The Cult's Ian Astbury: "There's A Bit Of Forrest Gump About Me!"
From genuflecting before Nick Cave to following Crass around America, the shamanic singer discusses his wide-eyed formative years in the latest issue of MOJO.
WHILE HE’S INSPIRED a fair bit of his own fanatical devotion, Ian Astbury has admitted to MOJO he’s been a bit of a fan boy himself.
Speaking in our current issue (February ’16 / #267), The Cult’s frontman discusses how his rootless teenage years led him to his eventual destiny.
Born in Cheshire yet raised in Glasgow, the shamanic singer’s family moved to Hamilton, Ontario in his mid-teens, causing Astbury to seriously latch onto rock’n’roll, dutifully following his favourite band, CRASS, around North America.
“There’s a bit of the Forrest Gump about me,” he tells MOJO’s Andrew Perry, before sharing a hazy recollection of nearly getting thrown out of The Birthday Party’s dressing room for “being too degenerate”.
“Nick Cave was like, ‘Get this kid out of here!’ I was on my knees, deifying him,” recalls Astbury. “Tracy Pew [BP bassist] let me stay, and gave me a bottle of vodka. Basically, I was a fan, and still am.”
Get the latest issue of MOJO now for the full feature with Astbury and long-suffering guitarist Billy Duffy, including a look at forthcoming album Hidden City. And while you ponder that, here’s a track from it: Hinterland...
PHOTO: Piper Ferguson