The Mad Hatter of Ministry Al Jourgensen has had enough of dodgy promoters and record labels. In a career spanning 35 years, he has finally had enough of the bullshit behind the art. As we found out yesterday with CJ McMahon, life isn’t easy for an ‘underground’ band no matter how popular they are.
Al Jourgensen is no stranger to doing it tough, so instead of throwing it all away he has devised a new strategy to knock out the middle man. Jourgensen plans to fill his boots through a crowd funding website called Patreon.
Jourgensen explains on his introduction page “After 35 years of dealing with record labels, contracts, lawyers and all the bullshit that goes along with being a musician, I’ve decided to go a new route and give this techno shit a try. I have no idea what will happen here but I’m game to give it a go if you are. I’m gonna cut out the middle man and give you an unfettered, all access, behind the scene view of what the life of Al Fucking Jourgensen really looks like.”
“You’ll be with me backstage before shows, hanging out with me and my longtime partners in crime in various situations and places, getting and giving interviews, discussing politics and getting first hand election coverage from me and people like Jello Biafra, discussing all sorts of shit that I, and hopefully you, will find interesting. We’ll go on road trips ala Anthony Bourdain style (only with a lot more debauchery), doing videos of all sorts, movie, book and music reviews and fuck, I might even teach you how to cook a good goddamned meal…that’s right, a cooking show!”
“Patreon is not exactly making world news cuz it is what it is….an underground network of artist connecting directly and unfiltered to their fans bypassing the entire commercial system…sounds pretty Punk Rock DIY to me.”
“I have been blessed and fortunate to keep my head above water for 35 years but frankly I’m sick of working my ass off (38 CD’s at last count plus the 35 years of relentless touring), while everyone else seems to make gobs of cash. I know it all sounds so “glamorous”, the touring, video shoots, red carpets etc, etc… blah blah blah…but fucking trust me, it’s not!”
The system needs a shake-up, and maybe ‘Uncle Al’ is just the man for the job. As Jourgensen himself said of this campaign, “…together we can take ART back from the F*CKHEADS hell bent on destroying it…”
So far Jourgensen has amassed a total of $390 p/month. I’m not exactly sure how much vodka that buys but I’m sure it helps. You can find all the details and how to donate here.
https://youtu.be/Skx5hkW6-Tc
