September 1993 - Best (France)*  (Translation below)

(intro) Robert Smith is a man of integrity. While 'Show' is out in British theatres and has been 'shot down' by the press(I mean getting really bad reviews), the Cure leader decided to cancel all scheduled interviews about the release of the two live albums. All but one, for 'Best'. The press: "All journalists should also be musicians. They would realize it's difficult to write songs, have a band and make it live... as long as they don't become frustrated because their music has been rejected everywhere. I wonder what I would have done if the first Cure album had failed. I would have probably gone mad, because we were really good."

Actual mood in the Cure: "The band's life is strange these days. Everything's happening on personal levels. It's a tough and heavy atmosphere when we are together. I am worrying about the others indeed. Because I feel enthusiastic and happy, but not them. I think they worry about what's going to happen next. Boris wants to have a new band with Carol (Caroline Crawley from Shellyan Orphan). It's interesting for him because it means he will play drums all the time. When he's not playing with The Cure, Boris stays at home doing nothing. That's why he wants a new band. For him, it's the best: he'll be able to do what he likes the most in the world, playing drums. But Perry and Simon's personal lives are incredibly complicated. Maybe they see the Cure as an escape. The group is a way of escaping from reality, from all the problems, but when it stops, you have to face the reality. Maybe that's why they absolutely want the Cure to go on, but that's not a very good reason.

"Since June '91, the Cure has never stopped working: demos, recording, touring. I've been with the others constantly for 2 years, and then I really needed a break. It's real life that puts us under pressure now, reality. I guess it could be an advantage if I was able to turn all these big emotions between us into something creative, but there's always the risk that it explodes. At the XFM show, the atmosphere was terribly heavy, something I had not felt since Pornography. I had this impression that we could have hit each other. I think that everyone, except me, is going through a period of time where they don't really know what they want."

So what do you want ? - "Nothing. Playing guitar. Being alone, I haven't been alone for 2 years. I don't want The Cure to become routine, I don't want to be an accepted popstar. I think it's time to step back. That's how I feel now, I have ideas, ideas for The Cure, but it depends on how things will turn out and what the others are going to do. We will all meet in September to talk about it."

about Porl leaving: "To be honest, Porl did not put all his heart and soul into 'Wish'. He loved certain songs, like 'End', 'Cut', 'Deep green sea', but not all of them, and he didn't play on all the songs, which is OK. Porl has always had problems that solved in a dramatic way. We are a kind of family, and my sister Janet, who is married to him, didn't want Porl to be in the Cure and a father at the same time (They just had a baby named Todd), and I think she's right. Simon had to deal with that and it costed him a lot. For the last two records, Porl has been so difficult.

But 'Wish' is an album with a lot of guitar and Porl's role was very important on stage... - "At home, Porl records his own music that is very strange, it sounds like Captain Beefheart, it's brilliant. Porl is, or was, the best musician in the band, but it has nothing to do with my idea of The Cure. It didn't fit with what I wanted. Even if I admire what he does. That's what I told him during the recording of 'Wish': he should do his own stuff, because we refused all his demos. It was too weird, almost free jazz. Maybe it would have been a big challenge for us to play that, but it would have made us fail for sure and we would have had to live with these songs for two years and I didn't feel them."

(Ouch! I hope my grammar isn't too bad for this one And I'll stop here. This is a long interview and it's too much work! At least, you had a glimpse of it ;o)
(thanks so much - sylvain.decorzent for translating)