John Benson at Ohio's News-Herald recently caught up with THE CULT frontman Ian Astbury. An excerpt from the story is available below.

Singer Ian Astbury doesn't consider himself an expert on music, but he does believe his band The Cult hasn't received proper respect over the years.

To be fair, he may have a point. The post-punk group, which started out in the mid-'80s English rock scene, merged a hard sound with a raw approach. While the band eventually would gain mainstream attention from its 1988 album "Sonic Temple," which included hit singles "Fire Woman" and "Sweet Soul Sister;" the early '90s were hard on The Cult as the alternative nation seemingly locked the group out of its mainstream fun.

Too metal for Cobain's grunge, Astbury and bandmate Billy Duffy were left on the outside looking in at a flourishing scene that arguably they helped sow nearly a decade prior.

"There's a point where it gets so painful you have to let it go," said Astbury, calling from New York City. "I had to let it go. It used to eat at me pretty hard, especially when that community turned its back on us. Certain promoters around the country turned their back on the band. That legacy is something we built. We were around at a time when to be in a post-punk band or a punk band was a dangerous occupation in the sense as soon as you walked out of the building you were a target. You couldn't go to the mall. We watched the subculture become sort of homogenized. Alternative music has become homogenized."

Go to this location for the complete story.

As previously reported, on December 4th DirecTV will feature The Cult as part of Guitar Center Sessions. A promo clip is available below.

Guitar Center Sessions is filmed live before an audiience primarily consisting of music students, featuring exclusive performances and intimate conversations. The program is hosted by KCRW's Music Director / host of Morning Becomes Eclectic, Jason Bentley. It airs at 9:00pm EST / PST in 2D high definition and in 3D on DirecTV's The 101 Network (channel 101) and DirecTV's new channel, n3D.

As previously reported, The Cult are offering a free download of the track 'White', recorded live in Houston, TX on October 1st. To download the track, check out the widget below: