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22 illinoisentertainer . com march 2024 ing , “ Why not ?” And I ’ m doing more adult things now than I did in , say , the ‘ 90s , you know what I ’ m saying ? Like not getting into trouble , for instance ( more cackling ensues ).
IE : And to also note another huge societal sea change , if you and were still doing cocaine in 2024 , we probably would have both overdosed and died on a fatal fentanyl-laced gram or two . That ’ s how Steve Earle ’ s son Justin Townes Earle accidentally passed away during the pandemic . AJ : Yeah . There is no way . So , I don ’ t do any drugs outside of psilocybin and pot , and that keeps me stable enough . And with the psilocybin , I don ’ t buy it unless I know the person and my person is more of a horticulturalist than a drug dealer . He really takes pride in growing these little mushrooms downstairs in his basement , and he has all the best equipment , so I know it ’ s not sprayed with fentanyl and all this shit . So yeah , I quit 22 years ago , and I ’ ve watched people shoot up in front of me on a tour bus and then offer me plenty , but I ’ m just not interested . And I mean , it interested me at first , but it ’ s just not a way of life that interests me now . And some people can do that . They can dabble ( in drugs ) for their whole life , and more power to them . But for me , it was pure hell just getting out of that ( addiction ) hellscape , so eventually , it was just no longer cutting it .
IE : We spoke about psilocybin last time . And a couple of months later , it suddenly seemed like ever musician and / or Hollywood star was openly discussing micro-dosing . AJ : Yeah . And well , I generally seem to be either ten years behind or ten years ahead of whatever current fad is going on . I can never seem to stick the landing and just be the flavor of the month for that particular societal era , you know ? And for that one , you ’ ve got to remember that I lived with Timothy Leary for about a year and a half , so I was well-exposed to , and well-versed in , psychotropics .
IE : Why title the new album HOPIUM- FORTHEMASSES ? The ‘ opium ’ reference implies a morphine panacea , a numbing appeasement . Is it an up-dating of the old culture-controlling trope of malt liquor ads plastering most ghettos , specifically designed , they say , to keep the black race repressed ? AJ : Yeah . That and bubblegum vape for kids and this and that . But look – the whole thing is a play on words , as most of my album titles are . And I simply recalled the Marx quote about opium to the masses , and we just changed it to HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES , it ’ s neither good nor bad , but just the usual Ministry sarcasm because we just like to poke hornets ’ nests whenever we can . So it ’ s just making fun of the fact that , like , is that what we ’ re waiting for ?
The new Hopium for the masses ? Which is what ? Fucking AI ? Because the last Hopium for the masses was social media , and look where that got us . You see what I ’ m saying ? So we just turn things on their ear and plow forward .
IE : Speaking of AI , and as you hinted at earlier , you were ahead of the Kurzweill / Singularity curve years ago when Stanley Kubrick hand-picked you to appear in his final film “ A . I .” and also composed its soundtrack . But you actually hung up on him and his secretary when he first phoned you with the incredible offer ? AJ : Three times ! I thought I was being punked , you know ? So finally , she got him on the phone , and yeah – it was Stanley Kubrick ! I was living in Austin at the time , and I just couldn ’ t believe it – it just came right out of the blue , and it all worked out . Uh , except for the fact that he died before the movie was made . So ( follow-up director ) Spielberg kind of inherited me because Kubrick had been adamant that he wanted us to be the band in the Flesh Fair and all this other shit . So I was inherited by Spielberg , because Kubrick died before the movie was being shot . And that was kind of rough sailing at first because they ’ d changed the script from what I was sent by Kubrick – it was a lot darker , the Kubrick version , and there were no fucking teddy bears or any shit like that anyplace . And I was a big fan of his , and I go back to Dr . Strangelove and Lolita . Kubrick was kind of a dark guy , and the movie changed when Spielberg got it because he has this obsession with children and his childhood . So when I met him , it was kind of a strange meeting – I ’ m in full costume on set , and I ’ m like , “ Steve , baby ! What ’ s the fucking deal , man ? I got sent this script , and I thought it was a porno film ! I thought “ A . I .” stood for “ Anal Intruder ”! What did you DO to this ?” And , uh , he didn ’ t really understand my sense of humor for about a day or two . So , at first , it was kind of a rocky start with Spielberg . But we got along fine after that . But it was SO out of the blue – I had no connection with Kubrick , an eccentric American living in the British countryside , calling me up in Texas , saying , “ No , you HAVE to do this ! You HAVE to do the score for this film !” But as it turned out , Spielberg went to his usual go-to guy , John Williams , and we were just down to one song and part of the Flesh Fair scene , whereas Kubrick had wanted me to do the whole score .