Documented Debauchery

The engaging Ministry vocalist Al Jourgensen remarking off-hand that “I’ve been around the block” is decidedly under-selling matters. Over more than three decades, aside from the pounding industrialised metal the Americans have crafted, he’s engaged in enough assorted debauchery to more than rival anything in Mötley Crüe’s The Dirt autobiography.

Last year, the suitably depraved Ministry: The Lost Gospels According To Al Jourgensen was published. He still has some reservations about it. “I had some guy from MTV fly down to Texas and put a tape recorder on for a week while I got shitfaced drunk and told him stories about what had happened to me along the road,” he says, bursting into laughter. “It wasn’t really therapeutic, but it was nice that he was amused by the whole thing, and they actually printed it into a book.”

Has he perused the finished product? “Fuck no – why would I read the book? I’ve lived it. There’s a second book, trust me, that’s a XXX-rated book. Not like this Disney version that I just put out. There’s a second book coming out. However, it’s in the lawyers’ hands now, because all they see is like eternal lawsuits from what I have to say,” he chuckles. 

Jourgensen is currently collaborating with Jello Biafra on a new Lard album. Ministry will however hit the road for a final world jaunt in support of farewell disc, From Beer To Eternity. 

“I’m dealing with personal angst now (on record). If I dealt with world anger and the things I’m angry at about parliamentary governments, democratic governments, communist governments, authoritarian governments, it would be a quadruple album. It would take me years to make, and by that time we’d be on to some new fuck-up. It would be outdated. This album is a lot more about personal demons… Because political demons just seem to be relentless, and I just can’t keep up with them,” he snickers. 

Resurrecting Ministry a few years ago following a health-induced hiatus, the reasoning for their last hurrah is simple. “This is our last tour, because (long-time guitarist) Mike Scaccia died (in 2012). He loved this record. He died two days after finishing his parts and left that for Dallas with a big smile on his face saying, ‘Man, you’ve gotta tour this record.’ 

“So I’m keeping up with his wishes, and we’re going to do this record from start to finish. I don’t want to make a big thing about Mikey’s death. I’m not selling T-Shirts in his honour; I’m not mentioning him on-stage. He’s not going to be in our visuals. It’s just that in my personal talks with him, I know that’s what he wanted. He thought this album was the best album we’ve ever done. So he was very happy right before he died.”