Creativity sometimes comes to a grinding halt. After The Cult [ tickets ] released its last studio album, 2001's "Beyond Good and Evil," frontman Ian Astbury fell into that trap. So he left The Cult behind for greener creative pastures, namely working with The Doors' Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek on their reunion project, Riders on the Storm, for four years.

"It was a huge learning curve for me," Astbury said during an interview with LiveDaily. "It was massive. I learned so much performing with those guys."

For example, Astbury said he became a better musician and songwriter by merely being in their presence.

"I think the basic craft just became better--awareness about lyrics especially, chord structures, arrangements, then, performance. There was a lot more emphasis put on me to lead where a song would go. They'd work off me as much as I'd work off them. There was a lot more improvisation [than there was in The Cult], so there has to be a lot more awareness in terms of your awareness standing on stage, listening and feeling what the music or where the song was going," Astbury said.

"We may not always perform the songs the same twice. When you do a song like 'When the Music's Over,' which is, I think, 10, 11 minutes long, I could call the cues based on how I would feel each evening. Different things happened each evening. We might be going very, very quiet and holding the tension and somebody might cough in the crowd and everybody might laugh. Then you'd have to go back to it. Or things would happen. I'd hit a bum note somewhere and you'd kind of like go back 'round again. We played everything from clubs to stadiums, a real cornucopia."

On Feb. 16, Astbury announced he was returning to The Cult full time. He poured his education into "Born Into This," the latest Cult studio album, which hit stores Tuesday (10/2). Featuring the single "Dirty Little Rock Star," "Born Into This" was produced by former Killing Joke bassist Martin "Youth" Glover.

Astbury talked to LiveDaily about The Cult's first studio album in six years, working with Youth and his hatred of touring.

LiveDaily: What made you decide that now was the time for a new Cult record?

Ian Astbury: Pretty much just having something to say. I just think it's pointless making a record if you have nothing to say, really. There are so many bad records being made. That's because people are making records and they've got nothing to say. When you make your first record, like I've said many times, you basically have 20-odd years of experience. The second record, you might have a year's worth of stuff to say. The third record, maybe you've been touring and then you talk about being on the road. In an arc of lifespan, [creativity] comes to a grinding halt after awhile. You're going to go away, travel and reinvent yourself, and have experiences and all that. You're going to accumulate a watershed of stuff and energy; then you got something to say. It's pretty much the reason why.

With that cycle, it sounds like it would be difficult to create music after some time.

I think it's OK. You have one cycle, one season. You've done that. You put it to bed. On to the next. You've said everything you've wanted to say. There are also things changing around you, like social, political and environmental stuff going on around you, different people coming in and out of your life, whatever. That's always going on. That's a constant. There's what's going on with your core, your core values--where you're at, what you want to say. Like, basic things, how long your hair's going to be, what colors you're wearing, what you're thinking about, what you're reading, what you're obsessing on, what you're listening to. It would be ridiculous if I was to try and make a record that had all the same content in it that it did in the mid-'80s. It wouldn't work. It's a different reference point.

LiveDaily: It sounds like it was amazing to work with Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek.

Ian Astbury: It was amazing. It was a master class. It was like going to the highest university in the land. I had to walk away from it. I felt they'd gone through a cycle. It was a natural thing for me to evolve into my own space.

Would you work with Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger again?

Absolutely. I'd love to perform with them again. It's one of the best experiences I've ever had. Right now, I just felt it's really time for me to come out and find my own voice again. I was doing other things, as well. I was working with UNKLE. There's an album out now called War Stories; I had two tracks--"Burn My Shadow" and "When Things Explode"--on that. I've been working loosely with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. We've worked together for about a week on demos. I've been doing some work with Gordon Raphael, who produced The Strokes, and hanging out with other musicians, etc. etc. I've also been studying dramatic arts. I traveled quite extensively and spent some time in India and Nepal. So there were lots of things going on that added to the resources, the inspiration behind the songs. Plus, I'm constantly a fan of popular culture, music and fashion. I was traveling to Japan a lot, pretty much for clothing. I have a clothing line, as well. This is more of a personal passion and interest. So, everyday, it wasn't like I was sitting there twiddling my thumbs, looking at the wall. I was going out and seeing other musicians perform. It was great. I think a lot of that energy, all that experience has gone into this record.

A lot of that lends itself to the title of the record, "Born into This," I would presume.

Yeah, precisely. The magic here is it's really a statement of where we're at--born into this time. But this time is so unique because we are on the precipice of self destruction--more so than ever. One might say, "Hey, we've always been on the precipice of self destruction." No, no, no. Now we really are. Now we can see all the way into the chasm. We can actually see into the black hole. If you're seeing into the world's history--which is, what, 6 billion years?--what's happened in the past [hundred years?]: two major world wars in the 20th century, atomic bomb and Cold War, Vietnam, Korean War, Iraq, Afghanistan conflict. It's one thing if the world's struggling, but there are environmental issues. It'll be amazing to turn it around. We just don't seem to heed the warnings. What is the purpose of being a human being now?

What was it like to work with Youth on this album?

Magnificent. It really was magnificent. Youth was on top of my list of producers. I love the work he did with Primal Scream on "Riot City Blues," and, of course, The Verve on "Urban Hymns." I'm a great admirer of Youth in Killing Joke. I went to some of those shows. He was an amazing musician. I just felt we needed to get a producer who was more in tune with our background, our real background, which is indie/punk rock.

Everybody goes, "The Cult is this big rock 'n' roll band." The Cult started when the actual indie charts were being formed. The word "indie" came from England, independent music labels that came out of England. We were signed to an independent music label right up until 1995. In fact, we're with an independent music label now with Roadrunner. To me, alternative and indie mean music that is not written for the mainstream of AAA, pop, whatever you want to call it. A lot of things fall into that category. We just wanted to get in the studio with someone who had a broader field of vision and could really incorporate a lot of our visions.

Then again, we only had 15 days with Youth. This record was made in 36 days. I like to blow the trumpet on that one. So many bands are out there going, "Yeah, I've written 100 songs and we've been in the studio for a year and a half," as if that is a symbol of how great the record's going to be. Then you hear the record and it's usually quite … average. You spent all that time, money and energy and that's what you've come up with? We've done that before. We're guilty, too. We've been in the studio spending stupid amounts of money and spending an extra year and a half.

With this record, we went, "We're not going to do that. We're going to basically go with our instincts. We're going to put this down as quickly as possible and just grab stuff." That took 36 days and it took two weeks mixing. It came in under 60 days. That's why the energy of the record sounds fresh. There's a freshness to it, a crispness to it, there's an intention in it. It's got this energy to it that's really in your face. It's really committed. It's a full commitment. There are no holes in it. There are no weak moments. I'm really proud of it.

Are you looking forward to your fall tour?

I hate touring, to be honest with you. I don't like traveling on a tour bus. But I like playing the shows. For those two hours, it better be a bloody good show because performing makes it worthwhile. Sometimes it's great just to get to a new town and walk around. I find the cultural areas of town, go to mom-and-pop record shops, find out what people are listening to, looking at. Maybe occasionally go to a gallery or something, catch a show by another artist.