Friday, July 6, 2012

Robert's interview with The Word

Photo from The Times.
A caricature of Robert Smith will be the final cover of , which will publish it's last issue in mid-July. And the BBC says there will be an interview, too.
(Thanks @rob_fitzpatrick, , @honeyinmyveins)

Update (July 6th, 2012): Now available for iPad. (Thanks Adam)

Some excerpts (been asked not to post full interview until 2 weeks after publication), thanks to Perfect.Murder:

You’re contemplating the end of The Cure?
Well, we are a lot closer to the end! We couldn’t tour in the same way as we used to. It would be physically impossible for me to tour, because I refuse to not do this (lifts drink). I’m not going to go on and just sing the songs, but I also know I’m heading towards my mid-fifties, so there’s no fucking way I’m going to do a hundred shows in four months and they’ll all be great shows.

So the last tour was the last tour?
Yes. I haven’t said this for 20 years, but the last tour was the last world tour that I will ever do with The Cure. That tour taxed me so phenomenally. It’s a sad admission, but actually I’ve never, ever performed without taking some kind of stimulant: I can’t do it. My natural state is not one of a performer, it’s like something I’ve been saddled with. I love writing songs, I love writing words, I love singing at home, I love doing demos. We go in the studio, and then we go on stage, and I have to be this performer. I fucking love doing it, but I have to be able to do it my way.
I was touched by seeing you phone Mary just before you went on stage.
Well, Mary lives on my hours, so she’ll have been waiting up. I’ll phone her again in about an hour’s time [about 4am]. She’s on her own at home and I like to hear her say, “I hope it’s good.” She always says, “Sing well!”

You played Just Like Heaven tonight and there’s that lyric, “Why are you so far away, she said”, which always sounds so real. Like you love this person so much, but they’re always pissing off somewhere.
That’s why throughout the tours of 1987, 1989 and 1992 we took all the wives, all the girlfriends, all the family. We had three buses full of entourage, but we could afford it. We would have entire hotels sometimes. It was insane, the money we spent. But what else would we do with it? The whole point was then you didn’t go home and have to explain what you’d done. Of course, all that tailed off after Wish, because I went a bit mental.

In what way?
Because I couldn’t take the attention any more. When you’re U2, what do you do? It wasn’t us, it wasn’t me.

Didn’t you ever want to be the biggest band in the world?
No! I wanted to be the band that I would love, going to my grave. That has always been my dream. There’s a price to be paid for being U2 and it’s not a price I want to pay. So many people earn so much money out of a band when they’re on that trajectory. You are surrounded by fucking arseholes. You end up with people you would have pissed on when you were 17.

It really is a wonderful interview. Buy a copy for iPod now, or pick up a copy in mid-July.

28 comments:

  1. Looks like Robert Smith gets the final word... >groan<

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    1. Hahaha...have changed the title because of this. Thanks. :)

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  2. That is a disgusting cover! Just awful - Why do they do things like that...

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    1. Agreed!! I think it is an awful caricature of Robert!!.

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    2. Totally agree. Terribly awful

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  3. I will buy it whenever it is out for scans.

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  4. Good interview..thanks for the ipad update.

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    1. For those of us without iPads, can you give a summary of what was said? No rush, just when you get a chance.

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    2. Ok...i didn't want to spoil anyione's read..

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    3. Anyone who wants to read it for themselves, don't read what JC posts. There, that should do it. :)

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  5. Ok...the main thing in the interview is all about the upcoming Uk tour with Spandau Ballet,Duran Duran and Wham..

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    1. I know! It's so exciting to contemplate.

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    2. Especially if George Michael joins them on stage for a duet/mash-up of Faith.

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    3. Hyperion:George is unavailable for this one but Limahl is thinking of joining.....

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  6. so.. what do I have to expect? not seeing them this side of the world never again? (again because they were in south america, but unfortunatelly i wasnt even born by those gold days)

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    1. Emilia, I think he was mainly talking about not doing any more "world tours", the kind like 4Tour that go everywhere and stretch on for months & months at a time, with very few breaks.

      He's not saying no more shows or smaller tours. Look at the current tour - 19 shows, but spread out over 4 months. Not nearly as demanding as a tour where they are playing 4-5 nights a week.

      Are you in South America? Nothing to say they might not schedule a 2 week tour over there in January. Then play 10 shows in the US in March. Those are just examples, not any sort of hint! :)

      Just saying to not give up hope of seeing them again. Robert doesn't seem to be ready to give up playing shows completely. He just seems done with the massive, grinding tours.

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    2. Yeah, then I thought he might be talking about what you said.

      But I don't know why I see the possibility of having them here like fading away. It is nice to have The Cure playing, and honestly I was surprised about the amount of shows they were going to give! But coming over here it's a bit more complicated, in my opinion. Touring in Europe is more accessible, but coming here..hmm I'm not sure!

      Anyway, I always try to be positive and to think there might be a possibilty.. but I also think about Robert getting tired of giving too many shows, and especially of travelling. ******sigh*****

      on the other hand!... yes ;) I'm from Argentina! My father had the opprtunity to see The Cure in their only show in my country (lucky him!) .. So it's been like 24 years of patienly waiting agony :P

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  7. we're now coming closer to the end...Robert's getting really old. :(

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  8. What's this fucking project : The Cure touring with Duran Duran ?!

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  9. Thanks. Very sad that "The Word" is ending. It's actually a good magazine. It had the courage to tout the political insight of Ron Moore's "Battlestar Galactica." That's the on issue I bought; it had Johnny Marr on the cover. I shall have to buy this one for the interview with Robert.

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    1. Look at it this way: it's yet another thing that is outlived by The Cure. That's a good thing, right?

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    2. IF he wants to stay home, then go there and finish the remasters.

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  10. Well I've seen him say "this is the last (add any Cure-related project here)" many times so... I won't say it's over until it's over.

    After seeing the really successful Moz tour in South America (according to him his best tour ever!), my thoughts are that he will be missing a lot of fun if not taking the opportunity to come over for the "last time". I'm sure that there are plenty of interest, from audiences and promoters. We have great (natural, of course) stimulants over here, too.

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  11. I have just read the article and it is pretty good and very favourable to The Cure without wheeling out the old 'quintessential Goth band' cliches. But one thing really annoyed me, it says that The Cure played with HEADLINERS New Order at the Southside Festival as if The Cure were supporting them! But The Cure's name dwarfed New Order's on the posters...for some reason that annoyed me.

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