Robert Smith interviews 2013

Started by Ulrich, April 07, 2013, 11:43:12

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Ulrich

Maybe we can put in links to new interviews here in this thread.

QuoteEntrevista a Robert Smith en Radio Urbana (Paraguay) 29.03.2013

http://youtu.be/YNeZgArZ47c

(Robert mentions the possibility of releasing the rest of the "4:13 Dream" recordings with the Paris 2008 dvd. Also he wants to record with Reeves in the future.)

http://youtu.be/vUNey7tzEn4
(includes a bit from rehearsals in Southampton!)

And another one (translated):
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmusica.terra.com.br%2Fgosto-de-me-sentir-esgotado-quando-saio-do-palco-diz-robert-smith%2C239197ba783dd310VgnVCM20000099cceb0aRCRD.html

(Sorry if these were posted elsewhere already.)
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

dsanchez

There is an interview with Robert Smith published today in Peru's biggest newspaper, El Comercio. The key points of the interview are:

- Latinamerican fans are fantastic
- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss me is Bob's favourite album (he says the reason is that all in his life was perfect around this time)
- 80's music sucks

Part of the interview (in Spanish) is here:
http://elcomercio.pe/espectaculos/1563182/noticia-roberth-smith-the-cure-rock-80-fue-porqueria

I will scan later the full interview and put it on the gallery.
2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

Ulrich

Thanks dsanchez, here's what I found on chainofflowers:
http://craigjparker.blogspot.de/2013/04/robert-interview-with-el-comercio.html

This interview ran in El Comercio on Saturday, April  13th, 2013. Thanks to Alfredo for translating it and sending it in.

"Rock from the eighties was crap"
By Francisco Melgar Wong
El Comercio

The first thing that surprises you is the way he speaks. Casual. Relaxed. As if he is watching a music video and calls you in the middle of the night to drop a comment on how to play guitar. "Hello. I'm Robert Smith ". The hard part is to associate the same voice with the image you have of him in the press photos and album covers. Yeah, well-think-is a guy like any other. Although his music does not resemble any.

"I do not know why we have not played in Latin America as elsewhere," he says when you ask him about their prolonged absence here.
"The Latin American public seems fantastic, but for some inexplicable reason we just did not." Let's talk about music then, I say. And so begins the conversation with one of the icons of the new wave.

The trilogy of "Seventeen Seconds" "Faith" and "Pornography" (The Cure albums released between 1980 and 1982) is commonly associated with depressive moods and stages of emotional darkness. Is there anything from that time that comes back to you when you sing those songs?

"When I hear the songs of those albums, I realize that it was a very dark time for me. The lyrics I wrote then sometimes get to scare me. What I can say is that at the time when we were recording "Pornography" I already knew that time was running out and that opened a new era in my life and in the group. And yes, sometimes, when I'm singing these songs, I reconnect with the emotions of which you speak. The good thing is that now the feeling does not last more than four minutes."

The Cure fans never seem to agree on what is the best album of the band. Do you have a favorite album of The Cure?

"If I had to choose an album by The Cure, that would be "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me". And I'll tell you why. Every time I think of that record I remember the time when we recorded it and it was a time when everything seemed perfect. Personally, I was happy. And as for the band, I was excited because I thought we were getting somewhere. There are a lot of light on that album."

Many believe that the eighties were the golden decade of rock. Do you agree?

"Eighties music was crap. At least a big part of it was. That was one of our motivations, we wanted to make better music. The golden age of rock for me started in 1973 and ended in 1975. When Roxy Music, Bowie and Rory Gallagher were playing."

Do you remember when did you decide to become a rock musician?

"Yes. It was in 1975, when i saw Thin Lizzy live. I had it all decided on the train back home from the concert. "
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

dsanchez

2023.11.22 Lima
2023.11.27 Montevideo

revolt_again

"Eighties music was crap. At least a big part of it was."

I think Robert is way off mark here. What about: Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, And Also The Trees, Wolfgang Press, Pixies, Throwing Muses, The Sound, New Order, Birthday Party, Nick Cave, Japan, David Sylvian, Sonic Youth, Einstuerzende Neubauten, The Young Gods, Jesus & Mary Chain, U2, (early) Simple Minds, Waterboys, REM, Smiths, Echo & The Bunnymen, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Gun Club, Feelies, My Bloody Valentine, Swans, Tom Waits, Violent Femmes, Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love & Rockets, Bel Canto, Depeche Mode, Virgin Prunes, Durutti Column, Go Betweens, In The Nursery, Sisters of Mercy, Kate Bush, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Pogues, Suzanne Vega, The The, Univers Zero, Woodentops, etc, etc?

