Any other modern bandleader would be a tad nervous , if not downright filled with floor pacing anxiety . But not calm , cool , and collected Svengali Al Jourgensen . Sure , his notorious , pioneering industrial outfit Ministry is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year by — gulp ! — heading out on post-lockdown , but mid- Delta-variant tour , which hits at The Rivera Theatre on October 10 , the day after his 63rd birthday . And yes , he ’ s still pushing musical parameters with his edgy recent single “ Good Trouble ,” whose Unity remix blends his original “ Terminator ” march with the reading of a scathing John Lewis political screed by NWA ’ s Arabian Prince — just one of many sonic surprises on the band ’ s new Moral Hygiene album ; others include the singer ’ s old Lard comrade Jello Biafra in a sneering cameo on the punk-powered squealer “ Sabotage is Sex ,” a lugubrious cover of Iggy and the Stooges old chestnut “ Search and Destroy ,” and virulent , wake-up-you-idiots social commentaries practically designed to inflame the entire fact-denying Republican Party (“ Death Toll ,” “ Broken System ,” “ We Shall Resist ,” and the blunt , anti-conspiracy-theory “ Disinformation ” and “ Alert Level ”). This pugnacious provocateur isn ’ t just outlining an Apocalyptic civics lesson on the chalkboard — backed by ex-Billy Idol guitarist Billy Morrison ; he ’ s scraping his metallic fingernails down it with every bludgeoning riff .

Moral Hygiene opens with a sampled snippet , a female newscaster ’ s voice asking the rhetorical question that haunts the proceedings : “ How concerned are you ?” And Jourgensen won ’ t quit until the climatechange-minded response is a unanimous and pointedly urgent “ Very !” Will the Cancel Culture villagers storm his Southern California laboratory , pitchforks in hand ? The six-time Grammy nominee is stoic , unfazed . “ Right now , I ’ m just sitting here having a club soda and some ice ,” he casually reports from his patio . “ And I needed some ice because it ’ s HOT out here .” Hint , hint . Currently , courtesy of the once politely-dubbed global warming , annual forest fires are again scorching California , leaping across roads and destroying anything in their path . And if you think you ’ ve dodged that bullet by moving to the coast , good luck with that dated logic — very , very soon , there won ’ t be a coast to return home to . Once the Lovelock-predicted mass migrations start , there won ’ t be many safe refuges remaining — floods , tornadoes , hurricanes , and drought will find you no matter where you settle . While simultaneously , of course , one entire science-denying political party in America refuses to act on humanity ’ s encroaching extinction , preferring to systematically , insidiously chip away at voters ’ rights to win elections at any cost . ANY cost . Concerned yet ?

If Moral Hygiene sounds like a rather sober reckoning , it might have something to do with the fact that its formerly hard-partying composer is sober himself . Or at least relatively so , in comparison . Long gone are the hard drugs that nearly killed him , he says reassuringly . “ But I still enjoy a good wine or a sake with a nice Italian meal or some sushi ,” he confesses . And — lifelong aesthete that he is , probably one of his most obvious saving graces — he studiously goes into detail on the labyrinthine levels of sake that a true connoisseur can explore , everything from chilled plum and fuji apple flavored ( he sniffs disdainfully at its lowbrow mass-pleasing concept ) to the more high-end unfiltered brands he prefers . Its appreciation feels like a whole new art form , he swears . “ Sake is this new Michelin-system , wine-rating thing because it really is so diverse ,” he says , admitting that he savors his over crushed ice , as well — a sacrilege to some purists . “ And I like it when they take on their own flavorsome of them have a strange vanilla taste that comes from natural processing , and it ’ s multi-layered and really good . But it ’ s a different taste than Westerners haven ’ t gotten used to yet .” So you might think you ’ re savoring an exotic potent potable when you order that hot ricewine carafe with your Japanese meal , he adds . “ But it ’ s formaldehyde , most of it , like most of the cheap wines like Thunderbird that you drank as a teenager — you ’ ll get really sick on it because it ’ s crap . But when you start getting into the complexities of how they make this stuff and the different varieties you can discover ?” He sighs with the confidence of a learned but self-taught Midwesterner who believes twice as hard in every morsel of wisdom they acquire . “ They even have sake vineyards , if you will , even though there are no grapes , with hotels , sake tastings , the whole experience .” And a sake destination vacation , he says , “ Is just really , really cool .” And it ’ s perhaps the perfect introductory metaphor for this candid chat with Jourgensen . He ’ s learned a hell of a lot since he was a ripple-glugging Chicago teen , hanging out at Tut ’ s and Wax Trax . Let him share such knowledge with you , the audience , if he may …

IE : How did you cope with the pandemic ? Did you take up any new hobbies ? Paint or draw ? AL JOURGENSEN : Yeah , actually — both ! Basically , my house is my art . So I worked on my house and did this record . And that includes purchasing weird old shit online or at limited flea markets that you can transform and redo yourself or paint . So I just worked around the house and did this record and waited for this thing to end . And like at the end of the “ TV Song ,” when it says , “ It ! Is ! Over !” Well , not quite , which is what I allude to as well as we keep going . Just because the politicians say it ’ s over , I know that this society as we ’ ve constructed it currently is the closest thing to pre-secession society in America that I can read in my history books , which are probably full of shit , too . But what I ’ m saying is , comparison-wise , No . It is NOT over .

IE : We ’ ll come back to that . But , jumping into the album , how do you tackle something so iconic as The Stooges ’ “ Search and Destroy ”? I think you did a great version . continues on page 22

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