The Cult’s Ian Astbury: I don’t see AI replacing performers

The Cult’s frontman Ian Astbury has said he can see artificial intelligence (AI) influencing “certain creative choices”, but does not feel it will replace performers.

The singer has been performing within the music industry since the 1980s, joining forces with guitarist Billy Duffy in 1983 to form the rock band Death Cult, which later evolved to The Cult.

Reflecting on the industry evolving with AI, he told the PA news agency: “I can see it being a tool and I can see it influencing maybe certain creative choices.

“But in terms of the essence of sentience, you’re talking about a great mystery, you’re talking about something that our best scientists can’t even define…

“If AI is going to become the new sentient version of whatever we are now, I can’t imagine it happening overnight.

“It would take take millennia for that to happen. But who knows?

“I don’t see AI replacing performers. I’m not qualified enough to go into it but that’s just an intuitive sense.”

Astbury said he has seen the rock genre change during his career, but he does not regard this as a negative evolution like other critics, adding: “It’s morphed into something else… and its continually going to be transformative, and nobody can stop that.”

He praised US singer Ethel Cain for her music which he feels “rips right through you” while he said he identifies with global star Billie Eilish more “than a lot of rockers”.

“It’s a costume for many, you throw on a costume and you go and perform some, it’s almost like there’s a surface element to it,” he added.

“But then there’s real artists who dig, bring their life experience, their lived experience to music, I see a lot more of that in hip-hop culture.”

To celebrate Death Cult’s 40th anniversary, the band are embarking on a UK and Ireland tour to mark the occasion.

It kicks off in Belfast on November 6 before travelling to major cities including stops in Liverpool, Glasgow, Nottingham and Manchester.

They will end the run with three performances in London, the first two in Brixton Electric and the final in Islington Assembly Hall on November 22.

Alongside tracks released under the Death Cult moniker, the shows will feature a setlist that spans the three phases of the band, from Southern Death Cult, to Death Cult, and The Cult’s first two albums – 1984’s Dreamtime and 1985’s Love.

Astbury said: “It blows my mind that it went by so quick. Although there’s times when it felt like time stood still and you wish this moment would stop, but that’s off stage mostly.”

The singer said he has turned down previous opportunities to celebrate anniversaries but felt this one deserved to be marked as he feels “these songs have been a part of our DNA for so long”.

Death Cult’s 2023 Tour runs from November 6 to 22.