Pop Quiz: Robert Smith of The Cure

Pop Quiz: Robert Smith of The Cure

Aidin Vaziri | Never mind that the Cure announced its retirement four years ago. The influential British band is back with a new self-titled album and the traveling Curiosa Festival, featuring a lineup that includes young disciples such as the Rapture, Interpol, Mogwai, Cooper Temple Clause and Auf Der Maur. It's just like Ozzfest for people who wear their hair like birds' nests and write bad poetry.



Robert Smith of The Cure
Q: Are you enforcing any kind of all-black dress code?
A: No. I think every band on this bill is really cool in its own way. They all look totally different and they all act totally different. To me, what you do makes you cool. You either have passion or you don't, and that's it. There's nothing else.
Q: So the dress code is more of a self-imposed thing?
A: I like looking a certain way. I'm stuck with who I am, as is everybody else. There's no need to reinvent myself, although I have been wearing a lot of gray on this tour.
Q: Whoa, take it easy. Before you know it you'll be in bare feet and tie- dyed shirts, playing the cowbell like the guys in the Rapture.
A: That's one of the highlights of the evening. It's awesome. The essence of it, the secret to a happy life, is not caring what other people think.
Q: Yes, but as far as I know there are no Cure songs with cowbells.