(Excerpts from telephone
conversation 24th May
1999)
FFF
Ju. So, please tell me all about what's been
happening. How come you and Billy decided to
get the Cult back together again?
Ian. I wanted the next record to be a Rock N
Roll record & I basically though what's the
point in doing it on my own, I should really bef
doing in The Cult. The Cult has been a massive
part of my life and it felt completely natural.
We started seeingt each other more and more
socially and then we sat down and talked about
it and decided that we didn't want it tob some
crap reunion type thing when we're all ancient,
so the best way to do it would be right now.
Then Steve Jones asked us to play with him down
at the Viper Rooms with his band the Neurotic
Outsiders and we got up and did a couple of Cult
songs and we really got off on it and we've now
spent the past two months putttig a band
together and putting plans together on how we're
going to do this. We didn't want to rush into a
studio and make a record, we pretty much wanted
to go into rehearsals and do some shows and
start from that level up again and just go out
and play really and then go into a studio. So,
just a real desire to want to play again.
Ju. So this isn't just a one off thing then?
Ian No, no- there's no point in us doing it if
it's just going to be to do some summer dates,
grab some cash and go, that's not what it's
about. We've put a lot f thought into putting
the band back together again, what sort of band
we wanted to put back together because this is
for the long term. I guess we needed a four
year hiatus, I just think of it as a hiatus now.
After all when I left The Cult I was in pretty
bad shape mentally and physiclly and I really
needed some time to myself to grow up a little
bit and do the sort of things I'd never been
able to do.
Ju. Sometimes It's a pretty good thing to stand
back from a situation as well. If you've had
time ut you realise how much that something
actually means to you.
Ian Yes, actually there wasn't that much bad
blood really r animosity, it was just a case
really of me needing to find out who I was and
what I wanted to do with my life. It was all
just basically consistently The Cult as an
entity and my position in that as a singer and
there was no room for having a real life. The
Cult was so omnipresent it filtered into every
single aspect of my life and I just couldn't
deal with that any more. Plus I wanted to do
things differently, creatively. The Holy
Barbarians were basically just a piss-up band, a
bar band. We threw it together in six weeks and
just went out and played until we burnt
ourselves into the ground. It was a completely
different experience from the Cult because I
didn't have people telling me the parameters to
set, I set my own parameters. THe solo record
was more of an unwinding, there's a lot of
introspection on it and a lot of experimentation
in terms of programming and everything. So,
afteer blowing all that out of my system I found
myself back in a place were I found myself
asking what I wanted to do and I want to be the
lead singer in The Cult, this is pretty much
what I was born to do and it's quite naturally
fall back into that place. So, our first show
will be probably be in San Diego on June 8th in
a club and then we do 2 shows at the Viper Rooms
on 10th & 11th June and we'll be playing as
'Lords of the Sith' (a Star Wars goof). It's a
warm up - unannounced really, then we're going
to be doing the 'Tibetan Freedom Concert' on
13th June.
Ju. Oh, I bet you're really looking forward to
that one aren't you?
Ian Yes very much. Then we have a tour that
starts on July 15th through to August 20th I
believe, in the USA and we haven't made any
plans on doing anything other than that right
now. I think we're pretty much going to see how
it goes on this tour.
Ju. So no UK dates at all so far then?
Ian No, there may be something later in the
year, we might come home and do one or two shows
or something later in the year but we haven't
made any solid plans but I'm sure we'll be
playing at some point in the year.
Ju. It'd be good to see you back even if it is
just for one gig. There's so many people
expressing an interest in what you're doing but
as I didn't know anything definitely I've not
been in a position to be able to put anything
out. I really wasn't sure whether you were just
into doing a couple of shows in the USA or what.
Ian No. no we're really doing this properly.
Plus It's been really difficult as there's been
so many bands that have recently reformd and
they've done it in so many different ways.
Some have reformed just for an album and tour an
there's a lot of 80's nostalgia and we didn't
really want to be part of that so we thought
we'd just do a club tour as a sort of get back
in the band kind of tour and just build it up
from there. Plus the musicians in the band now
have been a big influence in certain ways.
We've brought Matt Sorum back into the band and
we're going to have Martyne Le Noble who played
with Porno for Pyros on bass- he's a really cool
bass player. We approached Jamie as well but
unfortunately he seems to have other things
going on in his life and didn't really want to
re-enter into it.
Ju. Oh that's a real shame - it would have been
good to have seen the three of you back together
again.
Ian Yeah but we've put an awful lot of thought
in terms of what was the definitive Cult line up
and with Matt, although he didn't lay on an
album he was part of the definitive Cult line
up. Me, Billy, Jamie and Matt and we wanted to
either get that or close to that as possible
because pretty much what we're going to be doing
is going to be a four piece Rock N Roll band.
It's going to be sexy, it's going to be violent,
it's going to be what the Cult are know for.
We're not going to go out there with designer
suits and crap haircuts looking completely out
of touch. The music is virile, it's really
strong.
So, we start rehearsals in a couple of weeks,
then we do the warm up shows. There's a
possibilty of recording some live material,
there's a possibility of doing something on the
Internet although no details have been ironed
out. So, principally the tour right now has
been headed 'CULT RISING USA SUMMER 99'.
Ju. So, apart from the date you've done
together at the Viper Rooms, have you been up to
much else?
Ian Yes, we did ctually do a song called 'Wild
Child' for a Doors record which includes
contributions form the likes of WIlliam
Borroughs and Bo Diddely - it's quite eclectic
really. I have also done some work for Tony
Iomi, the guitar player from Black Sabbath, Matt
Cameron also played on it (from Soundgarden).
It's myself singing Tony's track, already
written & programmed and everything & Matt
Cameron came in and played drums and that is
called 'Flame On' and will be on his solo
record. I also worked on a record called 'Sweet
Home California' with a band called Zen Mafia
and sang on the song and appeared in the video
that was incidentaly filmed yesterday. ALso the
Witchman sampled me from the sessions we did an
that's on a single out quite soon of his called
'Angel Art' and he filmed a video about three
weeks ago that I also appeared in. We filmed
that out in Vegas in Death Valley and it was
absolutely beautiful filming out in the desert -
really amazing.
So that's about all really - any more major
developments I'll let you know about OK.
Ju. That's brilliant Ian - thanks.
There
is an "Ian Astbury Information Service". Please write to:
Juliette Owen , 45 Wavendene Avenue, Thorpe Lea, Egham, Surrey , TW20
8JX , UK
