The Cult

[Falcon]

Another audio interview with IA from 101.5 The Wolf in Canada..

http://www.thewolf.ca/blogs/Skearns/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10374296

[Falcon]

The video for The Cult's single "For The Animals" debuts tomorrow, April 25th.

The first vid from the boys in 11 years...

[BurningHills]

The video for The Cult's single "For The Animals" debuts tomorrow, April 25th.

The first vid from the boys in 11 years...

Can't wait!

[Falcon]

Classic Rock Magazine seems to like "Choice Of Weapon", a brief blurb...

Choice Of Weapon:"The most ferocious guitar spanking of Billy Duffy?s career & Astbury in all of his howling, shamanic finery?

[FunkyMonkey]

THE CULT Reflects Dystopian Youth In Provocative New Music Video - Apr. 25, 2012

THE CULT's film clip for their new single, "For The Animals", from their forthcoming "Choice Of Weapon" album, reflects the socially and economically divided world that we find ourselves facing.

"'For The Animals' is a metaphor for people existing in a realm outside of structured society and what cultural editors deem to be relevant," explains THE CULT's lead singer Ian Astbury. "It could be the feral punk rock kids squatting in abandoned homes or the spirited individual who has little regard for social conventions. It's for people who choose not to tow the party line or try to fit in. It's for the free-thinkers who are creative and dynamic."

With the film clip, THE CULT has captured the rising tensions and frustration of a growing group of disenfranchised youth. The provocative clip, from visionary director Michelle Peerali and starring hot young actress Hanna Mosqueda as the lead character, portrays the 19-year-old protagonist transforming from a lost and abandoned youth, overwhelmed by the state of the world large and at her own poor economic status and broken family at home, into an empowered strong woman who finds her inner strength in the end.

In the film clip, we see the lead character navigate a chaotic world looking for an answer only to realize in the end that what she was looking for all along was within her the whole time. "She realizes that the only solution for change is actually within her. It's about her self-awareness, inner strength, and waking her internal life, realizing she has to take command of the situation and has the power to break through," says Astbury, who appears in a cameo role along with band mates Billy Duffy (guitar), John Tempesta (drums), and Chris Wyse (bass). "In the end, she finds others who feel the same way. The message being, 'if you feel you don't fit it, it's okay. There are others out there. The tribe is there.'"

As Astbury sings in "For The Animals", the song and film clip is "for all the fucked up children staring down the barrel of a gun," a real and metaphorical image, the social, economic, and environmental cards this generation of youth has been dealt. It's a theme that is put into sharp focus by an aware Astbury on the band's new album, "Choice Of Weapon", due May 22 on Cooking Vinyl.

"Your choice of weapon can be anything you use to deal with your world. It could be self-knowledge. I think we're at a crossroads, as individuals and as a society, to define our intentions in life. What do you choose to do with your life? What do you need to really flourish? How do I not get stuck being a slave to convention? And as the character in the film clip writes on the wall, 'How many more ways will they find to reinvent boredom?'"

These are just some of the observations THE CULT shares in "For The Animals" and on "Choice Of Weapon".

http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=173075

[Falcon]

And the vid..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTKLJUZcUFw&list=UU65J5TBKg-qJdNFVwTvSmUA&index=1&feature=plcp

[Scabbie]

And the vid..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTKLJUZcUFw&list=UU65J5TBKg-qJdNFVwTvSmUA&index=1&feature=plcp

Cool song

Saw these guys at Royal Albert Hall last time they rocked

Would love to see them play on GNR tour

[Falcon]

Cool song

It's growing on me, the vid's interesting as far as vids go these days.

Saw these guys at Royal Albert Hall last time they rocked

That was a benchmark moment for the Billy and Ian - especially Billy, played a couple tunes with the guys who recorded the "Love" album (Jamie Stewart and Mark Brzecki) at that gig.

Would love to see them play on GNR tour

They're playing a couple of gigs with them this summer.

[Falcon]

As promised by BD himself, an LA date:

The Cult with guests Against Me! & Icarus Line

Hollywood Palladium
Hollywood, CA
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 07:30 PM

http://www.livenation.com/event/09004897DA384293?artistid=1440075&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=60

[BurningHills]

Video didn't do much for me on the first viewing. I'll have to watch it again.

