Kate Watson For over four decades, The Cult has been a force to be reckoned with in the world of rock music. From their early days as Southern Death Cult and Death Cult to their current incarnation, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have consistently pushed the boundaries of their sound, refusing to be pigeonholed into any one genre. As they celebrate this major milestone and find themselves in the midst of a renaissance, The Cult is set to electrify the stage at Caesars Windsor this Saturday, September 7th.
The Cult’s current tour, aptly named ’84 24,’ embodies a futuristic, gothic theme that showcases the band’s evolution. “Cults evolved. You know, we’re going to continue to evolve,” Astbury emphasized. “There’s been a conscious effort to it. I mean, there’s certain times when there’s a lot of resistance to growing and, you know, burning everything down again, like after Sonic Temple, especially because that was such a commercially successful record.”
Astbury’s musical influences run deep, from David Bowie and Pink Floyd to punk and electronic music. “T. Rex, the Dolls, then my brother and I saw Pink Floyd in 1975 – that was a lightning bolt moment,” he recalled. “I can’t explain the voltage that went through me at that moment. And so Pink Floyd have always been in the background.”
The Cult also left an indelible mark on the Seattle grunge scene. “The Cult had a top 40 single in Seattle in 1985 with ‘She Sells Sanctuary’,” Astbury noted. “We played the Paramount and it was the biggest gig of the whole tour. Everybody came to see The Cult.” Soundgarden was the first band he asked to play at the Gathering of the Tribes festival.
Astbury’s teenage years as a British immigrant in Hamilton were formative, if difficult. “It was a tough city, blue collar. Very different than the Hamilton I perceive it to be now,” he said. “But that pushed me further into music, visual arts.”
Meeting Billy Duffy, a fellow Northerner, was pivotal – they bonded over bands like The Stooges and Johnny Thunders.
The secret to their partnership’s longevity? Time apart. “You’ve got to go away and recharge,” said Astbury. “It’s unsustainable to stay out there touring and touring.”
He views the band’s 1994 self-titled album as a major turning point. “We decided to strip everything away that we knew about ourselves and kind of rebuild it. Like, literally just, you know, that was a great 13 year run or whatever it was. Let’s just close everything down and start from scratch.”
Despite industry changes, The Cult continues to evolve and engage fans. “To maintain the engagement on social media is you got to maintain the algorithm, which means you’ve got to have a lot of content,” Astbury explained. “Obviously, streaming has crushed CD and record sales, and it’s also changed the formatting of streaming and the attention span of music.”
Fans can expect an unforgettable show at Caesars Windsor. “It’s The Cult and we’ve got better production so it’s going to sound incredible. We’ve got 19 shows in us right now,” Astbury promised. “We pretty much come out swinging. We come out swinging straight away. There’s no slow build up to our show and it’s a good time to see the band.”
With a career spanning over four decades, The Cult has weathered many changes in the music industry. From the rise of grunge to the digital revolution, they’ve adapted and thrived. “We’ve always remained curious and inquisitive, trying to consume as much information about the present moment as possible,” Astbury said. “That gets dropped into the creative process, performances, visual narratives. I mean, you know, it’s like, keep moving, keep moving forward.”
The Cult’s influence extends far beyond their own music. They’ve inspired countless artists across genres, from metal to electronic. “I don’t think of The Cult as a classic, like a classic rock band,” Astbury mused. “People go, no, you’re kind of post classic rock and post punk.”
Their impact on the Seattle scene, in particular, cannot be overstated.
Astbury’s eclectic taste and openness to new sounds have been key to The Cult’s longevity. “I like what’s happening in hip hop music and progressive R&B,” he said. “The kind of dark wave electronic scene, though, is really fascinating. So much going on in that sector. And, you know, in Europe, you have like, a new folk movement, which is kind of gothic.”
The band’s 1994 self-titled album marked a major shift in their sound and approach. “That was a point where we decided to strip everything away that we knew about ourselves and kind of rebuild it,” Astbury explained. “We were doing things like flipping over the bass drum, you know, like, on the floor and playing, like Mo Tucker from the Velvet Underground and listening to way more progressive music.”
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, The Cult released Under the Midnight Sun in 2022. “Under the Midnight Sun, of course, we made that during COVID which was challenging,” Astbury said. “So that record’s got a lot in it. The last four albums, you know, they just, I think it’s probably because we don’t have a central record label. We’ve been on a few different labels. The complete model’s changed.”
As for the future, Astbury hinted at potential new music and expanded album re-releases. “There’s always something floating around. You know, I feel that at the right moment, who knows? We may go back in the studio and pull something out,” he teased. “At some point I’d like to do something that’s got a little bit more description and about the influential elements, notes, some of the background to some of the songs, because you put these things out and everyone has their own interpretation of what it’s about.”
The Cult’s live shows remain a force to be reckoned with. “We’ve been kind of improvising quite a lot in certain songs and that’s something new for us,” Astbury revealed. “So you might hear improvised versions. There’s a few poignant ballads in the set that people may not have heard live before.”
For Astbury, the band’s current renaissance is invigorating. “Now we’ve got this body of work and we’re in this moment. We’re getting loads of offers for 2025 and continuing this,” he said. “So 84 24 may very quickly evolve into 85 25.”
