FOUR IMAGINARY BOYS

Robert Smith on the current incarnation of The Cure

SIMON GALLUP BASS (1979–1982, 1985–)

“The heart of the live band has always been Simon. He’s always been my best friend. It’s weird that over the decades he’s often been overlooked. He doesn’t do interviews, he isn’t really out there and he doesn’t play the role of a foil to me in public, and yet he’s absolutely vital to what we do. We’ve had some difficult periods over the years but we’ve managed to maintain a very strong friendship that grew out of that shared experience from when we were teens.”

JASON COOPER DRUMS (1995–)

“He’s just a charming bloke. He’s very eventempered and the perfect drummer. He drums for several hours before we go on stage and he’ll sometimes drum some more when we come off stage. More importantly, he’s just a very genuine individual. That’s been the heart of the band for a while now.”

ROGER

O’DONNELL KEYBOARDS (1987– 1990, 1994–2005, 2011–)

“Roger, he’s been in and out of the band over the years so is slightly more volatile, but he’s calmed down remarkably. I think the secret is age, if I’m being perfectly honest. It takes an awful lot of effort when you get older to get irritated and agitated by really silly things because your perception of time changes and everything is relative. You realise that there isn’t that much time left.”

REEVES GABRELS, GUITAR (2012–)

“Reeves has brought something of another dimension to the band. He’s played with so many people, most obviously with Bowie, but he has a breadth of experience which is probably greater than ours. He’s also an American, so he tempers what we think. There’s a really good balance, a really good discourse that goes on, and it’s on a level that’s just more enjoyable than it used to be.”