[#ffffff]Everything Ministry has created since its inception has been an evolution of musical insurgence. Al Jourgensen, the architect and provocateur of Ministry, employed a cacophony of sounds from tape loops and audio sampling to incendiary guitars and distorted vocals to confront the banal and the apathetic mainstream of pop/rock. He succeeded by remaking the mainstream in his own image, single-handedly forging a new style of music which, though it would be slow to catch on, ignited firestorms around the world. This musical evolution is synonymous with Al Jourgensen: he was born into chaos.
Alain Jourgensen was born in Havana, Cuba on October 9, 1958, the grandson of an official in the Batista government. By the time he was two, Castro had come to power and he fled the country with his mother, immigrating to the United States. Moving around the country Jourgensen grew up in the turbulent 60s and came of age in the post-Viet Nam War apathy and decadence of the 70s. In the face of government corruption and the harsh desperation of the Cold War, Jourgensen, like so many others, turned to music for comfort and solace.
Settling in Chicago in the late 70s, Jourgensen, now a DJ, found himself in the midst of a growing music scene embracing dance, punk, British New Wave and the fear of mutually assured destruction. This fear manifested itself in gritty lyrics and vocal delivery conveying the feeling of hopelessness. The music was nuanced and often upbeat but synthetic and devoid of emotion.
The scene yielded a genre of music called, “industrial.” Its origins can be traced to the avant-garde sound of England’s Throbbing Gristle, who started a record label (“Industrial Records”) and Einsturzende Neubaten, a German collective who used power tools and bizarre objects to create sounds in both traditional and eccentric song structures. The desperate synth-driven songs of post-punk late 70s British bands like Joy Division factored slightly as they were under the radar for most Americans who were themselves evolving from disco into power-pop and New Wave.
After one or two false starts with local musicians, Jourgensen formed Ministry in 1980. Ministry’s early work (on Arista Records in 1982) was decidedly lightweight and, displeased with the direction of the band, Jourgensen explored side-projects under the auspices of the Chicago-based Waxtrax! Records founded by Dannie Flesher and the late Jim Nash. During the Waxtrax! years Jourgensen collaborated with various artists on numerous side-projects including Revolting Cocks, 1000 Homo DJs, Pailhead and Lard throughout the early 80s.
The RevCo project fueled the furnace wherein Jourgensen stoked the fires of a new sound he soon translated back into Ministry. Ministry transmuted from the underground on up, slowly building a following with its increasingly aggressive music. Together they incited a musical rebellion embellishing the industrial sound by deconstructing pop-music with a synthesizer and using the “found” sounds of audio samples and unconventional noises, heavy drumbeats, and ultimately the fury of heavy metal guitars. Lyrical content grew angrier, edgier and darker with each release, often invoking religious and political overtones.
Ministry moved to Sire/Warner Bros. in 1984 releasing a handful of records which chronicled the evolution of its style. “The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste” and “The Land of Rape and Honey” both went Gold as people started catching on.
Still, America was not ready for such an outpouring of rage as the largely superficial decade of the 80s spawned MTV and ended with the pyrrhic victory of the (beginning of the) dismantling of the Soviet Union.
However, the onset of the first Bush Presidency brought about The Gulf War, and with it came a harsh recession. Rage, it seemed, was all around. Ministry brought rage and the relentlessly punishing power of its sound culminating in the ferocious “Psalm 69.” A complex and bombastic assault on the senses with fuzzed-out vocals, pummeling guitar riffs and crashing drums; it also introduced an especially lacerating attack on the then-President George H.W. Bush. This attack merely used audio samples of Bush’s own words against him to deride and lambaste him for calling to arms a “New World Order.” The song, “N.W.O.” became a hit for Ministry along with the singles, “Just One Fix” and “Jesus Built My Hotrod.” The album went Platinum and forever changed music because it was simply so heavy and aggressive that everything else around it seemed positively empty. Ministry raised the bar with the power of its music and changed the way people thought about lyrics and lyrical content.
Suddenly radio and MTV were embracing industrial bands as Nine Inch Nails crossed into the mainstream. White Zombie broke huge, followed by bands like Korn, Static-X and an onslaught of heavy, aggressive keyboard and guitar driven maniacs who were being referred to as “Nu-Metal.” Good, bad or otherwise Ministry’s influence was far-reaching as bands around the world began to echo its sound.
Unfortunately while all this was going on, Al Jourgensen was living with a terrible addiction to heroin. Releases became sporadic and critics were unkind to say the least, though Jourgensen nabbed a Grammy nomination for “Bad Blood” from 1999’s “Dark Side of the Spoon.”
It wasn’t until he got clean that Jourgensen came back strong with “Animositisomina” in 2003, only to lose his longtime collaborator Paul Barker following the tour. With Barker gone, Jourgensen refocused his energy and awareness at his outrage over George W. Bush’s fallacious 1st term. In 2004 Jourgensen revitalized Ministry and turned in the critically acclaimed “Houses of the Molé,” a searing indictment of “W” Bush (all of the songs on this release notoriously begin with the letter “W”).
Jourgensen also turned his attention to political activism, working with Punk Voter, Music for America and People for the American Way. Alternative Press recently noted that Ministry makes its best music when there is a Republican sitting in the White House.