Roll on May 22 for the album and June 10 for the show in Philly!

[Falcon]

Video didn't do much for me on the first viewing. I'll have to watch it again.

I'm not a huge fan of the medium in general these days although I did enjoy the band's appearance in this clip.

That's as conceptual as The Cult have ever gotten, Ian explains it very well in the article Funky posted above.

Did you happen to catch the cameo's by Chris and Johnny?  Short but sweet.

Duffy in the room tuning the Gretsch then ripping the solo leaning against the wall is cool although the David Beckham lookalike thing is downright spooky.

[Falcon]

Audio interview with Ian from Y108 in Hamilton Ontario, Canada.

http://soundcloud.com/bigkristheradioguy/big-kris-with-ian-astbury-part

http://soundcloud.com/bigkristheradioguy/big-kris-with-ian-astbury

And another from Q104..

http://www.q104.ca/blogs.asp?bloggerid=6

[Falcon]

Ian and Billy from Manchester Rocks..

http://manchesterrocks.webs.com/apps/blog/show/14453643-the-cult-interview-by-dom-lawson

THE CULT Interview

Legendary band The Cult are back with a powerful new album, Choice Of Weapon. The band have announced that they will be headlining a spectacular UK arena tour this coming autumn and will be joined by The Mission and Killing Joke. Clearly not to be missed. I spoke with vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy about hitting the road again.

How does it feel to be headlining arenas again?

Billy Duffy: ?We?ve been very conscious and mindful as a band to keep it fresh. If someone pays money to see Cult, we?re not going to pander to them but we?re not going to insult them by not playing the hits, but what excites me and Ian, and keeps us going, is the same thing that got us going in my bedsit in 1983 and that was sitting down and writing songs. We still have that childlike enthusiasm for the creative process. It?s absolutely vital for Ian. I enjoy it, but I?m a bit like a boxer who needs to get fit and back in the ring again. Ian has an absolute childlike wonderment for it, and I think that?s what?s kept The Cult going. We?ve made more good decisions than bad ones. We?ve always gone with our gut and our instincts and tried to be as honest as possible.?

Ian Astbury: ?One thing I?ve steered clear of is looking in the rear-view mirror. We don?t do that it still feels fresh. I guess what you get after all this time is wisdom. When you?re a kid you?re definitely more impulsive. When you?re older, you hone your skills and you get to the place you wanted to be when you were a kid, as a writer and a performer.?

Have you got anything special planned for this tour?

Ian: ?We?re putting a lot of time and care into our production and choosing the set list. It?s not like we?re imaging this as some kind of 80s revival show. I always watched Bowie and thought ?How does he do it? How does he constantly redefine himself?? and that always inspired me. He was my guiding star and I learned that it?s possible to be relevant and virile and powerful into your forties, fifties and sixties. In many ways you can use the clich? that this is the beginning of a new chapter. It shows our intention, of where we want to be and where we belong. I think we?re reclaiming territory. I think we have a little bit more of an intention to make an impact, a connection?

Billy: ?In practical terms, we?d like to go deeper and play more obscure tracks, and we try every tour to dig up something that we haven?t played live before or for 20 years. This tour?s very much about the new material. When I go and see a band I definitely want to hear a couple of new songs and I don?t want to hear a band that?s just static and living in the past, but I also don?t want to hear an entire new album. I can enjoy that in the privacy of my own home! It?s about finding the right balance but it is a challenge. It?s instinctive. You take the emotional temperature of the year you?re in and feel that certain songs don?t feel right.

The current line-up has been together for six years now. How would you define the chemistry between the four of you?

Billy: ?We?ve had a stable line-up with Chris Wyse and John Tempesta, and it feels like a band. It?s the most stable line-up we?ve ever had. Finding the right drummer has been an issue in the past, but it?s great with John. Me and Ian have got to survive and protect our baby, and our baby?s The Cult. It?s rare to find a song writing partner and keep that thing going, so you have to be a little ruthless and protect that, unfortunately. But with Tempesta and Chris Wyse playing it feels right.?

Ian: ?We never really had the luxury of having the perfect line-up before or recording with the line-up that we had on the road, where you get that special chemistry. You get that sixth sense when you play with people and we have that with Jon and Chris, that understanding. That?s what enabled us to go into the studio and make this new record. We?ve learned so much about each other. We?re in a similar psychic space to where we were on those early EPs, the Dreamtime album and the Love album. The world?s a similar place to how it was in 1984, so we?re picking up on that.?