What is particularly weird is that I know for a fact that Robert likes quite a few of the bands I've just mentioned...  :smth017

Ulrich

Quote from: revolt_again on March 13, 2014, 14:42:52
"Eighties music was crap. At least a big part of it was."

Robert certainly wasn't talking of (most of) the bands you mentioned here (he played in one of them even!); I'm sure he's talking "mainstream" - ask any average radio listener about 80's and you'll get names like Culture Club, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Erasure etc etc.! (I'm not saying they were bad - but I guess RS was thinking of these kinds of bands/music.)
The ones you mention are mostly of the "alternative, new wave, indie" scene, some were even struggling in the 80's and only later reaped the rewards (if at all).
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

revolt_again

Quote from: Ulrich on March 13, 2014, 17:03:09
Quote from: revolt_again on March 13, 2014, 14:42:52
"Eighties music was crap. At least a big part of it was."

Robert certainly wasn't talking of (most of) the bands you mentioned here (he played in one of them even!); I'm sure he's talking "mainstream" - ask any average radio listener about 80's and you'll get names like Culture Club, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Erasure etc etc.! (I'm not saying they were bad - but I guess RS was thinking of these kinds of bands/music.)
The ones you mention are mostly of the "alternative, new wave, indie" scene, some were even struggling in the 80's and only later reaped the rewards (if at all).

Well, you could be right about RS being thinking of the more mainstream bands... But since he and the Cure were always involved in the 'alternative' scene, they were part of it and knew what was going on at the time, it is a bit strange that what he remembers from that time are the kinds of bands you mentioned. Saying "Eighties music was crap. At least a big part of it was." is just a bit too harsh and generic, he should have said something more specific and well-thought...


Ulrich

Quote from: revolt_again on March 13, 2014, 17:19:55Saying "Eighties music was crap. At least a big part of it was." is just a bit too harsh and generic, he should have said something more specific and well-thought...

Yeah, he could've been more specific. But if you look above, there's a headline saying "Rock from the eighties..." which narrows it down a bit. (Also, this interview was probably done in English, then released in Spanish (?), then translated back, which means that what Robert really said might be "lost in translation"!

Rock from the Eighties: maybe RS thought of the likes of John Cougar (Mellencamp) and the American side of mainstream rock here (Bon Jovi, Van Halen...). Also, if I remember correctly, he never liked U2 or Simple Minds or The Smiths...

Looking back at the eighties and the bands you mention above, it seems like the perfect decade. But back then, it wasn't. It wasn't as easy to find the more "obscure" records by the "alternative" bands. Radio sometimes (rarely) played something by these bands, but mostly it was Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue etc.  :roll:
The holy city breathed like a dying man...

revolt_again

Quote from: Ulrich on March 14, 2014, 09:24:45
Rock from the Eighties: maybe RS thought of the likes of John Cougar (Mellencamp) and the American side of mainstream rock here (Bon Jovi, Van Halen...). Also, if I remember correctly, he never liked U2 or Simple Minds or The Smiths...

Looking back at the eighties and the bands you mention above, it seems like the perfect decade. But back then, it wasn't. It wasn't as easy to find the more "obscure" records by the "alternative" bands. Radio sometimes (rarely) played something by these bands, but mostly it was Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue etc.  :roll:

You're right: RS never liked U2 (I think he can't stand Bono) and also, because of his hate for Morrissey, he probably couldn't ever get into the Smiths. As regards Simple Minds, it is my guess (I could be wrong, though) that RS only knows their stadium rock phase, and that he has never given a chance to albums like 'Empires and Dance', 'Sons and Fascination' or even 'New Gold Dream', which are a totally different thing.

Yeah, on purely musical terms, the 80s were for me almost like the perfect decade, because the things I didn't like about it I choose simply to forget. As regards radio, i guess it depends where one lived at the time. I had the luck to listen to radio stations - some of them rather mainstream, others more 'alternative' - that actually played, at one time or another, most of the bands I mentioned and also much more. Most of good 80's bands I got to know at the time I actually heard them for the first time on the radio...