In July at the Gasometer

The Cult: 40 years of gothic rock history live

A life dedicated to gothic rock and philosophical gloom: The Cult frontman Ian Astbury, here in the Vienna Arena in 2017.

(Bild: Andreas Graf)

With their debut album "Dreamtime", British band The Cult revolutionized accessible gothic rock with a post-punk edge exactly 40 years ago. Reason enough to go on an anniversary tour and finally visit Vienna again. Beforehand, we philosophized with frontman Ian Astbury about God and the world.

Strictly speaking, the band's roots go back to 1981, but the British gothic rock express The Cult really got rolling in 1984 with their debut album "Dreamtime". Recorded in Monmouth, Wales, the masterpiece became a cult work that quickly earned the band around frontman Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy cult status. The unlikely duo dominated the dark scene with the follow-up albums "Love" (1985), "Electric" (1987) and "Sonic Temple" (1989) and maintained this status until the mid-90s, when the band split up for the first of two times. Since the second reunion in 2006, the band has regained musical stability, but not team stability. This is reflected not least in good to very good albums, such as "Under The Midnight Sun", released in 2022, which was deliberately recorded in the same studio as the debut to close the circle.

Gustav Klimt as a tattoo
The band is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary and is touring throughout Europe this summer to mark the occasion. Seven years after an acclaimed performance at the Vienna Arena open-air venue, the Brits are now back in Vienna - this time at the Gasometer on July 24. The art-loving frontman Astbury has special connections to Austria. "I have a tattoo of Gustav Klimt and I also love Egon Schiele," he tells the "Krone" in a Zoom interview from his adopted home of Los Angeles, "I hope that I'll find time in Vienna to visit the Secession and check out various galleries. I've been toying with the idea of planning a tour along these lines for a while now. Life passes you by so quickly on tour, so I want to use the little free time I have in between as sensibly as possible."

The 62-year-old is regarded as one of the best rock singers in the world. In addition to The Cult, he also worked in a The Doors cover band with original members Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger, was on the mic for the MC5 reunion in 2003 and was a guest with such diverse talents as Slash, Tony Iommi and Nine Inch Nails. His Cult lyrics were always deeply interwoven with personal experiences and setbacks. It was about his tough childhood in Glasgow and England or the sexual abuse he suffered at the age of 15. Astbury is not only interested in art, but also highly philosophical. Conversations with him quickly slide from the hundredth to the thousandth and have very little to do with music and his band. While he prefers to let the sound do the talking on stage with The Cult, away from it he proves to be an exuberantly interested bon vivant.

Stage as a sacred place
"People naturally like to ask me about memories and events on the anniversary, but I prefer to live in the present. Of course, a 40th anniversary is a special milestone, but when I'm on stage, I usually have my eyes firmly closed and don't even notice what's going on around me. The stage is a sacred place for me and I want to tear people away from the worries and hardships of reality for just under two hours. That's what's important to me at that moment." Astbury doesn't see The Cult as a stage show, but as a working-class band. "I've lived in North America since I was eleven, but the values of my childhood in the UK stay with me to this day. When I come back to England, it always feels a bit strange to me. I feel at home in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, I love the US punk and psychedelic punk that emerged in America in the 60s and 70s. That's the foundation of our music."

Astbury is as much a musician as a fan. He reveres the unforgettable British pop chameleon David Bowie above all else. "He shaped an entire generation by his very existence. He enticed young people to try the unknown and to think. He wanted us all to become addicted to trying new things and to keep finding and reinventing ourselves. Bowie was a mentor out of a picture book and such personalities are missing today." Astbury knows that young people today would rather scroll through TikTok videos and Instagram feeds than engage with literature and non-fiction. "I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it's blunting us. In the past, great artists and people like Arthur Rimbaud or Charles Bukowski were icons. Today it's footballers. Kanye West runs around wearing a David Beckham shirt, Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds invests in Welsh lower league club Wrexham and Tom Hanks roots for Aston Villa in the stadium a few times a year. There's nothing wrong with that, but I find it strange that we're making heroes out of them all."

Ideas and visions
Astbury comes from a youth culture that was completely against the mechanization of the human soul, which is also what some of his lyrics refer to. "Today we live in a particular narrative that tells us we should work from 7am to 5pm and organize the rest of the day around it. That's why I've always identified much more strongly with female artists. Anne Imhoff, Vincent Van Gogh or Bowie. People who don't follow a schedule, but ideas and visions. Today we are surrounded by performers and entertainers, but not by real artists. I wouldn't call myself an artist because I could never compete with a Vivienne Westwood or a Mark Roscoe. So many people have grandiose visions, but you have to steer these visions past commerce. We're certainly not a band that does things to get likes. We are part of pop culture, but we are not tangible. Many people don't even know that we exist and that's completely okay."

The charismatic frontman also makes sure to remain open to new trends. Astbury considers the Berlin music scene to be the most exciting in Europe at the moment and is an avowed fan of rapper Ufo361. "It's great how he combines contemporary trap influences with a classic approach. It's somehow reminiscent of the sound of the 90s and yet totally fresh." Astbury may not have a new studio album in the pipeline for The Cult, but he has other big plans. "I envision something that goes beyond CDs, records, concerts, posters and T-shirts. I can also imagine working as a producer, film director or fashion label boss. Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, for example, is a wonderful entrepreneur who has always thought outside the box. Developing ourselves is in our human DNA. I see no reason why we shouldn't give in to this urge."

Live at the Gasometer
On July 24, The Cult will be celebrating their 40th anniversary at the Gasometer in Vienna. Tickets are still available at www.oeticket.com for this summery, dark concert highlight, at which Astbury, Duffy and co. will of course play all their big hits such as "She Sells Sanctuary", but will certainly also come up with one or two surprises. In any case, a special evening is guaranteed.