The new album, Choice Of Weapon, sounds like a Cult album but with new ideas and diversity within your sound too. You sound energised. Is that a fair summary of where you guys are in 2012?

 Ian: ?This record is fresh. We?re a 21st century band. There?s a core in the culture where everyone?s focusing and we?re pushing our way back into that place. The only way you can do that, unless you?ve got a pretty face, is to have skill and talent and the ability to offer something as a performer. We?ve got something that?s worth fighting back into the room with.?

 Billy: ?I don?t have that objectivity about the record yet, but we feel great about it. It?s like a kid and you raise it and kick it out into the world and it ends up being either a good one or a bad one! Cult records are very seldom easy to make but I do feel that this one has a few great moments. It feels timely but it?s not at all contrived.?

[Falcon]

http://www.noisecreep.com/2012/04/26/the-cult-2012-tour/

The Cult Announce Special Hometown Show, Release Provocative Video

The Cult has just announced the addition of a Los Angeles date to their summer North American concert tour, set to kick off May 25. The band will wrap up the first tour leg with a headline show at the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday, June 23, their first hometown show in nearly two years. Tickets are priced at $32.50 and go on sale tomorrow, April 27 at 10:00AM PST and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.
 
Said The Cult's guitarist Billy Duffy, "We are super excited to return to one of our favorite Los Angeles venues to debut, live in our hometown, some of the new songs from our new album, 'Choice of Weapon.' The Palladium has hosted a few stellar Cult shows over the years, and this one, I can guarantee, will be up there with the best."
 
The Los Angeles date and the tour are in support of The Cult's new album, Choice of Weapon, due out May 22, and is part of the band's world tour that will take them to ten countries throughout Europe. The Cult will be supported by Against Me! and The Icarus Line on the North American dates.
 
"This is going to be a very intense, high-energy tour," said The Cult's vocalist, Ian Astbury. "We are really looking forward to the time we spend on stage connected to our music and our audience. That's our purpose."
 
"For The Animals," the first official single and video from Choice of Weapon, can be seen below. The song asserts the rising tensions, the rage and hostility of the growing group of disenfranchised youth in our society.


 

[Falcon]

More Canadian press from IA..


The Cult: Ian Astbury Talks Choice of Weapon, Canada, and Pop Culture

April 27, 2012 By Trina Stewart

On May 22, The Cult releases its 9th album, Choice of Weapon, featuring founding members Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, and six-year Cult veterans Chris Wyse on bass and John Tempesta on drums.
 
While rich in lyrics and heavy in guitar, Choice of Weapon clearly defines Astbury?s mind state about life, love and loss while writing this phenomenal album. I had the opportunity to interview Ian Astbury at Cherry Cola?s Rock ?n? Rolla Cabaret and Lounge in Toronto Ontario.
 
Astbury has lived a thousand lives in one. From losing his mother at a young age, to becoming an 80′s icon, then transforming himself after visiting the dark knight of the soul, Astbury remains true to his passion of music and visualization.
 
It was a surreal experience interviewing Ian Astbury. When you?re talking to him face to face, one has a complete understanding what he is saying through his gestures and poignant way of bringing a thought out. Upon leaving, ones thinks ?Woah, what just happened it in there??
 
As Astbury would say, ?That?s powerful stuff!?

I was especially taken aback when he thought our Mother/Daughter tag team was a ?Pretty Cool? thing to be doing! It was a huge compliment as it came from someone who has been interviewed a time or two.
 
What brings you to Toronto?

Astbury: I am here to promote and discuss the new Cult record Choice of Weapon. In fact, this is the only kind of journey I?m making, outside of doing things on the phone in Los Angeles. We?re going to be on tour so we?ll hit a few places but in terms of taking a trip specifically for media, this is it. We don?t have the time but Canada is so important to us I thought I better come on my own.
 
Canada is a place where you also spent sometime as a child

Astbury: I grew up in Hamilton in the 70?s. It?s kind of a bitter-sweet time as my mother contracted cancer and we had to go back to Britain. My father contracted cancer and he?s buried in Hamilton. As much as it was an incredible influence in terms of coming of age musically and culturally I?m very grateful for the time I spent for the exposure to North American culture. It gave me a different perspective on how they grew up in the UK. It served me well as a musician and artist. There?s a price to it. More will be revealed in that department.
 
