Ministry end
One super-conscious model that remains in place is how Jourgensen’s career will play out over the next three years.
“The only other one would be — just as I stated three years ago Last Sucker would be last Ministry album, this would be last tour — the day you know I’m completely done recording is the day you see the Buck Satan [& The 666 Shooters] album. My country album. Everything else, I really doubt anything else is gonna happen. Right now I’ve got the next three years booked up with production, soundtracks, and running the label. But I’m gonna work toward two/three years [before] the Buck Satan album comes out. That’s it for anything musically I have to do — except soundtracks. As far as putting together songs instead of songs-with-scenes, that’s it.”
Jourgensen’s maiden foray into behind-the-scenes film production is so surprising it’s a shame we don’t bandy about the information more: “The first one I did was in ’85/’86 for Robocop.” Robocop! “I did a lot of the stuff with Basil Poledouris and I did some original scoring for that. I did A.I. with [Steven] Spielberg. I’m not talking about where they put your song [in the movie]. Actual scoring. I enjoy it. I really do.”
Since it doesn’t involve actively getting under someone’s skin, that statement’s a little hard to swallow.
He explains, “It’s a real challenge to try and fit the mood to basically what you think the director is feeling. So in other words, it’s not just concentrating on the audio. You’re concentrating on audio and visual and trying to make them match. It’s a real challenge. I love it. Plus, you don’t have to deal with egos and the knuckleheads in the band, press, or anything. Nobody cares. Nobody wants to interview the guy who did the soundtrack. All the neuroses from the rock environment is gone, and you get to concentrate on a really challenging project. You try and see the director’s vision through while putting your own stamp on it.”
After a quarter century in Ministry’s director chair, it’s safe to say his stamp looms large.
“This is a unique situation in that Ministry is basically me,” he says. “So what am I gonna do? Come back and put some band together in five years? I’m not interested. And I’ve got other things to do. A lot of people, unfortunately, don’t make any plans for afterwards and don’t have anything to do.”
If there’s anything Jourgensen doesn’t lack for, it’s something to do. Especially once the big chair in Washington opens up.
— Steve Forstneger
