Cardinal Confessions

Cardinology is the latest album from alt.country star Ryan Adams and his band The Cardinals, although, had the singer had his way, the album would have been credited simply to The Cardinals. Unfortunately for Adams, the idea was nixed by his record company, who were understandably wary of the commercial implications of such a move. Nonetheless, Adams’ desire to have the record attributed to his group is the clearest indication yet that he no longer wishes to continue operating as a solo artist.

What does he enjoy about being in a band, as opposed to making music by himself?
“It’s like a relationship,” considers Adams, sitting in a meeting room in the Morrison Hotel. “It’s like the difference between casually dating somebody, and saying, ‘This should be exclusive. I like the way this works, so let’s focus our energy on this one specific thing.’ It’s really no different to any relationship; you just decide that this is where you want to spend your time.
“The concept of being faithful to a band has existed for me since Cold Roses. I’ve kept that faith. Luckily, the universe was kind, and we all lucked into this line-up. It seems very fated, and interestingly, the work is very easy. It’s a joy.”
The smooth creative relationship Adams enjoys with his bandmates in The Cardinals no doubt comes as a considerable relief to the singer, who has had his share of difficulties in recent years. By his own admission, he suffered through an extended period of drug and alcohol abuse, until finally managing to beat his addictions in 2006.
Given that a number of the songs on Cardinology, such as ‘Born Into A Light’ and ‘Stop’, appear to be written from the perspective of someone who’s had a particularly rough time of it, would Adams say that his personal problems informed the lyric writing on the album?
“Well, no, because I never watched drugs get up off a table and beat someone up,” he replies. “There’s always going to be mental illness that precedes that. And when I say mental illness, I mean anything from depression to any kind of autistic confusion; you just don’t know. Now, it’s my job to expose some of my weaknesses and strengths, and in doing that, to maybe help other people understand themselves.
“You do that by revealing things about yourself that aren’t easy to reveal. That in itself is enough to make a person unwell. All that being said, in my opinion, drinking and drugs really have no power over an individual. The individual is going to make destructive or non-destructive choices regardless of those vices; they will find other things. So, for me, those songs transcend those ideas. They could perhaps be seen that way, but sometimes there’s duality to a song. ‘Stop’ is about suicide, it’s not about drugs.”
When I ask Adams if he was writing about someone he knew who committed suicide, he replies, “Yeah, me. But I survived.” Would he say he feels more together at this point in his life?
“No, definitely not,” he admits. “I’m still very unstable. I don’t have much of a personal life; it’s full of disappointment. But, strangely, I feel really calm. I’m ultimately aware of what self-harm is. I don’t feel I’m in danger, and I don’t feel miserable. I just have nothing – but I have everything. Artistically, I’m satisfied and driven, but the rest of my life is basically isolated research. But that’s mainly because that’s the way it’s worked out for me.
“Also, I think it’s really quite normal. I do the research, and I stay as mentally healthy as possible by talking to people and doing what I can for myself. And from what I understand, I experience the same dread that millions of fucking people feel. The idea that the flash aspects of playing in a rock ‘n’ roll band solve every problem… that stuff is really not true.
“And moreover, it’s not true for me. It’s not something that I have ever taken advantage of. I don’t go to those clubs, and in fact, when that stuff rears its head, I usually turn and go the other way. It’s not for me. I like the work.”
Many other people like Adams’ work too, quite a few of them very high-profile. One such individual is Elton John, who credited Adams’ album Heartbreaker with inspiring him to write Songs From The West Coast (the two artists also famously played a CMT Crossroads special together). Was Adams surprised when John announced he was a fan?
“Yeah, it’s as weird to me as it would be to you,” he responds. “It’s hard to conceptualise it. Basically what happens is that I humour it for as long as it’s sustainable, and then I withdraw. That being said, with regard to hanging out with musicians, thespians, painters and writers, I never have any problem sitting with them. I always feel very comfortable around people that I think others would perhaps be a little freaked out by. But that’s just because I understand the nature of the job, and dealing with the perception that you’re something you’re not.
“Having said that, it’s still too weird to hang out with Elton John for longer than a couple of hours. It’s not just him, he attracts tons of other wild-ass people. He’s a fantastic person, but we don’t have each other’s phone number. Like, I don’t golf with Alice Cooper, and me and Jay-Z don’t go have dinner. I’m just a regular dude.”