The way he vented his bad mood in front of the camera in 2019 makes the musician uncomfortable today.
It was rock star-like when Robert Smith and his cronies walked onto the red carpet at the “Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame” ceremony in 2019 – and were not in a celebratory mood at all. The singer has now revealed which viral comment he would rather have avoided.
“It’s a little early, isn’t it?”
During a guest appearance on the podcast “Sidetracked with Annie and Nick” on “BBC Sounds”, the frontman spoke about the moment five years ago in New York. At that time, The Cure were welcomed into the flashlights before the event on the occasion of their induction into the “Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame”. The lively interviewer Carrie Keagan could hardly believe that she was able to welcome the goth rockers. “Congratulations The Cure – 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductees! Are you as excited as I am?” she asked the singer after a euphoric greeting.
Robert Smith – ever the Brit – was unimpressed. “From what it sounds like right now, no.” The thwarted presenter tried to save what could be saved. “Oh no,” said Keagan, “what are we supposed to do?” Then the songwriter relented. “I’m sure we will be at some point later,” Smith replied. “It’s still a little early, isn’t it?” The clip of the unfortunate conversation has since gone viral online – many celebrated the musician’s bluntness.
Caught cold by the “wave of enthusiasm”
However, he himself seems to regret his reaction back then today. “I had a guilty conscience,” he told the BBC. “If I’m honest, I didn’t know I was being filmed. That was probably the reason for it. We had previously had a pretty serious conversation in our dressing room about what we were actually doing there. And this wave of enthusiasm was just like that… [Gelächter].”
Motivation grows from dissatisfaction
In further conversation, Smith talked about his band’s latest, critically acclaimed album SONGS OF A LOST WORLD – and why it took 16 years to complete. He cited his dissatisfaction with the previous record 4:13 DREAM as the reason for this. “I tried to make an album in 2008 that was a double album and it was really weird. It had all sorts of numbers on it, instrumental numbers – and I was pressured to reduce it all to one album, which was too long and didn’t work,” the 65-year-old recalled.
“It wasn’t nearly what I wanted it to be. I learned my lesson and maybe that’s why we haven’t made another album for so long! I was so disgusted by the process. We were commodified and that really upset me,” Smith said.