MUSIC

Sexy musician John Mayer spends a lot of time in bed -- but it's not what you think.

Private moments

by Michele Hatty

"Dinner. and then cocooning in a comforter, like a caterpillar. Together." That's musician John Mayer -- he of the deep, searching brown eyes and the luscious, curly brown hair -- describing his idea of a perfect date.

That image of snuggling with one of rock's reigning pretty boys is all the more appealing to me, since I am currently sitting at the foot of his bed. Or rather, sitting at the foot of the bed in the New York City hotel room where Mayer has agreed to meet me and talk about his life, his seemingly overnight A-list celebrity status and the reception his sophomore album, "Heavier Things," has drawn.

The reason we didn't meet at his apartment, a few blocks away, is that in three short years Mayer has gone from "guy with guitar singing earnest tunes at small clubs in Atlanta" to "Grammy-winning guy with guitar and backup band selling out stadium shows around the country." Along with the slow-burning success of his triple-platinum 2001 debut, "Room for Squares," which featured the hymn-like makeout hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland," Mayer found his every move -- from whom he dated (most notably, actress Jennifer Love Hewitt) to whom he hung out with (A-listers like Jack Black and Justin Timberlake) -- fodder for the gossip pages. In short, he's trying to maintain as much privacy as he can, given the pseudo-reality show that his life has become.

And what of said life? As he settles his lanky 6-foot-3 frame into a chair next to me, an irony-filled grin creeps across his face. "This life is interesting," he says cautiously, as if worried he might appear ungrateful. "It's like, 'OK, you want to play music? Cool. Now you're going to be on the road all the time. Now you're successful? You're never home.' "

But what about all the perks that come with stardom? They're endless, Mayer agrees, but they also can be empty: "It's like, 'We'll get you anything. We'll put anything in your body, in your veins, your wallet or whatever. But you can't go home.' It's interesting, isn't it?"

He's a guy who seems unusually world-weary, considering he's just 26. Judging from the way he talks about it, "home" is the place he most longs for after spending the majority of the past three years either on tour or in the studio. And why not? His apartment, where he's lived for a year, sounds like quite a haven. Filled with computer equipment, a trove of remote controls for all manner of high-tech electronic gadgetry, and the occasional designer candle ("Diptyque -- Black Baies," he notes metrosexual-style, naming both the brand and scent), his bedroom is his favorite place to hang out. "I don't even relate to any other part of my house," he says, making me wonder if he's about to demonstrate more of the romantic side he displays in his moody love songs.

Instead, he reveals his inner geek: "I know you're only supposed to use the bedroom for sleeping, psychologically speaking, but ... I like to just lie on my side and use my Mac all day long. And at night, it sleeps next to me. On the bed."

Doesn't he worry it'll fall off? He smirks: "No. I have a big bed."

Mayer's bed, which gained legendary status in "Wonderland's" lyrics, makes another appearance in "Heavier Things," which debuted at No. 1 when it was released this fall. Still, the record has received mixed reviews. Some critics have dismissed it as the too-earnest musings of a poet wannabe, while others have praised it as a solid follow-up to his phenomenal debut album.

For his part, after devoting most of the spring to recording it, Mayer says he feels spent. "There's no deeper layer that I'm holding onto," he says, spreading his arms wide as if to display his openness. It's in songs like his most recent buoyant single, "Bigger Than My Body," and the introspective "Clarity" that Mayer willingly relinquishes his privacy and welcomes others into his inner world.

"I'm the kid who gets naked," he says. "I don't know how to have shame. It's all out there with this album."

For Mayer, the record is just one highlight of a year that also included winning the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, an amphitheater tour with Counting Crows, a mini-tour of Australia and a gig as a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live." Now, as 2003 draws to a close, all that's on his agenda is private time. And come New Year's Eve, maybe even pushing aside his laptop to engage in a little bit of cocooning in a nice warm comforter.

As to whom that might be with, Mayer's lips are sealed. Ah, the life of a privacy-deprived rock star.

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Weekend with ... John Mayer

Next time you see him at a swanky steakhouse on a Saturday night, take a peek to see if there's a bottle of A1 sauce on his table. "It's my favorite condiment," he says. "You can put A1 on anything. I put A1 on rice, on carrots. If it spills on anything else on your plate when you're eating steak, it's awesome. A1 goes with green beans -- it doesn't matter.

"But I don't have a certain cut of steak I always get. That would make me too much of a man's man, wouldn't it?"