Kris Allen & Adam Lambert talk about Life after Idol

American Idol is ready to hit the road! Season 8 winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert were on hand at a press day on Thursday to talk about the Idols Live Tour, which kicks off in Portland, Ore., on July 5, and will take the top 10 — which also includes Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy, Michael Sarver and Scott MacIntyre — to 50 cities in North America. PEOPLE spoke separately with Allen and Lambert about their upcoming albums, the tour and how their life has changed.

Kris Allen
Are you moving or planning on staying in Conway, Ark.?
My wife is going to move back home for the tour, so we still have to have a place to live, and still have our apartment. But things have changed completely. Four months ago, I could have never imagined ever doing anything like this. I don’t get much sleep now but there’s a lot of work to be done writing for the album and … rehearsals, as well. It’s nonstop but I’d rather be doing this than anything else.

How is the recording process coming along?
It feels great! It feels great to know that you’ve wanted to do this thing your whole life and to know that you have an album coming out in the fall that you’ve worked hard on that is you.

Read the full People Magazine interviews