Sect Appeal

After a six-year hiatus, iconic hard rock act The Cult finally got around to releasing a new album last October.

Entitled Born Into This, and produced by renowned groove technician Youth, it's a mixture of thumping rockers and tender acoustic interludes, and a potent reminder of just why The Cult have been such an influential group. Having fronted the reformed Doors for a few years, frontman Ian Astbury certainly seems to have recommitted himself to his band in a big way.
What prompted his decision to once again focus his creative energies on The Cult?
“It was natural intuition, I guess,” muses Astbury, speaking down the line from New York. “Just really feeling that I had material that was appropriate for The Cult. And the idea that I was part of a great rock 'n' roll band, so why go start another one? There was a sense that The Cult had almost become a career to some extent, which – especially having come out of punk rock – felt somewhat claustrophobic. But having gone off and done other things, such as singing with The Doors, I felt like I’d really reconstituted myself.”
Last year, Asbury contributed vocals to a couple of tracks on UNKLE’s War Stories album. How did the collaboration come about?
“My relationship with James Lavelle started because we were both interested in Japanese fine art and street culture,” explains Ian. “We were actually introduced to each other in a hotel room with a street artist called Futura 2000 present. Futura 2000 did a spoken word part on Combat Rock, on a track called ‘Overpowered By Funk’.
“He was hunkered into this hotel room, and he was trying to get back to New York – it was just after 9/11. It was a very intense evening, and a lot of things were being discussed. James and I hit it off, and eventually he said, ‘We’re going to start making another UNKLE record, and I’d love you to be involved.’”
Astbury’s spell fronting The Doors was widely acknowledged as a success, and he was certainly ideally suited to the job, given that he had previously been offered the role of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s 1991 biopic of the singer, The Doors.
“There wasn’t just me lined up, I know that he was talking to Michael Hutchence as well,” remembers Ian. “Michael was a good friend of mine and we spoke about it. I think at one time Oliver had the idea that a musician should play the role, just from the point of view that a musician would have the experience of being onstage. For me, at 26 years of age, I didn’t want to approach the icon of Jim Morrison. And I didn’t feel I had any acting ability.
“I did go out with Oliver Stone one evening, but we spent more time talking about Native Americans. Then he started talking about making a film about Native Americans, with me involved, and that’s definitely something I would have done. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to pass.”
One notable support act The Cult had in the ’80s was a nascent Guns 'N' Roses. What did Ian make of Axl Rose?
“Axl’s a very pensive man,” he replies. “He’s deeply introspective and he takes it very seriously. I found him to be articulate and really sensitive. People portray him as being a complete wacko, but I don’t know what’s more wacky – staying in the same town and doing the same thing for 70 years of your life, or really going out and having experiences.
“I think a lot of people need someone like Axl Rose in their lives, ’cos they’re not gonna do it themselves. People want to go to concerts and see amazing performers. So, the more Axl Roses, the better.”

Born Into This is out now on Roadrunner. The Cult play the Olympia, Dublin on March 4.