Brit-rockers The Cult are celebrating 25 years together and are back in the UK next week for a bunch of shows. Planet Loud recently caught up with Billy from the band to find out the latest news from the band.
Planet Loud – Hey Billy, how it’s going with the band at the moment?
The Cult – Things are going alright. We’ve still got a heartbeat, we’re not in intensive care so all is good.
Planet Loud – What have you been upto recently?
The Cult – Recently, very little. We were on tour in the States before Christmas – it was actually a pretty intensive tour for us – almost two months around America. We had a break after that and haven’t really done anything since. Basically we’re just gagging around.
Planet Loud – The album came out last year – what are your plans for 2008?
The Cult – You know, I don’t really massively plan that far ahead these days. I guess we’ve got a few tours but nothing spectacular. Pretty much what everyone else is doing really – a few tours. A couple of tours round the UK and Europe and that kind of thing. I wish I had something marvellously exciting to report but it’s just the same thing we’ve been doing for 25 years. It’s the same thing – put an album out, tour, play it to people, do interviews – same thing as always really.
Planet Loud – Going onto the new album, there was a fair gap between this album and the last. During that time yourself and Ian were involved in a number of projects, did you keep in touch with each other?
The Cult – Not really, we bumped into each other but I wouldn’t say we kept in touch with each other. I’d bump into him at places like a football match. I think we did a couple of gigs with The Cult in 2002 but other than that, until I got the call to come in and do the album, I didn’t really speak to him.
Planet Loud – I read somewhere that the current album was born from a solo album that Ian had started working on?
The Cult – You know I wouldn’t necessarily know that. I wouldn’t agree with that.
Planet Loud – That came from one of the biographies on the internet..
The Cult – Well, that wasn’t anyone interviewing me.
Planet Loud – You and Ian brought in a couple of new band members this time. What were you looking for?
The Cult – A sense of humour. Ha. An ability to work very cheaply. Seriously though, Chris has been around and is kinda like family. John was somebody I’ve known on and off for years and he was a drummer who was available when we needed a drummer.
Planet Loud – He’s got quite a CV as well..
The Cult – Yeah but that was mostly metal bands but he doesn’t really play like that. White Zombie were a good band and it required playing with a decent amount of groove in White Zombie.
Planet Loud – You aren’t bothered whether you use well-known musicians or not. When you were looking for new band members, did you get a lot of interest from well-known musicians?
The Cult – Not really. I think the thing you’ve got to understand is that me and Ian are in our forties now so, in order to play with guys who are age appropriate, it’s like if you haven’t done something in your life by your thirties when are you going to do it which means everybody has some sort of history even if it is just session work. It’s hard to be honest, like when we had Matt Sorum in the band for the second time after he’d done Guns ‘n’ Roses. He’s still a really good friend of mine and a guy I spend time with and do stuff with. It just didn’t seem to fit as there is only room for the uber-egos of me and Ian in The Cult and quite rightly so. We formed the band, we wrote the songs and we’ve done it for twenty-odd years – it’s just difficult for us to accommodate other guys into The Cult. If it was a completely different band and it was starting from fresh that would be a whole different story but there is so much history between me and Ian, it’s a little more difficult.
Planet Loud – You’ve talked about the history between you and Ian which stretches back over 20 years. How would you describe your friendship in 2008?
The Cult – I’d describe it as long distance. I live in California and he lives in New York so we’re about as far away from each other as we can be living in one country. We’ve had our differences as to how The Cult should go and what we should be doing but I don’t see Ian as the enemy.
Planet Loud – Has it always been like that?
The Cult – I think when we first started it was good and we had a common thing over the first few years as most bands do. You’re a gang, you against the world, success changes that though. Same with any band.
Planet Loud – Do you find you tolerate each other more now you are older and wiser?
The Cult – Yeah, well, you have to don’t you?
Planet Loud – Okay, back to the new album, what did you want to achieve with it?
The Cult – I think, like what you want to achieve with any record, you want to be liked and loved and respected. The Cult, in the UK, has had a rough ride from the press, particularly Ian and how the press perceive him – so, he’s had a rough ride with the British media. The record, I think what anyone wants to do when making a record is be relevant. Not be an irrelevance. Having done gigs with a lot of diverse bands over the last couple of years that you wouldn’t necessarily think – Franz Ferdinand, Keane, Panic! At The Disco, The Scorpions – we can pretty much do them all. The Cult can do gigs with the obvious like Velvet Revolver or whoever but we’ve done a lot of indie stuff and to hear Keane cover our stuff shows there is another side and facet to The Cult that people don’t generally see. People want to focus more on the era when we had our biggest hits.
Planet Loud – How does it feel seeing a band like Keane cover your stuff?
The Cult – I like Keane. My musical taste is probably not what you think. I’m a fan of melody. In as much as I like punk rock and rock, I like bands that are interesting and have another quality to their song-writing. Keane definitely have something. It’s sounds good so I couldn’t care less who the band is as long as I enjoy it.
Planet Loud – You share a label now with Slipknot, how does that feel?
The Cult – I don’t really feel I’m sharing anything to be honest with you. I know Ian is a little more sensitive to those things than I am. We’re on Roadrunner doesn’t mean I endorse Slipknot or otherwise. We did a festival with them in Japan so I’ve met them. To me, we got our own label which was my idea, Ian’s name, my idea, and we wanted to allow and help Roadrunner broaden their appeal from what they do great, which is metal, but they also have the New York Dolls and Nickelback so they don’t pander to one specific style these days. They definitely pursued us very fiercely.
Planet Loud – Did that interest surprise you?
The Cult – Not really, it made a lot of sense to me. They’re a label who are known for metal and are trying to broaden their spectrum a bit. What better band to go to for a crossover than The Cult. I thought it was an obvious move.
Planet Loud – No apprehentions then?
The Cult – No, not after meeting the people I met but, to be honest, I didn’t have that many dealings with them, it was mainly Ian so he had a lot more interaction.
Planet Loud – What are your plans for the imprint label? Will it just be albums from The Cult or will you be looking at other bands?
The Cult – At first it was just a way for us to get this first record done and out but my idea is that it could be a thing where, if Ian or I saw a band that were great, we could take them to Roadrunner. That was the theory but I’m not sure if that will come to fruition. Ian has fantastic ears on him, a lot better than me, he can spot bands a lot earlier than I can and he can tell if they’re going to be massive but he doesn’t do anything with that information.
Planet Loud – Do you check out bands in California?
The Cult – I don’t think geography has anything to do with it any more especially with the whole YouTube / Myspace thing. Everything is global now. I got to gigs, I see friends play but I don’t know how many great bands come out of LA. I choose to live there because I like the weather and the people socially but, to me, LA is more of a retirement home. I don’t know if it is such a great place to be from.
Planet Loud – Okay, just to finish off, you’re over in the UK next week, any message for The Cult fans?
The Cult – Make sure you pay the babysitter! Ha! Only joking. We were laughing last week that our fans have got older but they’re not as old as the Sex Pistols fans. I enjoy coming and playing the UK, it definitely gets me on some sort of emotional level without getting too soppy, I get touched when we play and people show up even though I’ve chosen to live in another country.
Planet Loud – Finally, 25 years of The Cult, you must look back at some things and think, did I do that?
The Cult – There are some questionable haircuts along the way but, overall, not really, no real regrets. I wish the band had been more productive but that just makes me think that I should be grateful for what I’ve got.
Planet Loud – Okay Billy, thanks for your time and enjoy your holiday..
The Cult – No problem, take care.
Interview by Graham Finney
