American industrial metal legends MINISTRY are coming to Greece for the first time and more specifically for two very-promising shows in Athens and Thessaloniki. That was a great chance for us to have a chat with guitarist Sin Quirin on MINISTRY‘s forthcoming album, touring and politics of course.
Its MINISTRY’s first visit in Greece and your fans count days till the 1st and 2nd of June! Do you have any expectations from this show?
Well to be honest with you we’re counting the days as well! We’re very excited and very much looking forward to play in Greece for the first time. The response we got from fans has been very positive and very energetic and we’re hoping and expecting to see that energy in a few weeks.
Most of the fans expect from MINISTRY a setlist of old songs and many from the anti Bush era, do you have any information about that?
I do, but I cant give any information (laughing). I cant talk about our setlist but I can say that I dont think the people are going to be dissapointed, we’re gonna play some old stuff and we’re definitely gonna do stuff from the Bush trilogy era as well.I think people are gonna be very happy with the song selection that we’re gonna be playing this time around.
If I’m right you were part of the band in the “Last Sucker” and “From Beer To Eternity” recordings. Personaly I like “Last Sucker” and I think that the Bush era of MINISTRY is extraordinary. What are your thoughts for those two albums that you participated?
I think they’re very different records when I started writing stuff for the “Last Sucker” I remmember asking Al what direction he’d want me to go and he basicaly he wanted a certain direction for that album since it was part of the Bush trilogy. And so we went after that type of sound and that type of direction. The first song we wrote for that record musicaly was death and destruction and the second was the dick song and the third was life is good and next one was lets go. I wrote lets go in the studio while Al was there and I was just playing the lets go riff and I remmember him asking what that was and I said thats just an idea im working on and he said ye go keep playing that keep doing that you know I like that lets do something with that so. With “From Beer To Eternity” it was no longer in Bush era and when we went into writing that album I remmember asking him what kind of dirrection we were going and he kinda gave little more freedom in that album and I just said listen I got some slower stuff and some electronic stuff and he said yeah that fine lets bring that. Well the aproach was diffrente thats why this record was different to the listener but im very proud for both of those records but very different albums.
Many fans believe that during the Bush era thrash metal won over classic industrial sound that MINISTRY had in the 90’s. Do you think that MINISTRY took this path because Paul Baker left and Al wanted to give the “keys” of the direction of the band to someone else?
Well I’m not sure and I dont think im the best qualified to awnser that question, I wasnt part of the writing proccess of those albums but that might have been the case. You know as a band you always evolving. The way I look at it on a record often something like a snap shot or a picture of what youre going through at that time. What you’re feeling at the time, what you experienced with the events leading up to the writing of that record and the recording of that particulat album so it tough to awnser that question but I think that every record should be different from the next but that might have been the case im not sure.
In your previous answer you said that you asked Al what direction you should take in the album. Is it easy to cooperate with Al in the studio?
NO, (laughing)
He has the fame of being a little bit crazy so I must ask you!
To be honest with you it is. He’s been great to me in the studio. I don’t know what it is we seen to get along and talk the same language in the studio. Obviously whenever im writing some kind of musical idea I know that it has to sound like a ministry song and sometimes that I bring something to the table and hes gonna be like try this try that and make it fit more on the vision he has in his head. So its always a colaboration of sorts but he always gives me a lot of freedom in the studio and for me is so cool that he has so much faith in me to let me do what I need to do in the studio and then he comes in and does what he does to put all the finishing touches to make it sound like ministry but its never been difficult. Offcourse we have dissagrements some times on things but not anything crazy we always want the same goal in the end andwith that in mind we always look in the same end resolve.
I hope that stand with touring as well because Al has expressed in many ways before that touring is a city job. Do you enjoy touring with him and do you enjoy touring in general?
Yes I do! I enjoy playing live, I enjoy performing. Sometimes we’re on stage 1,5 hour but the other 22,5 hours sometimes can be difficult. And that has to do with the travelling the lack of sleep you know just not having the necesities or the convieniences that you have at home. So those things make it difficult and after doing it for so many years it gets tyring and not that im sitting here complaining about it by any means its like anything you do when you don’t have those home convieniences it can get a little tyring and a little irritating. But the overall, the playing the performing to me, it’s the ultimate high for me soI love doing that. But were old me now (laughing) and some times its a little tougher for us to get around.
You are above 40 right?
Well Al is gonna turn 50 and yeah, I just turned 40.
Let’s talk a little bit about politics. The critisism against Trump strarts to grow stronger and we hope that Al wont stay aside. Is there a possibility for a new record coming soon?
Yeah absolutely, we’ve been working on a new record since the beginning of this year and the new record is done and should be out in the fall and we hope to tour on that record. Well thats whats been coming up. Weve got the european tour in june and on the end of september till the mid of october we go to new zealand and australia and then were talking about a possible us tour in october november al well this year
Is there a concept about the new album? Can we get any info about that?
Well were keeping it under wraps right now I cant give you too much information, but it is done, it sounds great. I think its one of our strongest records people are going to be surprised with the direction. I can say that not every song has a thousand miles and hour on it. In my opiniion its a slower record but equally as heavy. Just slower. The different isntrumentation we brought on this record its very layered and has a deffinite sort of dark overtone and very atmospheric album.
For the last question; We’re in a hard period for music. Yesterday there was a terror attack on a concert in Manchester (The interview was made one day after the Manchester attack). Three days ago we lost Chris Cornell and the world was socked. Do you believe making a career as a musician or a rockstar is one of the most dangerous jobs out there?
I think so. It can be dangerous in different forms meaning its not easy and by me saying this I dont want it to sound like I’m complaining about what I do, I feel very blessed and lucky to do what I love to do but at the same time I dont think that its easy. Many things suffer when your a touring musician, the constant travel, you leave your loved ones, you miss a lot of things with your loved ones. The hazards of being on the road as we’ve seen there a lot of casualties out there with artists. Well its definitely not all glamorous by any means and some times the dangers seems to be brought on us by us often and some other times by other people like this horible thing that happened last night. So yeah it can be dangerous.