Billy Duffy – Sharing Center Stage!

By Jeb Wright
Transcribed By Eric Sandberg

The Cult is a damn fine rock band.

They had a trifecta of albums in the 1980’s (Love, Electric and Sonic Temple) that will allow them to tour the rest of their lives…or at least as long as they want to…or at least as long as Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury want to be in the same band more than they don’t want to be in the same band!

The Cult is currently getting ready to go back on the road!

This time around they are teaming up with two other bands, Stone Temple Pilots and Bush, to co-headline a tour that will zip across the United States this summer, beginning July 18^th.

In the interview below we chat with Billy about the tour…the band…new music…and smashing all of their equipment and not touring Japan…and why there seems to be no inner band friction anymore.

Jeb: You have The Revolution 3 tour coming up this summer with Bush and Stone Temple Pilots. I personally feel The Cult should be headlining every night of this tour.

Billy Duffy: Well yeah, maybe. We've certainly got age on our side. I really don't mind. I honestly wouldn't do it if I cared. It might be different when I get out there and find going on first sucks. We've all gotta do it. It is what it is but I'll take that as a compliment.

Jeb: Correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that the running order of the bands will rotate throughout the tour?

BD: Yeah. It's different every night. Everybody headlines, opens and plays the middle slot. Everyone is an opener and headliner for the same amount of shows. I'm just happy to be able to get out and play some different venues from where we normally play. I think all the bands are quite keen on that. I think it will be fun.

Jeb: Have you ever toured with STP before?

BD: No. We've played a couple of multi-band festivals with them but we've never gone on a tour like this. And that's where it started, with The Cult and STP looking for a way to make it happen, and then Bush got added later which seemed to complete the package and make everybody happy. People started writing checks (laughter).

Jeb: It's an interesting lineup because none of the three bands are really alike. This tour brings three different flavors although there was a time that the popularity of all three bands overlapped.

BD: I think there's enough difference to make it a good night, but there's also enough commonality that everybody will enjoy what they hear. I think the fun part will be winning over a few fans, hopefully, who may have come to see one of the other bands.

Jeb: That's pretty good marketing. I own albums by all three of you, but some people will be more into Bush or more into STP and so on. That's kind of cool.

BD: Yeah, I think so. These kinds of tours with three bands are harder to do than you think with getting three bands to share a bill. These kinds of tours are becoming more commonplace because bands are having to buddy up to give people value for money. There are still only seven days a week and one weekend and every band that ever formed are back together and every band that walks the earth is on tour.

Jeb: Are you at all surprised that this triple bill is getting this kind of attention in 2018?

BD: I think the main thing...and I'm not going to tell you anything you've not heard before...it's about the songs. The longevity of any band is about the songs and making music that connects with people and becomes part of the fabric of their lives. It stays with them forever.

All three bands have made lifelong fans with their hits. If you start counting up the well-known radio songs of all three bands...I don't know, somebody was telling me that Bush has seven number one singles. I don't know. I don't even care.

We’re all in it together. We're all trying to make the tour a success for all three of us. Everyone is quite friendly. We're all friends with each other anyway. Whatever rivalry that goes on will be professional. No one is going want to go on and suck. It's going to raise the bar for the audience anyway. The first band on is going to want to prove that, hey, we should be going on last.

Back in the 60s it was very common for bands to go out on package tours together. The idea of one band, with a support band, playing for two hours was a ‘70s and ‘80s thing.

Jeb: As the three of you swap slots will you be playing three different sets or do you all get to play about the same amount of time?

BD: Everybody gets one hour each every show. That's all agreed. I imagine they will be similar sets each night with minor changes for all the bands. We usually get in a groove of what period we're into and certain songs make sense. Of course we play the songs that there would be a riot if we didn't play them.

Jeb: There's certain stuff you have to play out of respect for the fans.

BD: Indeed. It's a respect thing. You're not pandering but it's just common sense and part of your story and your history. You want to give them as many of those as you can feel good about playing.

Jeb: That said, Choice of Weapon is good. Hidden City I like...it’s kind of funky weird in places. I like that. Are you going to be able to play anything off these albums?

BD: Good question. In an hour you can play maybe twelve songs, thirteen maximum. You can't get too giggy but I imagine we might play one off of each.

Jeb: I hesitate to say it but you guys are kind of moving into that iconic phase.

BD: If you hang around long enough, that'll happen too you!

Jeb: At the same time this is the best opportunity for you to get the word out to your fan base that you do have new music which is something that is really hard to do.

BD: All three of us are making new music. STP has a new album and we have Hidden City. With Choice of Weapon we ran out of time and money and we had to rush to get it finished. On Hidden City we took our time on the songs and we were able to get, as you say, funky weird. Ian likes that kind of stuff and I find it quite interesting to try and do different things musically. It's still mostly a rock and roll record but it's nice to have a little diversity.

Jeb: Here's the million dollar question. There is a feeling among Cult fandom that there's going to be another Cult album before long.

BD: I think there will be new Cult music but I don't know whether it's going to be a full album. It may be. There's going to be something new from The Cult but I'm not sure what form it will take. Making an album is quite a commitment.