We first played Larry?s Hideaway in 1984. So we?ve had a long relationship with Canada. We broke into Canada well before the UK and America. I know the city of Toronto very well. It?s very familiar to me and I don?t feel alienated.
 
When you asked your purpose of your visit and I kind of thought ?I?m coming home?. My sister lives here, my father?s buried here and they say I?m not a Canadian Citizen. I had to revoke my non-landed immigrant status, but that?s bureaucracy for you. Technically, I should have a Canadian Citizenship but it didn?t work out that way.
 
We have Canadian?s on the record, Bob Rock, of course and Mike Fraser, who is based out in Vancouver. We have plenty of Canadian flavour on the record.
 
There?s a lot of the wilderness element in Choice of Weapon. When, I refer to the indigenous wilderness elements on the album, that all comes from Canada. Being exposed to indigenous culture at 11 years old and having a veracious appetite to learn about the philosophy and perspective that really began taking me away from a Christian upbringing. I think it started to connect me to Joseph Campbell and people like Jim Morrison.
 
In the research that I?ve done, I see that you have a strong Buddhist faith as well. Do you see yourself, when you say ?that?s it for the music and tours?, do you see yourself getting out of Western Culture?
 
Astbury: Is that my escape plan?

Yeah!

Astubury Well said!

I ran the scenario in my head many times but I have a lot that keeps me in the West. My relationship, my children, my music, my band, still observing the culture and the continuing incongruity and politics and the arts still keeps me in the game, I still feel tied, that there?s work to be done here. I feel qualified in the sense that when you know, again referring back to my family, losing my family because of an industrial capitalist society both my parents contracted cancer in Hamilton Ontario because of the steel works. The destruction of my family was directly linked to an economically driven macanation. So speaking from that perspective, I feel qualified.
 
More About our End Destination

Astbury: Culture really focuses on the eternal fountain of youth. It?s amazing what one can do to your body with surgery and diet pills etc. I?m turning 50 in the next few weeks; still, I don?t feel any different. I?ve had a few bangers, a few knocks. I?ve had major hip surgery; I think that may be one thing is that I have a better command of the craft.
 

[Falcon]

con't

You stated in a recent interview, ?Choice of Weapon is about going through a dark, self-destructive period of my life, where I definitely lost my way,? I know from my experience that when I have visited the dark knight of the soul, I ended up coming out with more clarity than ever before. Do you feel like you had an epiphany like this?
 
Astbury: It wasn?t intentional that I found myself in that particular mindset and I found myself in a situation where I?m pretty much had?.I think it was possibly going to the East and then coming back and I couldn?t turn it off. I wasn?t able to reconnect. I couldn?t reconnect with the World. I didn?t care anymore. I didn?t care about being competitive, being a musician, in an industry?all that wasn?t important to me. The level that people communicate and operate I felt was very cynical. I couldn?t get my feet on the ground. There were so many things going on in my personal life and things within the band. I kind of walked away from Ray and Robbie (of the Doors). It was a huge moment in my life performing with those guys. It was a huge hole not performing that work anymore.
 
As well, the culture shifted abruptly where people say ?What did you say your name was?? And I?m in New York which is brutal and it?s very unforgiving. I had to go to ground and really rebuild myself. I remember spending some time with a monk walking through the streets of New York asking the question ?How do I get through this period??.
 
He said, ?Accept your karma, sit and be still.?

About Stillness and Meditation

Astbury: People talk about meditation like it?s some sort of esoteric activity. It?s basically grounding yourself and you?re not in that kind of neurosis or mind constantly. The idea is to stop thinking. It?s about being present. You can?t stop thoughts, thoughts are thoughts. Thoughts just emulate but if you try to be in a place where things just do get quiet. Then you get into transcendence, your own language, phenomenal beyond language and experience. We?re all there, it?s not something, and it?s not separation. We?re not separated; we all are the same mechanism. It?s just plugging in and expanding consciousness.
 
With that you get to see things in a better perspective. With that, I had a better perspective of my place, finding a place for myself again. There is a redemptive quality to Choice of Weapon.
 
