Let’s get with it, guys: You don’t need to hear a Ministry song to get political. You should be political on your own. We’re just a side project to society. So do I care what people think about me personally? No. I just do what I do. – Al Jourgensen
It’s typical of record companies. They sign you because you’re unique, and then they want to put you in a mold so they can sell records. – Al Jourgensen
‘Rock n’ Roll Animal,’ the live album, is one of the greatest live albums out there. It was a huge influence on me. – Al Jourgensen
I can’t control what people think of me, and I stopped really caring a long time ago. – Al Jourgensen
I’m the biggest Blackhawks fan ever. I’ve been going to games since I was 6 years old. – Al Jourgensen
Basically, an artist should be a mirror, or a reflection of society or his or her environment. What you see is what you can articulate. – Al Jourgensen
I’m not a malicious person. When you get past the tattoos and leather, I give people a fair shake. There are periods when I’ve sowed some wild oats, no doubt about it. And I can party with some of the heavyweights. There are some stories about me that, yeah, where there’s smoke there’s fire. But sometimes the smoke is just smoke. – Al Jourgensen
I’ve seen 48 Stanley Cups in my life. I was about six or seven when I started going to games with my dad. – Al Jourgensen
Everyone reaches their point in time where either they die or they get sick of doing drugs. It started getting debilitating. I enjoy my music a lot better than my drugs. – Al Jourgensen
I was stupid when I started: the epitome of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It was like, ‘I get to live in L.A. and drive around in limos? Really?’ I didn’t realize I was owned. The more money gets pumped into you, the more you become a marionette. It made me a true redneck in attitude: I never wanted to wake up ever again feeling owned. – Al Jourgensen
There was one theory put forth by a journalist recently. I have a lot of friends that have died prematurely and a lot of friends that have died of natural causes. I’ve lost a lot of people over the years. This journalist basically recommended to me that God keeps me around because I amuse him. – Al Jourgensen
I hate bands that hang around, like, 10 years too long – they’re like the drunk at a party you can’t get rid of. – Al Jourgensen
I’ve never seen the Osbournes, I’ve never seen Paris Hilton. I’d rather read than watch reality TV. I’d rather live life than watch somebody else living it. – Al Jourgensen
Punk rock really influenced me, the basic metal bands, Zeppelin, Stones and Floyd, and Southern rock bands. I think I was pretty well-rounded. – Al Jourgensen
I got my influences from ’70s bands – Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, blah blah blah. When I was growing up, we had all these crazy bands on the Top 40. Today, if Pink Floyd released ‘Money,’ it wouldn’t even get played. – Al Jourgensen
When I’m done with something, I’m done. I don’t go back and listen to and pine for my old albums, or the Lollapalooza days, or ‘Psalm 69’ selling millions of records. Maybe I’m really just getting old and mellow. – Al Jourgensen
We have to support our local artists. It’s just that simple. Otherwise, we will have no art. – Al Jourgensen
You’re never quite prepared for the inundation of stardom, or whatever you want to call it. – Al Jourgensen
I just tell you what I feel. I go out there, you put a quarter on my tongue, twist my ear and I’ll spit out some hit for you. – Al Jourgensen
The main thing in measuring integrity is someone’s motive and intent, not how many records they sell. Our intent in Ministry was never to be big. We just wanted to make enough money to live and to buy a studio, which we have done in Austin. – Al Jourgensen
There’s a famous artist, Ron English, in New York, that just, or Andy Warhol for that matter, that did pop art that terrorized society. And that’s, for the last like 10, 15 years, that’s all I wanted to do, is terrorize society and make them look into a mirror and see what the hell we have wrought. – Al Jourgensen
I never want to be in that stage where a band ends up playing state fairs and casinos. I am not willing to go out shooting up Botox and eating corn dogs while judging pig contests. – Al Jourgensen
If you had a Ministry box set under your Christmas tree, wrapped in paper, ‘From Beer to Eternity’ is the bow that goes around the present, you know what I mean? – Al Jourgensen
I’m an all-or-nothing guy. When I’m working, I work, work, work, work, work, and when I’m not, I’m the laziest sloth this planet has ever provided us. – Al Jourgensen
I scare the neighbors, the kids… They don’t come to my house for trick-or-treating, trust me. I had to buy exactly zero amount of dollars worth of candy for the past couple of years. – Al Jourgensen
The very first pharmaceutical commercial I ever heard was 15 seconds of the product and 45 seconds of side effects, so I know that this cannot be good for you. – Al Jourgensen
Ah, man, if I could ever hook up with Tom Waits, I’d be the happiest camper in Yellowstone, alright? That’s the one guy. – Al Jourgensen
