Al Jourgensen - Ministry - Interview - 2005

My Life Story - Al Jourgensen

Where and when were you born?

I was born on October 9th 1958 in Havana Cuba. I moved to the States when I was three.

What’s your first memory?

It must have been pretty traumatic because I remember getting on the plane, one of the last plane-loads that Castro let out. The plane was over-crowded and I was only like two years old, and I actually remember that plane ride. It kinda goes blank after that – 2-4 there isn’t much else.

My dad was a mechanic for the Indie 500, and when I was about 5 he took us to the Indianapolis 500. I just remember the noise of those cars, I was like ‘that's the coolest sound'. My dad was a mechanic – I was with the pit crew at the Indianapolis 500, I was about 5, and I was like ‘this is the coolest sound’.

First music

Rolling Stones 'December’s Children'. Usual suspects, Stones, Zep, Floyd. I was talking to Jello, and I mean I used to scour the imports section for the most obscure stuff, like the Pink Fairies, were amazing. New York Dolls, Hawkwind, Space Ritual is still one of the top five records of all time. Try to out cool your buddies.

Did you learn an instrument?

I never had that kind of drive. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I tried at rodeo for a while right after high school and that didn’t work out, The bulls basically kicked my fucking ass. So I figured there had to be a better way of meeting chicks than riding a 1,000 pound pissed off beast.

So that’s when I picked up a guitar. I had an acoustic guitar when I was eight so I knew the basic chords. And dabbled in drums and stuff, but not until I had all my ribs busted on a ride did I start talking seriously.

My girlfriend at the time was a performance artist, and convinced me to go to the Art Institute in Chicago where I met a lot of different people and we started exchanging ideas and took it from there. 

They had just built a studio round a really old mixing desk, there wasn’t actually a keyboard - you actually had to delve onto the wave forms and  logarithms – it was more like being a scientist.  

Projects

Now I just juggle Ministry, Revolting Cocks and Lard – the rest of them were more like one-off projects where people happened to be in town [Chicago] and wanted to record with me.

Three-headed monster I call it.   

Scoring

I’m a North Side boy, but I used to go to go there to score heroin way back in the day.

Busted

It got me to clean up my act – they sent the same people that did the Wako siege. They thought we had an armed compound and shit, they didn’t funny but it was pretty funny watching all these Storm Troopers tear down the walls looking for weapons.

Clean

100%. Every day above ground is a good day. Being clean has doubled my creative drive. I have a whole new passion I catch my buzz off the music now as opposed to external sources.

When did you start to become political?

We have to get this fucking idiot out of office. Now we have the election and he’s still in, I’m even more pissed. That election was stolen. I’m certain the election was stolen and we need to take back democracy. I don’t; want to wait four years for him to get out. He is completely derailing civil liberties but the entire environment ethical laws – I don’t; think we can stand another 2 ½ years of this idiot.

It had to be fixed, I’m behind enemy lines in Texas and I don’t even know anyone who voted for him. We live right near a military base and most of the soldiers hate him. It’s phantom votes generated a computer system that the republicans control.

I had no choice but to be political – what with the American embargo on Cuba. I was aware from an early age that becoming an US citizen, I was a political refugee at three. I understood that it was big deal.

Toe

It got infected when I stepped in a hypodermic needle. It broke off, went into my boot, back when I was using, and it got infected – went gangrenous so they had to amputate. There were lots of reasons to quit heroin. They wanted to take my arm off too after I got this spider bite and I looked at the doctor and said ‘look mother fucker, I don’t play drums for Def Leppard, I need this fucking’ arm’.

William Burroughs

We were friends. Bill was a pretty good shot with the rifle, and he adored his petunias, but the racoons would get in and trample ‘em down and eat ‘em so he’d try and shoot ‘em but they were too fast for him, so I had him take his wafers of Methadone and stick them out in the Petunia plants and they’d eat ‘em and slow down enough for him to shoot ‘em.

We wound up sampling some Burroughs, stuff and Warner Brothers said they wouldn’t release 'Psalm 69' because Burroughs would never give clearance, and Rolling Stone put out a blurb in their random notes column, that the Ministry LP was being delayed due to this sample problem, well James Grauerholz, Burroughs Manager, and long-term companion, read that and said what are you talking about? no one’s even contacted us. They contacted me and said they have full right to  use it and in fact they said why don’t you come down and work with Bill?

I was staying with Bill and he had a letter from the president lying on his table inviting him to the Lincoln room for some spoken word thing, and I’d say like ‘that’s from the president’ and he’d say who’s president these days? He couldn’t give a shit.

He’s a trip, no doubt, William definitely lived in Interzone, not on this planet.