I absolutely love the album?.

Astbury: Thank you so much. I went about as far as you can go. I looked over the edge and (whistles). A friend of mine killed himself while I was making this record. That was intense; it was like? it could have been me.
 
People ask, ?How do you get there??

I dunno, you find yourself there, it?s not by choice. There is death by misadventure, no doubt. You read your biographies on romanticized, maybe like Jim Morrison, and you get caught up in that lifestyle and realize that it was very different.
 
I?m sure Amy Winehouse?s parents would prefer to have their daughter rather than the myth or the legend.
 
When Whitney Houston died, the drug store already had her records out there two days after she died. iTunes bumped up the price of her records by three dollars. You become an object so it?s a path and a choice you make.
 
So coming through this now, the record is authentic and comes from a real place. If you like guitar music, it?s very strong. It?s authentic and cinematic. I say cinematic because it has a wide-screen letterbox feel to it. It?s very visual. I love working with visual elements. When I?m writing I?m very visual.
 
The experience comes and I am kind of a visual person. Morrison was very visual in his work. Patty Smith is very visual. Nick Cave is very visual. Leonard Cohen is very visual. Those are the writers I aspire to be and I?m inspired by. I grew up with cinema as a kid, I?ve always been around visual stuff; A generation who grew up visual.
 
Taking our jobs seriously

Astbury: A guy from the UK, doing an interview, informed me that people say I take it too seriously.
 
I responded by saying ?Absolutely I take it seriously? Don?t you take what you do seriously? Is it a big joke, a big piss up, a big goof off? Really? Keep laughing it up.?
 
There?s a time and place for comedy, but if it makes you feel uncomfortable, then I?m doing my job. Because that?s what it is, it?s trying to get some connection. Sometimes it isn?t comfortable. That?s the intention of the icon on the cover of the record. I created it. I art directed it. It?s my vision. I wanted to show that this is the way I feel. I feel like I?ve been out in the wilderness and I?ve come back now. I?m standing on the fringes of culture and saying this is where I am, this is where I?m at.
 
I think a lot of people feel this way! Even young people, saying where do I fit in here? I have a 16 and 19 year-old. I watch them and they say that they don?t fit in and that this culture doesn?t speak to me. It?s proven by the kind of dystopian feeling of a displaced generation. It?s proven with things like the Hunger Games, identifying with that kind of motif where this young woman is fighting against an autocratic society and dystopian culture. It?s not the hero anymore it?s the heroine, it?s the young women coming up to the foreground. It?s the women who are the standing up at the front and being courageous.
 
You see the images from Arab Spring from Egypt of the men protecting the women so they can speak. That?s powerful, powerful, stuff.
 
These are symbols of our times and somebody has to be listening. I don?t know if it?s sustainable. I don?t know if we?ll make it to iPad 6.
 
About Cultural Disconnection through Facebook

There?s a piece in the Atlantic monthly last issue talking about the disconnection through Facebook that we are incredibly lonely due to the lack of conversations. People don?t sit down and converse. We can all still talk about sport, celebrities, and films, but nothing in depth. Celebrity cultures is how people define themselves.
 
I see Kim Kardashian has signed on for another three seasons (whistles)

Asked by Christina Teen Connection: You?ve been around since the 80?s, is it any different touring now than then?
 
Astbury:

Oh yeah! VERY DIFFERENT! The actual vehicles have changed dramatically. We travel in one bus rather than three. Our carbon footprint was probably bigger in the 80?s. Technology has changed as well, the environment. Lots of the venues we play in the 80?s are not here anymore.
 
Asked by Christina Teen Connection: Where is your favorite place to tour?

I love going to Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York Tokyo, and Paris (any excuse). Really, I like most of it. It?s more like where do you not like going? There are a few venues where you?re like (whistles).
 
Coming to the Toronto area is like coming home and London, I have family there. There are a few places that I really identify with. I?d love to play in India and Russia. There are two places I?d like to play in and soon because you never know when I may end up barefoot and robed. I could visualize that, but that?s a while away, perhaps another lifetime away.
 
Thank you very much for the interview Ian! It was truly an experience!

