In Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac’s latest podcast episode of Sidetracked, they were joined by The Cure’s Robert Smith as co-host, who made many revelations about his awareness of current pop culture, his listening habits and teased forthcoming music from The Cure.
In the episode that paid particular attention to the pop queens who were at the forefront of music in 2024; Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx, and Chappell Roan, Smith revealed an impressive knowledge to the cultural prominence of these woman within the music industry.
This week on a very special episode of Sidetracked @anniemacmanus and @grimmers are joined by @thecure frontman Robert Smith for his first EVER podcast
Sidetracked with Annie and Nick | Listen now on BBC Sounds pic.twitter.com/FeeyDwXbor
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) December 19, 2024
Smith prefaced the conversation with the awareness that it would be “unfair and disingenuous” to claim he had “bought into Brat Summer or Chappell Roan” because it’s not aimed at him. He continued to emphasise that he had been aware of Roan’s work “for a long, long time”, recognising the nature of her almost ‘overnight’ success with her debut album, ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess’, despite Roan being present in the industry for many years.
The podcast’s presenter, Annie Mac went on to ask The Cure frontman if he was aware of a recent incident where Roan called out the behaviour of her fans by posting two videos on TikTok, and how Roan calling out this behaviour marked a wider cultural shift regarding para-social relationships between celebrities and their fans.
@chappellroanDo not assume this is directed at someone or a specific encounter. This is just my side of the story and my feelings. ♬ original sound – chappell roan
Roan declared online back in August: “I don’t want whatever the f*** you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity. I don’t give a f*** if you think its selfish of me to say no for a photo or for your time or for a hug. That’s not normal. That’s weird. It’s weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online and you listen to the art they make. That’s f***ing weird! I’m allowed to say no to creepy behaviour, ok?”
Smith empathised with Roan: “it’s a tricky one because it’s a complicated subject. I think what you’re doing as an artist, you want people to feel like they’re engaging with you, but it is a modern world phenomenon that there this a sense of entitlement that didn’t used to be there amongst fans.”
As an individual with over four decades worth of experience in the industry, Smith compared Roan’s experience to his own encounters with fans: “When we started out, it was kind of enough, we did what we did, and people didn’t expect more”.
He continued: “whereas now it seems almost like that is part of the deal and as The Cure became more popular, we obviously have experienced quite a lot of obsessive behaviour down the years”.
The ‘Alone’ singer expressed his support to Roan’s comments, recognising the “very strange culture” that encompasses modern fan culture where “obsessive behaviour” is somewhat normalised despite being “quite threatening” to artists.
Smith recognises the difference in The Cure’s and Roan’s emergence to fame, with the latter being more rapid, has exacerbated the difficulties in adjusting to the spotlight, when artists are catapulted into fame almost overnight.
As the trio’s conversation began to quickly change topic, Sidetracked saw Smith tease the unreleased second part of ‘Songs of a Lost World’ and divulge in his listening habits which surrounded owning many iPods with their own distinct genres to suit his moods and consciously avoiding streaming services, and being “bewildered” at the public response to The Cure’s latest release.
