IAN ASTBURY Says THE CULT Still Performs With 'So Much Passion'

In a new interview with Barbara Caserta of Italy's Linea Rock, THE CULT frontman Ian Astbury spoke about the tour celebrating the band's 40th anniversary. The trek will see the long-running British rock outfit perform songs spanning its 11-album discography.

"We're in a renaissance," the 62-year-old singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It's like we set the clock. Nobody told us we could do that. That's not in many bands' playbooks. They just keep going and then they get to greatest hits and then they get fat and old and die or whatever. For us, it's different. We're like Benjamin Button. I train Muay Thai [Thai boxing]. I fight, I spar. I put on a lot of weight one time when I had a hip surgery. It was very difficult, very depressing. And then I had to fight like a revenant to get back in the room, and I worked really hard, and it took a lot."

He continued: "We've got [bassist] Charlie Jones in the band. He's played with us for the last few years. He comes in [before the recording of 2022's] 'Under The Midnight Sun' [album], and all of a sudden it's a different band. It's rejuvenated. And the passion — there's so much passion in the room for this band, with us. We look at each other with passion. It's not, like, 'Oh, we're gonna play this song again? Boring.' There's passion. It's visceral. It's so visceral."

Astbury also talked about the task of still performing the hit songs that cemented him and his THE CULT bandmate Billy Duffy as rock music icons.

"Well, some songs are an albatross, but they follow us around," Ian explained. "Like, for me, 'Fire Woman', it's a weird song. To me, it's like an albatross. It was such a massive hit song. Everybody thinks that is it. That's THE CULT. But then you step around and go like, 'Oh, '[She Sells] Sanctuary'. Oh, wait a minute, 'Honey From A Knife'. That's interesting.' That's kind of a little bit more dark. It's noir.

"You talk about a hit. What is a hit?" he asked rhetorically. "To me, does commercial terms of what culture says is a hit 'cause it's commercially successful? But then there's songs that resonate because of the essence of the song, and I feel that we play in in the light and in the dark as a group. Sometimes we're playing songs that are very popular, sometimes we're playing songs that people don't know. But the visceral component, the emotional component is the spirit that drives the band, the chemistry of these songs.

"It's a very different thing to go from your everyday life and then you step into this environment where you're in ritual space with three other guys," Astbury added. "And just between the three, you can create this emotional moment that thousands of people can experience."

THE CULT's 40th-anniversary tour kicks off in July with the band's first wave of European dates before heading to Canada, and back to the band's native U.K.

THE CULT holds a significant place in musical history due to its pioneering use of post-punk, hard rock, and experimentalism, pushing boundaries and influencing countless bands across multiple genres. With their musical prowess, uncompromising attitude and captivating stage presence, they forged a distinct identity while charting new territory for bands to explore. From Duffy's formative, and influential, years in the Manchester underground, to Astbury's groundbreaking "Gathering Of The Tribes", the duo has left an indelible mark on modern music, shaping its trajectory in profound ways.

"Under The Midnight Sun" arrived in October 2022 via Black Hill Records. The LP was produced by Tom Dalgety (PIXIES, GHOST, ROYAL BLOOD). Dalgety is the first British producer THE CULT has worked with since its second album, "Love" (1985).

Born out of the ashes of the U.K. post-punk scene, THE CULT evolved to become one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the late 20th century, selling millions of albums, headlining arenas and stadiums around the world, infusing innovative possibilities into the worlds of music and art, and quickly ascending through the ranks of the indie music world to achieve global status. THE CULT, whose music transformed from punk rock to post-punk, psychedelia, heavy dance music and transcendental hard rock, became one of the handful of important bands in the U.S. post-modern and hard rock communities, and was embraced by a generation that was waking up to the influence of 1960s and 1970s rock icons like LED ZEPPELIN, THE NEW YORK DOLLS and David Bowie.

The constant core of THE CULT is the "head and heart" of the band, Astbury and Duffy. Attitude incarnate, the chemistry between these two vastly different artists — equal parts genuine affection and palpable tension — remains the source of their long-standing partnership. Duffy grounds Astbury's esoteric side with a hard rock perspective, and there is no doubt that at all times, these two have each other's back. THE CULT's current lineup also includes former WHITE ZOMBIE, EXODUS and TESTAMENT drummer John Tempesta.