in the papacy.‘
lligh offices clearly preoccupy him. ‘Waiting for a Dream' alludes to the ‘ogre in the ()\al ()llicc' and ‘(iay .\lessiah‘ to a homosesual (iod reborn as a l‘)7t)s pornstar. baptising belieyers in semen while Rufus the Baptist looks on. l’layed liye. he claims it's taken on the role of a 'liberal anthem'.
‘I honestly believe that if you‘re gay. you're an American and you have a public persona. you really have llt) choice but to be political nowadays: he states. 'Right now. whether it's on the home front or in foreign policy. America has decided to . . . take oy er. So I don't think there‘s any way to not have an opinion any more. for me anyway.
‘lt‘s funny. because when I first started out on my career I remember explicitly saying that I didn‘t have an opinion on gay rights. I was just going to be honest about my sexualin and that's all I hoped to do. But that‘s become impossible because the whole issue of homosexuality is central to the new conservatiye agenda. in terms of it being banned. really. You know the young bloc that put the president into power is extremely religions and they want blood. So I think you have no choice.‘
Although several of the songs on lliml 'Iim were written alongside those on Him! (has his heightened political awareness isn‘t the only difference between them.
'll'unl ()IH' consisted of songs that were essentially more centred around myself and around the present situation that l was living through. which was my own sort of corneuppance and subsequent realisation that it takes work being here. And questions of my father. meeting people and just understanding the world.
‘llkml 'lim was in a lot of ways the darker. tnoodier sister album to that. Where after finishing my shave and sprinkling on my cologne I walk out and realise the world is still a very sad place. yet also my'ster‘ious and gorgeous.‘
Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sun 10 Apr. Want One and Want Two are out now on Dreamworks.
‘ ‘.'::' ‘t'. .7’, ,5 THE LIST 15