Ian Astbury

Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin

Society & Culture, Arts, Philosophy

4.6 • 908 Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ian Astbury is the longtime frontman and founding member of The Cult. He began his music career in 1980, initially gaining recognition with the post-punk group Southern Death Cult. The band later evolved into The Cult, with guitarist Billy Duffy, bassist Jamie Stewart, and drummer Raymond Taylor Smith. Known for their blend of post-punk, gothic rock, and hard rock, The Cult released several successful albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including Love, Electric, and Sonic Temple, featuring hits such as “She Sells Sanctuary,” “Love Removal Machine,” and “Fire Woman.” Astbury continues to lead The Cult in the present day, most recently fronting the band on their 2025 North American tour, which features music from both The Cult and their earlier incarnation. ------ Thank you to the sponsors that fuel our podcast and our team: LMNT Electrolytes https://drinklmnt.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Athletic Nicotine https://www.athleticnicotine.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Squarespace https://squarespace.com/tetra Use code 'TETRA' ------ Sign up to receive Tetragrammaton Transmissions https://www.tetragrammaton.com/join-newsletter

Transcript

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0:00.0	Tetrogramminton I was born in 62, the year the Beatles broke, with my father had three sisters, so three aunts, and then my mother had seven.
0:34.6	So there was all these matriarchs raising me and they were all obsessed with
0:38.7	Beatles and Stones and pop. So I had that, I remember shopping with my mum when I was like 18
0:45.9	months old. Beatles are in Liverpool, we're in Liverpool shopping. I remember it's holding her hand
0:50.6	and people freaking out. Yeah.
0:55.6	It was 62.
0:56.8	Unbelievable.
0:58.6	So I'm 62 now.
0:59.4	Yeah.
1:00.9	So it's definitely a... Yeah, I'm right behind you, right there.
1:02.4	Yeah, I'm very, very close.
1:05.0	Uh-huh.
1:05.6	But we've been together for a long time.
1:08.1	We've been together for a long time.
1:09.3	You've been, since we met, since I first sat down with you, you went in the dorm. You were out? I was still living in the dorm. You were still at the dorm? Yeah, I walked from the dorm every day to an electric lady. Right. Okay. So that is one thought that I was like, was Rickon dorm? Yeah. I don't think I had ever produced an album before your album.
1:11.6	I didn't think I had ever produced an album before your album.
1:31.3	I was working on, I remember working on the Beastie Boys album, but that was not done.
1:36.6	It was still in process.
1:39.0	And I want to ask you, I don't know how you knew about me, because all they were at that time were the seven-inch singles.
1:44.2	That's right.
1:45.0	Cookie-puss.
1:45.7	I didn't make cookie-puss, though, but the Beasties. I heard that. Yeah. They made it. Yeah. But I was like, what are they doing? Yeah. What's going on in that world? Yeah. I had to know everything about it. And then your name came up.
	...

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