The sanctuary of friendship in The Cult

Billy Duffy might have lived in Los Angeles for more than 25 years but the longtime guitarist with rock band The Cult remains at heart a refreshingly straight-talking Mancunian.

Ask him about the concept behind the band’s new album, Hidden City, reputedly the last part of a trilogy that began with Born Into This in 2007 and continued five years later with Choice of Weapon, and he says: “I’ll be honest, the disclaimer is I’m the guitar guy, I’m like engine room. I’m aware of what Ian [Astbury, The Cult’s singer] is prattling on about – in the nicest possible way – I’m supportive of him but he does his thing.

“He’s done some interviews that explain so much better than what I ever could do where he’s coming from. I would do him an injustice with my limited vocabulary. For him, it’s like we’ve been back together 10 years this year and we’ve done three albums in that period and I think the general idea of it is to focus people’s attention on more recent history.

“As much as though there was the 80s and we all lived through that you can kind of harp on about that a bit too much. So because it’s a new album – and not all bands do new albums – we just want to honour that, by lumping them together and showing there’s a thematic [link], there’s consistency, we’re in it for real, it’s a proper working, organic band, still being creative and trying to reach a little bit.”

The 54-year-old guitarist thinks his relationship with Astbury has evolved over the past 30 years. “We were really good mates, like really tight in the early days,” he recalls. “When the band formed we used to sleep in the same bed for about a week in Brixton, that’s how close we were when The Death Cult first formed because Ian had nowhere to stay.

“Then you get money and success and all that stuff and there’s no real brochure on how to handle it, there isn’t a pamphlet from the government [that says] ‘Hey young man, you’re going to be a rock star and all this stuff’s going to happen, now what are you gonna do? Goal 1 – Don’t die...’

“What I’m getting at is we’ve been through a lot of phases, also as guys we’re both in our fifties now, and I think we’ve got a lot more compassion, understanding, we’ve been through the mill. With me and Ian, people used to think we hated each other and it’s never ever been true. We wanted to play the Stones thing, Mick and Keith, they hate each other but we just thought well, if people are printing that legend let them print it.

“The worst between me and Ian it would have been like the Cold War, like a bit of a tension, there’s the Billy side and the Ian side, and it was like that East-West tension, that’s probably it as its worst. Nothing gets said and there’s a bit of suspicion and cross-border tensions. Now I think we’re a little bit more grateful, we’re happier, I think we’re more giving than taking but I think that’s what happens to everybody when you get a little bit older, as human beings you want to give back. You have children, you see life a little differently.

“When you’re in your twenties and thirties it’s ‘take, take, take, mine, mine, mine’ and now, don’t get the idea I’m soft because I ain’t, it’s not baskets of kittens and puppies, trust me, but I would say that these days I have a little more appreciation and gratitude for the gig, the show, the music, the fact that anybody shows up and it has a bit more of an emotional reach for me now. I think that the compassion and the tolerance between me and Ian and the appreciation that when we do write together it’s good, I believe what we do is good and I think the records we make are as good as they can possibly be and I’m proud of this album.”

Hidden City is out now. The Cult play at Leeds Beckett University on Tuesday March 8. For details visit http://thecult.us/