"I'm still a transgressor", Robert Smith
" I had a hard day, a lot of rehearsals. We've been practicing new songs for the tour", says Robert Smith while he stares at the keyboard of his laptop and a yawn escapes. "I would like to apologize for my cadaverous appearance"
"Let me take something to awake, do you like?"
He invites me while he's sipping a cup that might contain coffee, tea or possibly orange juice, one of his favorite drinks (it's impossible for it to be alcohol).
"When I was 14 years old, I had an experience that changed my life. I was drunk all the time and I did not care. I learned that you can't lose control, but I'm not going to talk about my personal life anymore "
"This is a path with no return. I have chosen a way of life which I know where it leads me, and I know that it can have for me many hard moments and unsociable episodes".
You remind me of what Van Morrison used to said, "Too late to stop now" I say to him.
"Freedom isn't grant to you, you take it. It's hard to see how many artists sell themselves to the media, to industry, to major labels. That's why I like to take my time, to have control of what I do and who I am".
The Cure has not released a new album since 2008, when you released 4:13 Dream and the live video Trilogy Live in Berlin (2009). Why?
"The industry has changed. It's no time for records anymore, people have become used to download songs. I miss the old days when people sat in an armchair and listened to an entire LP. I think the inspiration has changed".
-Do you have doubts about your creative maturity?
"It's not that, but I think every record I've released is very well formed and built. I believe in the quality of the songs and lyrics. I'm very worried that people are too busy sending text messages, searching in the internet, playing video games or watching television, instead of sitting down and listening to an entire album from start to finish. It is an experience that people had forgotten.
-Do you still do that?
(Laughs) "I would like to say I do, especially that I did, but sometimes I would like more time to do it".
-So you're a victim of the same distractions?
"Who's not?""The best pieces of art come from troubled minds. I think the most dismal and pitiful side of the human being is always going to be the most exciting, because that's when people inspire empathy and compassion. The melancholic songs make me feel happy. It is an emotional state that makes you feel accompanied, you know that you are not the only one who feels that way. It is the most beautiful sign of compassion".
-Music as an analgesic and as a cure?
"Music is not only healing and calming for the pain, but it is also refreshing. Through the lyrics of songs you can transform the lives of people. Many people have come to me and told me that I have saved their lives. When people feel the same way as you do, they find the light in the dark, they leave behind the loneliness and abandonment.
When they live the same, they help each other. The feeling of desolation is a silent killer and it can be fulminant. It is important that when people are in emotional states of desolation, meet with other people who are in the same mood, because just this way can true compassion arise. That is the power of music. When I listened to music as a young man, and I found songs of desolation and anguish, I felt they had been written for me".
-Besides listening to music that mitigated your pain, what did you like to read?
"The literature of Kafka, Camus and Sartre has always been a reference for me. I really like the medical literature, especially about psychology. The book Paradise Lost, by John Milton, was decisive for my composition in albums like Pornography.
-Which of your records make you feel more proud?
"I think the album The Cure in 2004, has beautiful power and describes me exactly. Many of the songs were written in the strictest autobiographical sense. Other of my favorite albums are Pornography, Disintigration and Bloodflowers".
-What encourages you to continue?
(He pauses and looks up, as if he's trying to find the words on the ceiling of his room), "I like what I do but what has kept me with that desire to continue? I guess it's the ego. I guess I'm a vain guy who likes recognition and praise. Whoever tell you that they do not care about what people think of their job, they're liar. Artists, besides making economic gains with tours and record sales, live a lot of criticism and recognition.
If my job was to be in an office putting stamps on envelopes, and people would tell me it's crap what I do, I would not mind, because there is nothing there that defines me. But, if someone tells me it's crap what I did, it's like he's telling me that I am that. There is no way to disassociate what you do with who you are. I like what I do, I feel the need to communicate my ideas or make myself heard in the world, to consolidate my existence".
-You started out as a punk band. What do you keep from that philosophy?
"I'm still a transgressor." I do not like being part of the herd. Sadly, punk philosophy is just a dream. It did not really change things much, just made a little noise and ran out. In the music industry, it caused many bands to do independent and propositional things. The punk spirit now lives on social networks and the internet. They are a herd that moves autonomously. It has its own mind and judgment. There is a lot of independent music that sells their products only on the internet. That's a punk attitude and I support all those artists who take control of their promotion, distribution and production".
-You speak about a spirituality in punk music. Do you consider yourself a spiritual person?
"Yes, in the sense of being in touch with my own soul to fulfill my creative needs. The music industry is full of people who are clearly not doing their job. There are many people who have lost the sense and the reasons for what they do, compared to when they first started or fell in love with their creative process. The industry crushes people and forces them to think that they have to make music to please other people.
This situation is the antithesis of my spirituality. For me, spirituality means touching other people with your work. Art is a kind of mirror: if other people feel reflected in what you are doing, then it makes sense what you're doing. Spiritual music is to make people feel that they are part of a collective consciousness".
-What do you miss about your youth?
"The ability to astonish. I remember when I first listened to music, or read a book that marked me, I felt something intense inside me. It has become increasingly difficult for me to feel something like that again. The feeling of playing in small clubs, I will never feel it again. Really, success and fame came slow.
I started playing when I was 17 years old, but it was not until 15 years later that we became big with the album Desintigration. Fame is a consumer product and causes a lot of pain".
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