For its 25th Anniversary, Ministry released “Rantology” in September 2005 as the definitive Ministry collection. All songs hand-picked by Jourgensen with more than half re-mixes, redux, alternate or live versions personally mixed, arranged, recorded and mastered.
In October 2005, Jourgensen launched his own label, 13th Planet Records. Ministry’s first release on Jourgensen’s imprint “Rio Grande Blood” (May 2006) captured two Grammy nominations for “The Great Satan” (2005) and “Lieslieslies” (2006). Ministry’s final studio release “The Last Sucker” is scheduled for September 18, 2007 on 13th Planet Records.
[i]1. When, and where, did Ministry form?[/i]
See Ministry History Above
[i]2. Who are the musicians who perform on Ministry’s The Last Sucker?[/i]
Alien Jourgensen (vox/gtrs), Thomas M. Victor (guitars), Sin Quirin (guitars), Paul Raven (bass), and featuring special guest performance by Burton C. Bell (vox) on three trax. Jourgensen and his engineer, John S. Bilberry programmed the drums. The touring band will see a few others joining the party.
[i]3. Is Ministry still on Warner Bros. Records or Sanctuary Records?[/i]
No. That one ended a while ago. These days Ministry is released on Jourgensen’s own 13th Planet Records (Est. Halloween 2005) in partnership with Megaforce in North America, Soulfood Music GmbH in Europe, TKO Records in Japan, and Stomp in Australia. Since its inception, 13th Planet has released: The Revolting Cocks Cocked and Loaded (March 2006), Ministry Rio Grande Blood (May 2006), The Revolting Cocks Cocktail Mixxx (March 2007), Ministry Rio Grande Dub(ya) (July 2007), Ministry The Last Sucker (Sept 2007), Prong Power of the Damager (October 2007), and Ascension of the Watchers AoTW (Feb 2008).
[i]4. Is Ministry an ‘industrial’ rock band?[/i]
Due to Jourgensen’s “experimental” production arrangements in the studio, Ministry was initially considered an “industrial” band. Jourgensen’s influences at the start of his career came from UK and European bands such as Throbbing Gristle and Einsturzende Neubaten. MTV has deemed Jourgensen The Godfather of Industrial Music, however, Ministry’s metal soundscaping on the ground-breaking releases The Land of Rape and Honey (WBR 1988) and The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste (WBR 1989) prompted music critics worldwide to credit Jourgensen as the pioneer/inventor of Industrial Metal. Ministry’s labels within the industry range from Industrial, to Industrial Metal, to Rock Alternative to Industrial rock. In 2005 and 2005, Ministry was nominated by the Recording Academy (Grammy’s) for Best Metal Performance. Jourgensen himself refuses to label his work in Ministry.
[i]5. Was Trent Reznor ever in Ministry?[/i]
No, however he sang on a 1000 Homo Dj track entitled “Supernaut” and toured with The Revolting Cocks in 1990 – both projects (1000 Homo DJs and RevCo) part of the Waxtrax! Records side projects Jourgensen initiated out of Chicago Trax in the late 80s and early 90s. These two side-projects were re-released on Rykodisc in 2004 as part of the Jourgensen/Waxtrax! Back catalog.
[i]6. How many different side projects has/does Al Jourgensen had/have?[/i]
The Revolting Cocks www.revoltingcox.com and www.myspace.com/revoltingcocks
Lard (w/Jello Biafra) www.alternativetentacles.com
Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters www.myspace.com/bucksatanandthe666shooters
1000 Homo DJs
PTP
Acid Horse
Pailhead
[i]7. Is Ministry a Chicago band or a Texas band?[/i]
As Jourgensen would say: “Screw you, we’re from Texas!” Ministry is a Texas-based band, with deep-dish Chicago roots. The 13th Planet Compound is based on the Mexican-American border in Hell Paso, TX.
[i]8. How many albums has Ministry released?[/i]
“The Last Sucker” will be Ministry’s 12th studio album. Including live and compilation releases, it will be their 20th album release. (See Discography for more details).
[i]9. Has Ministry ever had a platinum album in the US?[/i]
Yes. “Psalm 69” sold more than a million copies in the US. Additionally, Ministry’s “The Land of Rape and Honey” and “The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste” and “Filth Pig” went Gold in the US.
[i]10. Where was Jourgensen born and where has he lived?[/i]
Havana, Cuba October 9, 1958. See Question #1 for more information. Jourgensen has resided in Cuba, Miami, Denver, Chicago, London UK, Brussels, Belgium, Austin, New York, Los Angeles, El Paso.
[i]11. Does Jourgensen still use hard drugs?[/i]
No. Jourgensen kicked heroin, crack and methadone in 2002 during Animositisomina. He has not used since. He does, however, like red wine.
[i]12. Was Jourgensen friends with Timothy Leary and William Burroughs?[/i]
Yes. Leary was a father-figure when Jourgensen lived with him for two years in Los Angeles 1994-1995, just prior to Leary’s passing. William Burroughs appears in Ministry’s “Just One Fix” video and was kind of a ‘gardening’ buddy. Leary and Jourgensen penned the track “Lion’s Mouth.”
[i]13. When is the next Ministry tour and what is the line-up?[/i]
Ministry will begin its FINAL tour in March 2008. The C U LaTour is the last Ministry tour ever. The band will tour seven (7) weeks beginning the end of March through Mid-May 2008 in the US and Canada, and then [/#ffffff]
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