Confessional: Rufus Wainwright on money, rehab, Trump and dog balls
Confessional Q+A: the Canadian-American singer, songwriter and composer talks money, rehab, Trump and dog balls ahead of his first Australian tour in five years.
Rufus Wainwright, 51, is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and composer who will soon tour Australia for the first time in five years.
When it comes to performing live … I’ve gotten better at it through sheer multiplication. (laughs) I’ve just done it so many times, so I’m more adept. I would say it’s gotten easier, and I’m less stressed out about it. There’s been a softening, shall we say.
When I play my older songs, it reminds me of … A more innocent, naive, childlike Rufus – who of course I’m very enamoured of, because I want to reach out into the past and hug that kid, and tell him that everything’s going to be fine, because I’m here now. There’s a lot of compassion, actually.
My favourite way to warm up before a show is … if I’m writing a song, I’ll go to the piano and I’ll continue writing. I’ll get kind of lost in the song – and then, the next thing you know, I’ve got to go out on stage. I don’t know what this is about, but I will very often get an amazing idea that I love, about two seconds before I have to go on stage. I’ve got to quickly write it down, or record it, or I’ll forget it. There’s a funny little game that my creative juices are playing with me: ‘I’m going to give you the best chorus, so that you forget it right before you have to walk out.’ But I’m armed with utensils.
In terms of my artistry … I consider myself a bit of a three-headed monster. One of them is Rufus the songwriter, which is very related to my parents and my sisters; I come from a family of songwriters, and a tradition of that. Then there’s Rufus the composer: that’s my opera work and the Requiem stuff, where I go into my dreams and my big fantasies. And then there’s Rufus the singer, who’s kind of his own beast. He or she is very … (pause) Probably she, actually. (laughs) She is very solitary, and hard to understand, and easily angered, and wants to dominate everything. I’ve got to keep the voice under control more.
When it comes to the songwriting beast within me … Most of the time I’m super grateful, and I feel fortunate, and I’m enamoured with the whole thing. That being said, there are other times where I look back and I’m like, ‘This is a f..king nightmare. I have to interpret everything in my life and turn it into song …’ And then I do find myself hurtling myself towards rather precarious places, to mine for material.
The more I look back at my childhood … the more I realise how unusual my situation was. What I had was unique; I was just so revving to go, and I also had my mother (Kate McGarrigle), who was just there, ready to imbue me with all that I needed to succeed. It’s funny; I just finished watching this documentary on Winston Churchill and his mother, and that relationship, which is pretty fascinating – and I had that with my mother.
The first money I ever made was … Well, my mother never wanted me to get a job, because she only wanted me to sing and write songs. So she gave me an allowance up until I was, like, in my 20s. So I never, ever worked. And not because I was lazy; I probably would have liked working. And then I got a record deal, and suddenly I had, you know, whatever; $100,000 to play with. It was quite extreme.
My philosophy on money is … it’s meant to be spent. That’s what it’s for, so that’s what I do. I have very bad money sense – but in having that, I therefore have to work more, and write more songs, and do more shows. That makes me more creative and engaged in the world. But I’m very bad with money, actually.
The worst deal I ever made … my first record deal. It was pretty bad; I mean, I thought it was amazing, but I was tied up for many albums. I wasn’t aware that I was being handcuffed to the industry. I guess you’re not supposed to let the record company hire your lawyer; I only realised that about 10 years later. (laughs) I don’t regret it in the least, I have to say, because I actually think that it is somewhat of a rite of passage. Musicians who are totally expert on making money? There’s a side of me that believes they’re not real musicians.
The weirdest thing in my shopping trolley … I’m gay, so there’s a whole bunch of things I can’t really talk about. (laughs) But the weirdest thing for, like, a PG audience, would probably be dog balls, for (playing) fetch with my miniature Australian shepherd, Siegfried. I’m always looking for balls because he loses them when we throw them into the woods.
In rehab … the big thing is: one day at a time. That is the great saying, and anybody can use it, obviously; just get this one day down, and that’s all you need to do. That’s a great philosophy: just make it about today, one day at a time.
The dumbest thing I do for fun is … watch the f..king news. I’m addicted to the whole Trump news thing; it’s like a soap opera. So I actually watch the destruction of America for fun, because it’s kind of entertaining to see how screwed up everything is. It’s dumb, because it also makes you very depressed in the end.
When I’m gone … I would like to be remembered as a kind gentleman … (laughs) who was really sexy.
Rufus Wainwright’s Australian tour includes shows in Fremantle (January 4), Sydney (Jan 8), Melbourne (Jan 10 + 11), Hobart (Jan 12) and Brisbane (Jan 14).
More Coverage
