Twenty-five years after the rise of the post-punk movement in England, The Cure still comes at us with spiky hair, heavy makeup and, despite millions of albums sold, music that feels like it’s challenging the mainstream.
This spring, on the eve of the release of the band’s first album in four years, leader Robert Smith, 45, talked about The Cure’s legacy .
The group, which had to cancel a Curiosa Festival appearance last weekend at The Gorge, performs Tuesday at the Everett Events Center.
Question: It’s an accomplishment to maintain a hold on your original fans as well as attract a generation of new fans. Why can so few bands do that?
Answer: I think it’s because it’s unusual for someone my age to still be passionate about music. You lose it for better or worse as you get older ‘cause other things become more important. I don’t think there is anything that’s more important than music to me because there’s nothing else that makes me feel anything like that. Everything that made me feel something when I was young is still the same now.
Q: Cure fans might have been a little shocked to read that you were going to work with producer Ross Robinson on the new album. He’s known for going into the studio with such bands as Limp Bizkit and Korn, whose hard-core music seems the direct opposite of yours.
A: Ross is a big Cure fan, and he wanted to make an album that reminded him of what life was like for him growing up when he listened to our album from 1989, “Disintegration.”
Q: Even though the album lists you as co-producer, you gave most of the control to him. What was it like giving that up?
A: When we’re in the studio, I only have one shot of doing a song correctly, so it’s not really an issue of control so much as the thought that if someone’s going to mess it up, it’s going to be me, because otherwise I’ll just get really angry about it. But I completely trusted Ross straight away because if I didn’t, there was no point in doing an album. There’s no second-guessing.
Q: What was the atmosphere like in the studio?
A: It was quite surreal, some of the things that went on. Ross was chucking stuff at us, attacking us when we were playing. … He took one of my guitars and smashed it into the drum kit because he thought that we weren’t playing with enough passion. But it’s good because we all got mad and played better. …
Q: Now that you are eligible for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, how do you feel about someday being inducted?
A: It doesn’t mean anything to me. When I was young, I really despised (awards). I thought that if I was ever offered a knightship. … I couldn’t bear to accept it. In the same way, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame sort of represents something that I really don’t like and yet at the same time, if we were to say no to it, it might be bad because as it is, we’re struggling not to be airbrushed out of history, particularly in the U.K. It’s like we never existed there. It’s only now that they’ve sort of readdressed the fact that The Cure did do something for the last 25 years.
The Cure performs Tuesday in Everett.
The Cure
8 p.m. Tuesday, Everett Events Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave.; $49.90, 866-332-8499.
The Cure
8 p.m. Tuesday, Everett Events Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave.; $49.90, 866-332-8499.
Cure shuttle
Everett Transit will provide a shuttle between Everett Station, 3201 Smith Ave., and the Everett Events Center for Tuesday’s concert. The shuttle service will begin at 6:15 p.m. and continue until about 8:30 p.m. Return trips will operate beginning at 11 p.m. until about midnight. Fare is 50 cents roundtrip; valid passes and tickets accepted.
Cure shuttle
Everett Transit will provide a shuttle between Everett Station, 3201 Smith Ave., and the Everett Events Center for Tuesday’s concert. The shuttle service will begin at 6:15 p.m. and continue until about 8:30 p.m. Return trips will operate beginning at 11 p.m. until about midnight. Fare is 50 cents roundtrip; valid passes and tickets accepted.
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