[Falcon]

Crusher Magazine review of Choice Of Weapon

On their ninth studio album, CHOICE OF WEAPON, The Cult have hit on a sound that is uniquely themselves, with a searing blend of cleanly distorted guitars, pummeling rhythm, and lyrics that channel an inner landscape reflective of a personal journey and descriptive of the state of the world, simultaneously.
 
Describing both the emptiness and fulfillment of youth cultureand its progenitors with a driving rock beat,.songs such as "Lucifer", "The Wolf", "A Pale Horse", "Elemental Light", and "This Night in The City Forever" show diverse sides of an eternal equation, where maturity meeting the chaos of self-indulgent young adulthood explodes into excess and controlled cacophony.
 
Co-produced by Chris Goss (Masters of Reality, Queens of the Stone Age) and Bob Rock (Metallica, Aerosmith, Bush) in New York, Los Angeles, and the band's own Witch Mountain studios, CHOICE OF WEAPON, due for release on May 22, 2012 captures the best essence of the band's sound from ELECTRIC and SONIC TEMPLE while pushing it forward cohesively, capturing the influences of Astbury's time with The Doors to great effect. Duffy and Wyse play off each other, bouncing from placid and tranquil to extreme technicality as Tempesta provides his signature strong and heavy beat.
 
http://www.crushermagazine.com/features4_12/featthecult.htm
 

[Falcon]

http://www.lithiummagazine.com/interview-ian-astbury-cult-?-soho-metropolitan-hotel-toronto-?-april-26-2012
 
Interview with Ian Astbury of the Cult ? Soho Metropolitan Hotel, Toronto ? April 26, 2012
 
By Laurie Lonsdale

British rockers The Cult underwent many changes in their early days of formation, including several name changes that morphed from The Sudden Death Cult to The Death Cult and finally simplified to The Cult. Though the band developed in the early 80?s, they didn?t achieve mainstream success until the release of the Love album in 1985, a psychedelic goth offering that produced the memorable mega-hit ?She Sells Sanctuary?. ?Rain? became another radio friendly single from Love, yet despite the respectable 500,000 North American sales, the band didn?t truly break Stateside until the release of Electric in 1987.
 
Produced by Rick Rubin, the riff heavy and lyrically unique album adopted a hard rock flavor and proved to be a game changer for The Cult, as it spawned several rock radio hits, including ?Love Removal Machine? and ?Lil Devil?. Electric is featured in the book titled ?1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die?, and clearly it deserves its place there. 1989 saw the release of their follow-up, Sonic Temple, which kept rock radio channels pumping out hits like ?Firewoman?, ?Edie (Ciao Baby)?, and ?Sweet Soul Sister?, and with front Ian Astbury at the helm, exposing fans to Native American visuals, it was clear The Cult had made their mark.
 
Taking into account the musical climate change of the 90?s, The Cult didn?t observe quite the same success with the release of their self-titled album in 1994 or with Beyond Good and Evil in 2001. And given further changes to the industry, Born Into This in 2007 was said to be their last studio album. Fortunately, however, fan pressure assisted in the band's recent change of heart, so they can look forward to The Cult's ninth studio recording, ?Choice of Weapon?, set to drop May 21st.
 
With the lead single and video ?For The Animals? already well underway, frontman/vocalist Ian Astbury took the time to chat with me on a number of topics, including rock radio, today?s youth, working with producers Bob Rock and Rick Rubin, and the most genuinely surprising thing of all? the fact that Astbury had very little self confidence despite the rock god persona fans witnessed on stage.
 
Given that Lithium Magazine was granted an on-camera interview, the following is a truncated sampling of our one on one chat. Watch for the interview in its entirety, coming soon on video.
 
Laurie: Well, this is a genuine pleasure to meet you. I was just saying to my videographer that I grew up listening to The Cult, and played the Love album to the point where I drove everyone crazy. Then Electric came out and I loved it even more.
 
Ian: Really? That?s good to hear.

Laurie. There was a time when I considered the Cult to be quintessential radio rock.
 
Ian: Yeah, absolutely.

Laurie: So I?m wondering what you think of rock radio now? And where does your new album fit into that?
 