Tim Leary

I lived with him for two years. Actually I was introduced to him by Bill (Burroughs), who I worked with and met on Lollapalooza, and me and William, got along great so he introduced me to Tim, and me and Tim got along even better. Tim called me the delinquent son he never had, because all his kids came out normal.

There’s this TV show in the US called ‘Party Of five’ where they film interesting people having dinner, from different walks of life, one moderator, and that’s what it was like every night at Tim’s house, we’d have astronauts, business leaders, politicians, musicians, transsexuals, just a cross section of people. Couple of times a week never a dull moment.  

Grammy nomination “Best Metal Performance” for the “Bad Blood? What has been the highlight of your career?

I didn’t even go. I couldn’t care less. Those awards shows are so political and just complete rigged. In fact I sat in this bar in Chicago and they send you this gold medallion in the mail saying – you’ve been nominated, and your invite and I’m alone at the bar, this little dive bar with a crap screen on behind the bar. This fat chick just kept bothering me, ‘I know who you are, I know who you are’ If I give you this shit medallion will you just fucking go away. So I wound up giving my Grammy medallion away to a fat chick.

Regrets

None at all. It’s all a growth process to get you where you are today. I’m in a good peaceful productive place today without the other shit I wouldn’t be here today.

Pride

[pause] We’ll talk again in ten years, when I’ve settled down and got out of the music business,  and I’ll tell you then. Obviously the thing I’m most proud of is quitting a 21 year heroin habit. Musically: I’m still doing my best stuff, so we’ll wait.

Teaching

I need to get my masters degree, that’s what I’ve always wanted to do. 

Do you ever listen to your early stuff?

No. I don’t even listen to the stuff I did last week. It’s like having a child that you’re putting up for adoption. I don’t want to know, it was right at the time, let’s move on.

Do you think you get the credit you deserve for the music you’ve inspired.

That doesn’t matter to me. As long as there’s work to be had and I’m not washing dishes at a fucking fast food restaurant it’s all good. 

What’s the best thing about your life?

That I’m clean and some what healthy for an old man and still having passion for what do.

Wife

Angie is a god send. I actually detoxed at her apartment in NY, and as soon as I detoxed we got married. We’d known each other for like 15 years, She was an addict 13 years, we’d always been friends but it was a bad situation even though we wanted to be together, but it wasn't going to work being heroin addicts. After I cleaned 

What’s helped you stay clean?

Her for sure, and a renewed interest and passion in what I do. To be given a second chance to be able to do that, I was on death’s door, I had a $500 a day habit, and I’d gone through my entire savings and pawned off all my guitars and had hit rick bottom. So with each day you learn to appreciate it more.

Was it easier or harder than you thought?

I’ve never looked back. And to be honest it was easier than I thought it would be. The sickness start coming on and ‘you gotta get another hit man , because my god if you get sick, and it’s like well so fucking what if you get sick, just deal with it. And you move pn. Once I’d don’t it I thought, why didn’t I do this years ago.

Lowest ebb

They wanted to take my fucking arm off and a light bulb went up over my head, at that point I was sleeping on some crack heroin dealers couch clinging onto the one last guitar that I hadn’t pawned yet, and then I got this spider bite and it all made sense: shit or get off the pot. If you want to die, die today, or live.

I have no problem with experimentation, I’d prefer to be a drug user than a used drugger.

I’m a person that’s an all or nothing person, so after experimentation it’s like it’s all. I’m not anti-drug, but I am against losing your soul to an addiction. You no longer run yourself, your addiction does. It’s a control issue not a drug issue.

What’s the most ridiculous rumour you’ve ever heard about yourself?

The one that, as a child, I was Jack Wilde on HR PufNStuf, that kids show. Little actor that was in Oliver Twist. The rumour was that I was him. Really funny, then the usual death stories – that I’ve died.

Stories...

I had a mate, I think his name 3was rick, and he was the town drunk and he had known Bobby Keys the Stones’ Sax player who did Sticky Fingers, they live din Texas together, but everyone thought he was full of shit because he was literally the town’s fall-down drunk. Unemployed always talking shit so when he says his friends are coming over the last thing you think is that it’s going to be Bobby Keys – who then brings along Keith Richards' band Ron Wood.

I just stayed on the couch, I had to go to Australia the next day, for a tour so I was detoxing – on thing you learn as a junkie is that bring the shit through customs, so I was really sick, I was like ‘Get you’re fucking friends out of here’ he was like but but but , I was like god damn it get em outta here!’ I gotta leave tomorrow, he was like ‘can they just play pool’ I was like, ‘what ever just get out!’. I could hear English accents in the other room, but I didn’t even think twice about it. The funny thing is that Keith probably had a boat-load of heroin in his limousine.  

I got arrested at Austin airport , so I learned my lesson.