Rufus Wainwright Background

Through weekly shows at Cafe Sarajevo, Wainwright became a fixture on the Montreal club circuit and eventually cut a series of demo tapes produced by Pierre Marchand, who also later produced Wainwright's sophomore album, Poses. The resulting tapes impressed Wainwright's folk singer father, Loudon Wainwright III, who passed them on to his friend Van Dyke Parks. Parks, a record producer, songwriter, and recording artist in his own right, sent the recordings to Lenny Waronker, the DreamWorks executive that eventually signed Wainwright to his label. Waronker stated the following of Wainwright: "When I was about to listen to his tape, I remember clearly I was thinking, 'Gee, if he has the mom's musicality and smarts, and the dad's smarts and voice, that'd be nice.' Then I put it on and I said, 'Oh, my God, this is stunning.'"

Wainwright moved to New York City in 1996 and began performing regularly at Club Fez, building a loyal local audience. He relocated to Los Angeles later that year and began recording his first studio album. Waronker paired Wainwright with producer Jon Brion, and the two spent most of 1996 and 1997 making the record. Wainwright recorded 56 songs in total, spread out over 62 rolls of tape. Costs for the recording sessions reached $700,000.



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