Ian: Well, in terms of rock radio it seems to be in a cul-de-sac in some ways, it seems to be a shrinking demographic. There?s plenty of guys out there playing guitars but they?ve lost the connection to the roots of it, which is very blues oriented, and there has that sensuality to it. Now it?s coming more from the neck up, that real sensuality?s left the music. Since it?s become stiffer, the feminine sexual element is gone. In terms of The Cult, we get played as post modern, we get played rock, hard rock, but rock claims the title to our music because there?s a balance. In terms of aspiring towards certain space, lyrical imagery and raw, primal riffs, guitars, that kind of energy, the rhythm?s the first place I go. The rhythm?s got to be there; even if there?s not a drum present you can feel it in the cadence of the way somebody plays. That?s what makes great art, the textures and the layers, that kind of awareness in the music, I?m just glad we?ve made an album like that. Most guys our age have already picked out their retirement homes, the dessert, Florida, wherever - they?re done. In many ways, for me, I?m just getting ready because my writing?s getting better and I?m anxious to kind of try that out, to push it further. When I was a kid it was completely different, it was about performance, just that raw energy. I couldn?t stand still. Maybe playing with Ray Manzarek and Robbie Kreiger (in the The Doors of the 21st Century, in which Astbury filled in for Jim Morrison) that you?ve got to nail your feet to the floor and be a channel for this. You?ve got to go inside and get into the space of it, the subtext. I think I brought some of that back to The Cult and was like, ?No, we?ve really got to get this on a leash?. These are subtle inflections, but they?re a very important part of our growth.
 

[Falcon]

con't

Laurie: What was it about working with Bob Rock (producer for Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Metallica, Ron Sexsmith & more) that you decided to bring him back on again?
 
Ian: We have a relationship with Bob, it?s our fourth record together, but we started with Chris Goss. Chris really created the scope, the breadth, the subtext, and all the raw elements, and he really helped get it to that stage. But we?d kind of exhausted our relationship with Chris. Within the band we kind of hit this place where we were stuck in the mud and we really needed to finish it, we needed to inject some fresh energy. It was a different kind of sentiment, there was only one person in the world that I thought could help us finish this record and it was Bob. He came in very graciously, he was very reverent, but he added so many different things to it, refining it more, production values, arrangements, counterparts, counter melodies - very subtle things, then some very overt things like some arrangements completely changed. I love working with Bob, he?s like an older brother, and he?s made so many great records. He?s still making platinum with so many artists and has incredible success. A lot of people said, ?Bob Rock?s going to come in and polish the whole album,? and actually he didn?t, he knew what to leave raw.
 
Laurie: Given that the LOVE album was psychedelic rock and was successful but didn't really break the band Stateside, did you turn to Rick Rubin to produce Electric and essentially allow him to re-record it, despite the immense amount of money already spent, because the band was progressing and looking for a new sound, or was it less of a creative decision and more because you were looking to fit in with the new heavy rock happening in the US at that time?
 
Ian: The hard rock movement was more like the New Wave of British heavy metal; it was more in that kind of scene. I mean, Metallica was just getting going at this time as well, but we hadn?t really heard of them. We were just starting that post-modern world in the fallout of punk rock and new wave; it was still in that space. The stuff that we were discovering was like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and even some of the hard rock guitar playing of Bowie. The Love album was as much inspired by ?Her Satanic Majesty?s Request? (by the Rolling Stones) as it was by the Stooges, Jimi Hendrix and stuff like that. With Rick Rubin ? we?d been touring for four or five years, but we were still babes, were like twenty-four, twenty-five, we were still kids. We came to New York, we met with Rick, and I think he was still in his dorm room at NYU and Def Jam was a fledgling company ? it was just coming up. That?s when we met him Pre-Run DMC, Rick?s playing this Blue Cheer video and he?s like, ?This is what you guys should be doing.? We didn?t get together with him until later that year in 1986 at Electric Ladyland studios and we met Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Slayer, and whoever showed up. I met LL Cool J when he was like nineteen. So it was Rick who turned us onto what we should be doing, and I had no idea that re-recording was costing us so much money. To me, we were just hanging out, drinking beer, eating pizza, and shooting a few games of pool. We were just young and having fun.
 
Laurie: Touching on that thought, I was watching the video yesterday for your new single, ?For the Animals?, and it paints a pretty bleak picture of what its like for the youth today. I thought of videos back in the heyday of the 80?s and how most were based on live footage and all about having fun and partying. You look at music videos today and they depict a much darker picture. Do you think it was easier for bands to make music when it was all about fun, or do you think tougher times bring out something better in your songwriting?
 
