READING: Interview with Robert Smith (Cure)
Interview / Author M. Buda
READING: INTERVIEW WITH Robert Smith (Cure)
You’ve had a nice success in Reading, were you expecting it?
Yeah. Frankly not. It’s mostly a very different audience than our usual one.
Because of their age (above 25) and the music they prefer (the old hard rock).
Anyhow, the kids close to the stage had made a hellish scene and all people had
been heated up and started applauding.
When did you started playing together and where?
We’re from Crawley, in Sussex, and we started on 1976, but only this year we
started to have some success with Killing An Arab, which is the single that made
us be somehow known, also because of its lyrics.
What are they about?
About the murder of an Arab, but mostly I think it is instead a bit... about the
absurdity of daily life. There’s a lot of racism and violence in London. The
rest of our songs also talk about life in big cities. For example 10.15 Saturday
Night, Subway Song and Plastic Passion or Three Imaginary Boys, which is also
the title of our first album. But we are in no hurry: we’re just in our
twenties.
What do you think about the current English scene?
Don’t even want to mention it. I don’t like that childish competition that
always comes out among bands. We sing and that’s that.
Listening
to Fire In Cairo, one might say it reminds of Shadows Of Night, because certain
‘Egyptian’ or ‘Arabian’ atmosphere, similar to some sixties American punk bands.
What do you think?
I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know the sound of those bands you
mention. But all that stuff about the similarities is a game that many like to
play with us. Frequently they like to put us inside the same bag with Throbbing
Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, the Prag Vec., nevertheless we have nothing in common
with them. In fact, Throbbing Gristle is a band I don't like. In the same way, I
don’t understand any comparison with Devo or any other band still tied up to the
model and the mentality of hard punk from three years ago. Perhaps the band we
follow with more interest and care, being me or Michael Dempsey and Lol Tolhurst
(bass and drums), are Scritti Politti and Public Image Limited. I believe Johnny
Rotten has mainly done the right thing when he founded and then let lose the Sex
Pistols. I have nothing else to say.
How
come you‘ve never been in Italy yet?
Mainly for a reason substantially economic. It’s not easy to embark in a foreign
tour. But I wouldn’t exclude the possibility to go there soon. I know that some
New Wave bands are currently making plans to go to Italy.
THANKS to: Ernesto [Cheshire Cat (MFC)] for the TRANSLATION.