‘PREPARED TO WEAR THE CROWN’
“He really juggled a lot of the different forces. Left to my own devices, I would have put two orchestras and 20 guitar parts on every song. He was very sparing, but he didn’t want to tone me down; he wanted it to be Rufus.”
For Wainwright, the album offered an opportunity for perspective. Being back in L.A. conjured memories of — and a contrast to — the heady, debauched days of his youth.
He was 24 when his debut album was released. He’s now 46. He has seen it all, done it all, and lived to tell the tale.
“I’m now a father,” he said, “and I’m a married man. I’m sort of in this more mature phase, and I’ve returned to the place where I sowed my wild oats as a young man. It’s this taking back of a place I once was kind of the king of, and reinstating that rule, but in a more responsible way.
“This is where I’ve settled. The directness, the fine quality that this album exhibits is something I’ve been trying to do for 20 years. Sometimes I’ve accomplished it; other times I’ve gone too far off the edge. With this album, I’m where I should be, doing what I should be doing, with the attitude that it’s the endgame, in a lot of ways, and the beginning of something new.”
Earlier this year, Wainwright went to a charity event where he saw familiar faces including Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Courtney Love, with whom he used to cross paths in L.A.
“It struck me that even though that was not my music, I was in that scene,” he said. “I knew all those people and hung out in those places. That was my era — that kind of grunge rock, final rock era. It was a good feeling, to have been part of that.
“I lived the lifestyle, had a lot of fun and got a lot of respect from those people, who all acknowledged that I was different, but nonetheless worthy, and an interesting person. It was a welcoming period.”
Two decades later, Wainwright cites the deaths of David Bowie, Leonard Cohen and his mother, Kate Mcgarrigle, as part of a sea change, a passing of the torch from one generation to the next.
He points to the presence of veteran session musicians Jim Keltner and Matt Chamberlain on Unfollow the Rules, alongside up-and-comers like Blake Mills — “arguably the best guitar player on the scene” — and Rob Moose, who did most of the string arrangements and whom he describes as “a serious contender.”
As he drifts toward elder-statesman status, Wainwright finds it at once oddly comforting and utterly bewildering to take stock.
“It’s surreal, more than anything,” he said.
“At certain moments I feel totally satisfied, proud of my accomplishments and prepared to wear the crown. Then two seconds later, I’m a drivelling three-year-old who has to be spanked.”