Any band getting into their ten or twelfth album, in order to avoid mediocracy, you have to dig deep. It takes time to come up with quality. That's the thing. It's a quality not quantity thing for The Cult. When we think we have enough good songs, then we'll release them. That could be one at a time, who knows? The good news is that there will be new music but the bad news is that it may not be an album. That's quite an undertaking.

Jeb: You're going to lose a year of your life making it and, of course, the hard core Cult fans will drool over it but beyond that you don't know what's going to happen with airplay, etc.

BD: Yeah, all that. All that stuff you know about. It's the risk versus reward, the time, people's money, labels...you know it's been good so far and it will probably happen again but things are always changing. The musical landscape of two years ago isn't the same landscape today. It's constantly shifting. But there will be new music for sure.

Jeb: I'm from the Love, Electric, Sonic Temple generation. Electric is the one that fed my soul, but my question is: with this ongoing reunion with new music and touring, you and Ian seem to be cool. What changed? 

BD: There's a bit more tolerance. It was Ian who left the band...It's hard to say 'left'...he wasn't...active. I don't know if we ever actually split up, but I do know The Cult didn't do anything from '95 to '99 and from 2002 to 2006. There were little breaks there, like when Ian went off to sing with The Doors.

I think we've come to the conclusion that we both enjoy being in The Cult more than not being in The Cult. Once you come to that realization you work toward making The Cult a viable thing rather than not doing it. You work within it to make it the best that you can.

There can be tension which is good and is why is why The Cult does sound a bit unusual...the creative tension. We write the songs together for the most part which is not like a lot of bands. We don't have Ian's songs and Billy's songs...it's a collaborative endeavor. In order for that to happen you have to be fairly reasonable. So we're good. We're getting along fine and we're both happy to be doing The Cult. I think the audience can tell that, despite our advancing age...It's like the old cliché'...these days, I'll do the gig for free, I just want to get paid for the other 22.5 hours of the day!

Jeb: Amen, brother!

BD: When I'm not at home and in my nice bed I'm putting up with all that nonsense. The gig part's fine. 99% of guys in a band, who are not crazy, will tell you the same.

Jeb: In America is "Love Removal Machine" still the one that takes the crowd over the top?

BD: In the United States, yeah. Electric and Sonic Temple were the two really strong albums. In Europe and Canada, it's Love.

Jeb: Love is a killer album. It was kind of your breakout album but it took about a year.

BD: Love was a slow burner and it came up through college radio. We didn't get a lot of mainstream airplay. There were a few cities that were a bit progressive, like Seattle, but for the most part we were kind of a cool Indie alternative.

We were a breakout band, which at that time there were a lot of them. We just happened to be a bit more rock and roll and the others were a bit more pop. You had Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, New Order...there were millions of bands-I could go on-coming over but we were just a bit more rock and roll.

We moved on from that, we didn't want to make the same album over and over again, but Love is the one we lean on more when we're in Canada and the UK. In America we lean a little more toward Electric and Sonic Temple live. We pretty much always play "She Sells Sanctuary” no matter what happens.

Jeb: Is it true that seeing Brian May play didn't inspire you to play, but inspired you to quit?

BD: I did say that. I was like, ‘Oh wow, man.’ It's probably how people felt when they saw Hendrix play.

Jeb: Where was the show?

BD: It was in Manchester in '74 or '75. I know they opened with "Now I'm Here" and they played "Brighton Rock" with the Echoplex and I was like, "Oh man!" I was like, "Whoa!" I wasn't too much into his hairdo or his clogs or his cape, but the sound of the band. To see them in their full glory in a small 2000 seat venue…they were about to become enormous.

Jeb: I have one final question about a Cult legend. Is it true that you were banned from touring Japan because you smashed your instruments?

BD: It's sort of true. Like really good stories there's a large element of truth in the story. We had been to Japan early while we were promoting the Love album and we were doing well. Then we were out touring Electric and we were playing the States supporting Billy Idol and then we did a tour with Guns N’ Roses opening for us. Then…we went to Australia and we had already toured England as well. By that time were getting a little salty. I would say that we were getting to be more like a pirate ship than a band. We just needed a break but, unfortunately, we pulled a Japanese tour which was only a couple of gigs but they really didn't want to unleash us on Japan.

Jeb: In that state...

BD: We were smashing the gear up as part of the show and, in general, we were youthfully exuberant shall we say. So, the answer to your question is yes…but not because we were actually banned from Japan but we mutually agreed with management that it wouldn't be a good idea considering our mindset. We were road weary.

Jeb: You might not have come back.

BD: Yeah, we might have ended up in a Japanese prison. It was a shame because I think it set us back a little in Japan. To be honest I wish we had gone but in some ways I'm glad we didn't because we were pretty crazy. We were fried.

Jeb: Anything else you want to tell us about the tour?

BD: We've covered it pretty well. The big factor is that it's three bands that get along, each play the same amount of time with revolving headliners. It's not unique, it's been done but it's also not commonplace.

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