MINISTRY Mainman Talks About 'Wicked Lake' Movie Soundtrack

Chris Rolls of MP3.com recently conducted an interview with MINISTRY mainman Al Jourgensen. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

MP3.com: You mentioned that you were branching out to try your own hand at film work and what have you, which I know is not entirely foreign to you. So what can we expect in that realm?

Jourgensen: Well, in two weeks, what is it now, three weeks, I start on this horror movie that I'm doing the soundtrack for called "Wicked Lake". And the main reason I'm doing it, I mean, the script is pretty funny. I mean, it's basically like "Revenge of the Chicks Forever", you know. It's kind of like Russ Meyer's "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Kill!" updated, you know, on steroids meets vampires and witches and shit. It's a pretty funny script, but the main reason I'm doing it is the director is a very good friend of mine, and so we're going to sit down and we're going to score this thing out from top to bottom, because I've worked on films before and done certain scenes and certain songs for certain scenes and scripted out stuff, but this is going to be a top-to-bottom one. So that's kind of exciting for me, and I really, I love this kid Zach Passero that's directing it, really good kid. He's done a couple of our videos before, and this is his first chance at a Hollywood movie, so I'm going to support him all the way on this.

MP3.com: Do you believe that the next election, because we're probably going to see a democrat in office, if we even have an election, do you think it'll change the corporate-driven government that we've been subjected to?

Jourgensen: Oh, no, no, not the root cause of all the problems, but it certainly will make nice little cosmetic changes. It'll probably bring the price of iPods down so everyone doesn't riot in the streets, right. And it'll probably get us talking about ethanol, which is a big fucking scam in and of itself. They're still not going to throw any money into wind or solar. And it'll make nice little cosmetic changes that make everyone warm and fuzzy and think, like, "Wow, we don't have those corrupt Republicans in there anymore." But the problem is the Democrats are owned by the same people. So, do I think there's going to be like fundamental change? No. The system is broken. Do I think there's going to be cosmetic changes? Yes, because, you know what, it's cheaper to buy the public out with cheap trinkets than it is to have them riot and actually, you know, like Marie Antoinette found that out. No, unless they want beheadings here on our home soil, it's probably best to give us cheap iPods and some kind of alternative fuel source. So, you know, I see cosmetic changes. I don't see anything really, really changing. No.

MP3.com: One of the samples on "The Last Sucker" actually illuminates something interesting, which is the tendency for artists to not speak out against governmental corruption and, more specifically, the current administration. But you do not follow that policy. You're obviously very vocal in your protest. Has that garnered any unwanted attention from governmental organizations?

Jourgensen: Well, thank God, yes. I mean, I'd be kind of like shouting in the forest if I didn't garner that. Yeah, I'm hated by the Right. It's awesome! I welcome it because I don't have to look over my shoulder — I'm not a drug addict any more. I've been clean for five years. I don't do anything that's illegal. I don't drive drunk. I don't have extramarital affairs. I don't do all the things the Republicans do. I pay my taxes, and my taxes are absolutely correct. You know, I'm basically John Q. Citizen that has a voice and a forum, which is cool. So I would be actually disappointed if these hypocrites weren't all over my shit.

MP3.com: And how does it make you feel when your contemporaries don't take the same stance and speak out?

Jourgensen: You know, here's what I feel. I'm not going to start dogging everyone because, you know, look, I don't want the Hollywood dog-and-pony show either. I mean, you know what, I really don't give a fuck what Ben Affleck is going to vote for. And now he's got his own political show or something. I just saw him on something, like, thing the other night... You know, I really don't care. Okay. And that's great. You know what I feel? I feel like, "Do what you're comfortable doing." There are some people that don't sing about that but speak heavily about it, or actually, you know, they actually vote and they actually do things that are part of being a citizen first, musician second. And that's great, and if they don't feel comfortable speaking out, that's fine. Hopefully, there'll be a point in time some day in the future where, even just cosmetically, it's a lot more viable or a lot easier or a lot more comfortable for people to speak out. 'Cause right now we've really trampled on this piece of paper called the Constitution, which looks great on paper, but it's the same thing as religion. You know, all this shit looks great on paper, but the problem is that human beings run those policies. And human beings are, I swear, are inherently corrupt. So, you take something that in theory works really well, and then it's bastardized by agendas from human greed or whatever you want to call it. So, there's got to be real fundamental change going on here, and that's going to take a long time. This fight is not over, whether it's Democrat, Republican, or warm, fuzzy little cosmetic changes — I mean, look, man, this fight is going to be going on for a long time. And a lot of this has to start from within. People have to really look at themselves and say, "What do I really want? Do I want what the advertisers tell me to want?" You know, like a skinny body, flat abs, and the newest in cars and this and that? If that's the consumer society that we've become and that is really what your goal is, I just think that that is what needs to be re-examined before we even start going after the bigwigs at Exxon and Halliburton and all these other things.

The entire interview is available in text and audio format at MP3.com.