July 1996 by Brett Atwood
Billboard Magazine
Internet
users are getting a rare chance to get up close and personal with the members
of the Cure on a new World Wide Web site (http://www. the-cure.com) that relies
heavily on the active participation of the musicians. Live webcasts, intimate
chat sessions, and exclusive audio and video content are accessible at the site,
which launched Saturday (6).
We found that there was a lot of
disinformation on the Internet about the band, says the Cure"s Robert
Smith. We might as well have a voice in the things that are being said about
us.
The Cure's Web site is being presented by Robert
Goodale, executive producer of the official David Bowie and Rolling Stones Web
sites and music site SonicNet.
When the Cure begins its first North American tour in
four years this August, it will bring along a digital camera that transmits
live images of the tour to the Internet. However, unlike most previous netcasts
by other acts, the Cure"s will go beyond its stage show.
We'll take it backstage or set it
up in our dressing room, as well as the performance stage, says Cure keyboardist
Roger O'Donnell. We might even take it to the bar with us after the show.
The site"s "house page" is graphically
based on an old mansion in west England in which the act lived during the
recording of its latest album, Wild Mood Swings. The online "house"
contains several rooms that the Web surfer can enter, including a lounge,
kitchen, and library.
The lounge contains exclusive music by the Cure that
has not been released before. For example, users can download the Cure's
eight-minute version of the Doors' Hello, I Love You, which was
originally recorded for the Elektra 40th-anniversary album Rubaiyat. A shorter
rendition of the song was used for the album.
There are some home demos and
other completed songs that we will put there, says Smith. We hope to
illuminate the evolution of some of our songs. We may put up some older,
unreleased stuff, but it will mostly be fan-oriented material.
The lounge also contains an unreleased music video for
the Cure's current single, Mint Car.
The latest news and tour information is cookin"
in the kitchen, while the library contains audio samples from Wild Mood Swings
and the Cure"s catalog of albums. Site visitors who want to purchase any
of the Cure"s releases can click on an online link to electronic retailer
CDnow.
Cure fans can chat in the conservatory, while the
"skeleton closet" contains Web pages individually designed for each
band member.
Several rare and personal pictures from the band are
scattered throughout the site, which contains an ongoing tour diary, with
frequent entries by each band member.
It's rare that artists put so much
time and effort into their Web presence, says Nicholas Butterworth,
creative director for New York-based SonicNet. This site is unique in that
it really reflects the band's personality through their input.
Band members will regularly "log on" to the
site and visit with fans in the conservatory chat room. Visitors to the site
will instantly know if a member is present if they see a black van parked on
the "house page." If a light is on in the window of the house, then
Web visitors know that the band is netcasting live video and pictures to the
site.
We'll be as hands-on with this Web
site as we possibly can be, says O'Donnell, who programmed much of the site; the
rest of the group contributed to the site's design.
It's kind of an extension of the
punk ethic, he says. We are in complete control of the content. Each member has
designed their own room in the house so that it reflects their own personality.
O'Donnell, who rejoined the group for Wild Mood Swings
after departing the band in 1990, says that the Cure became more computer-savvy
in his absence.
Roger tried to get us into
computers back in the late '80s, but we resisted, says Smith. But by the time he
came back into the group in '94, we all had laptops.
However, Smith admits that he is not completely
convinced that the Internet is ready for "prime time."
The problem with a lot of this
technology is how slow it still is, says Smith. It can be
incredibly frustrating. Someone may want to find out more about a band but will
end up staring at blank space while they wait.
Goodale, the site's executive producer, characterizes
the project as state of the art but not experimental.
We wanted to make sure that all
the technology used was functional, Goodale says. Robert was
concerned about making the Web experience compelling, rather than confusing.
Smith says that he is weary of the potential for both
intimacy and isolation on the Internet.
There's a lot of ego in setting
something like this up, say Smith. I guess that I still have to adjust to
the idea that people might be interested in what I do. I've always resisted
that. I've tried to not allow myself to be validated by what I do with the
Cure. I've only once been online with Roger and chatted. But I felt
uncomfortable because people knew it was me. It is quite difficult for me
because, by nature, I want to keep some things distant from other people.
O'Donnell says that the site will likely stay on the
Internet even after the band has finished touring in support of its album.
Next year is the band's 20th
anniversary, and there's tons of archival stuff that we are looking at
releasing to mark that, says O'Donnell. The Internet may be an appropriate
place for some of it.