Ian: I think the new generation has inherited a pretty harsh world. If anything, young people are really taking on the responsibility of trying to balance things out where the adults are flailing. Politicians have no solution for anything, for the most part. I have a sixteen year old and a nineteen year old and you look at the world that they?re moving into, especially the way things are cut up in the arts. There?s no encouragement for young artists, it?s about profit immediately. The youth extract that kind of essence and go straight into the machine, it?s marketed, it?s commoditized and it?s out there. Everybody?s desperately trying to hang onto their youth. They?re seeing this dystopian wilderness. They?re going onto their computers and seeing images of pollution and urban squalor, they?re not blind to it. Kids are exposed to drugs, pornography at a lot earlier age than we were. This is what this generation is getting for their education. The 80?s was like MTV, Much Music, the camera goes on and everyone?s like ?Yeah!? It was kind of like that for a while. We saw some of the cracks appear when the Seattle thing came up and pointed out some of the things that were wrong with the culture then. The environment seems to be getting worse not better, and that generation came along and said, ?The party?s over?. That?s why I chose a young woman for the video. In this culture young women are much stronger, even in film culture. Look at ?The Hunger Games? for example or ?The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? or ?Hanna?. It?s the young women that are grabbing the weapons, going to the front lines and saying, ?Move over. I?m going to take care of this?.
 
Laurie: Where did all of your Native Indian influences come for you?

Ian: Going to school with indigenous kids. That was my peer group and being introduced to indigenous culture at school. Coming from the UK, I?d only ever seen indigenous people represented poorly in bad Westerns. The further I got into it, the deeper it went, the more I read, the more I experienced. We depend on the planet for our existence, these motifs come out of nature and they?re ingrained in our psyches. It gets you into a ritual space which is connected to transcendence and articulates it; we need to connect more with indigenous culture. They don?t need our help; we need their help so we better start knocking on some elders doors.
 
Laurie: If you could go back to 1985 and give yourself some piece of advice what would it be?
 
Ian: I?d say, ?You?re okay,? because that kid had no self-confidence.

Laurie: Really? The way you strutted on stage, you had no self-confidence?

Ian: Something about the stage was different though. I felt free in that environment. Then you?re in a social environment when you?re interacting with people and society; then being objectified, not knowing where people were coming from and what their objective was. Plus, with the critical stuff from the UK, these are the magazines and the newspapers I grew up with. I grew up with NME; these were for me, really important. Then you come to North America and people were far more optimistic. I?d probably like to give the kid a pat on the shoulder and tell him, ?You?re okay?.
 
Laurie: I think a lot of your fans would like to give you a pat on the back, as well. And so would I. I thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me.
 
Ian: My pleasure

[Falcon]

PowerLine Mag review of "Choice Of Weapon"

http://www.powerlinemag.com/music-review/the-cult-choice-of-weapon/

Hearing the backing vocal chants of ?We got the drugs the drugs in here? in ?Honey From a Knife? can be a bit off-putting at first. The song starts off like a hard rock weapon, a loaded gun firing dead-on, and then that strange inclusion. It?s certainly not as irritating as the cheerleading in Madonna?s ?Give Me All Your Luvin?? but it is a bit puzzling. And so starts The Cult?s ninth studio album, Choice of Weapon.
 
Of course, as far as ?Honey From a Knife? is concerned, the more you listen, the more you like it. But it is probably the weakest track. The others are pretty sensational. Choice of Weapon sounds like the combined flavor of The Cult?s best albums: Love and Electric. Choice of Weapon may not be as masterful, but it is almost as pleasurable.
 
Billy Duffy?s guitar remains both eerie and violent, and then at other times soothing and hypnotic. Ian Astbury?s voice has changed over the years. His vocals are still strong, still intense, but more rough, maybe more Morrison-esque. As always, Duffy and Astbury together are an unstoppable force: ?Lucifer,? ?The Wolf,? ?Amnesia? are all unique hard rockers. And the intelligent poetry of Astbury?s lyrics send out substance: loud messages about human fault and frailty. His lyrics do more than entertain. They make you think.
 
Some critics have said Choice of Weapon is just as good as Sonic Temple. Fact is, it?s better.
 
Choice of Weapon will be available on May 22.