Ministry have been one of the pioneers in the industrial metal scene so it’s sad to hear that their latest album “From Beer To Eternity” and their upcoming world tour will be the final thing we will see from the band as they plan to end things after the tour due to the loss of guitarist Mike Scaccia. But Ministry plan to end things with a bang and show why the new album is as great as critics have been saying. They hit Australia for the Soundwave festival in 2015 so we caught up with guitarist Sin Quirin to discuss the tour and what we can expect on this final run with Ministry.
Andrew: Hello!
Sin: Hey Andrew how are you?
Andrew: Yeah good thanks! How’s things with Ministry at the moment?
Sin: Things are extremely well! We are actually in the studio in the process of working on a new Lard record believe it or not.
Andrew: Oh ok, how’s that going?
Sin: It’s going amazing! We’ve demo’ed about 5 or 6 new Lard ideas at the moment. So yeah that’s what we’re in the middle of doing right now.
Andrew: So obviously you are coming here for Soundwave next year in Australia. What can we expect on this tour?
Sin: You can expect a bunch of happy guys on stage haha! Really excited about being down there for Soundwave and in Australia. We’re very much looking forward to being down there, we’re going to be playing a lot of stuff from “From Beer To Eternity” and we’re going to be playing a lot of the old classics and we’re going to be breaking out some stuff that haven’t been played since the early 90’s.
Andrew: What kind of stuff from the early 90’s? Like the more obscure stuff or the more well known songs?
Sin: Well without giving away too much, the only thing I can say is we’ll be doing some stuff off of “In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up”. So that will give you a little clue there.
Andrew: When was the last time you guys came to Australia?
Sin: It was before I came into the band. I’ve been in the band almost 10 years so I wanna say maybe 15 years ago? Something like that.
Andrew: Wow so it’s been a while so this will be a big one!
Sin: Yeah.
Andrew: I heard that “From Beer To Eternity” is supposed to be the last Ministry album. Is that true?
Sin: That is true, this is the last record and it’s looking like this will be the last tour in 2015 as well.
Andrew: So this being the final tour, I assume you guys will have something pretty special. Especially for the very last show you guys will be doing.
Sin: Yeah man we’re working on a whole new stage production, new visual, stuff we haven’t done before. So we’re trying to make this whole tour very special since it will be the last one.
Andrew: It is unfortunate because you guys had reformed not too long ago a few years back so it is unfortunate that you guys have decided to call it quits. But obviously under the circumstances, very understandable I suppose.
Sin: Right, exactly. With the passing of Mikey (Mike Scaccia, guitarist), Al (Jourgensen, vocals) just didn’t want to continue without Mikey anymore. We wanted to do this last run because Mikey was very proud of this record, I mean he was ready to tour on this record. So we’re gonna do this one last run.
Andrew: Yeah and it’s a great record as well, certaintly one of the best that Ministry have done in a while. How much did you do in the writing process for that one?
Sin: Well I co-wrote 7 of the 10 songs on it so I definitely had my hands all over this record. I tried to bring back some of the older feel and older vibe. I brought in a lot more electronics to this album. You notice that not every song is a thousand miles an hour, they definitely set a little bit more of a mood, some of the tempos are a little bit slower, there’s some groovier stuff on there. So I definitely tried to bring that with the songs that I wrote.
Andrew: So these songs will fit really well with the older material when you play them live then.
Sin: Yeah I think they are going to go really well with the older stuff. I think the set is going to flow really well.
Andrew: Yeah definitely. So festival shows compared to club shows, do you vary the setlist or do they remain the same no matter what kind of show it is?
Sin: We really keep them the same. It really just depends on the time constraint that we have. Sometimes at festivals they only give us a certain amount of time so we have to cut some songs out but if it were up to us, we would do the exact same set if it were a festival or a club.
Andrew: Inbetween the festival dates, are there any plans to do any side shows at all?
Sin: Yeah we’re working on a show in Perth and one other show but I don’t have any information about those at the moment. But we are working on 2 other non-festival shows.
Andrew: Perth fans will be very happy about that considering that the festival doesn’t go over to Perth anymore.
Sin: Yeah we’re really doing our best to make it to Perth this time around. That is something we are actively pursuing at the moment.
Andrew: That will be good to see if you can actually make it happen! So you mentioned that you are in the studio recording, aside from that, what else has been going on with you personally?
Sin: I started DJing this year. Hopefully I can get a DJ gig or two down in Australia while we’re down there, I think that would be a blast. And also going to be working on this movie called “The Bridge: The Movie” which stars Joe Elliot from Def Leppard, Eddie Ojeda from Twisted Sister, Ricky Warwick from Black Star Riders and The Almighty, Joey Santiago from The Pixies and myself and Al Jourgensen and that is called “The Bridge: The Movie” and that should be out sometime in 2015. You can find the information on facebook I believe (facebook.com/bridgemovie). And also something that I have going on, I have my very first signature series guitar that will be unveiled this January at Namm, this signature Schecter guitar. I’m very excited about that, I’ll have it down at Soundwave, I’ll be using it on the whole upcoming tour. And my recent endorsement with Blackstar Amps which I’m very excited about as well.
Andrew: Do you use those equipment for everything that you do or only for certain things?
Sin: The signature guitar I’m using it for everything that I’m doing cause not only does it look amazing but it sounds superb so I’m very excited about that guitar. I’m using it for these demo’s on the new Lard record and that’s the only guitar I’ve been using since I got it. I just have the prototype right now, it will actually hit the market in January.
Andrew: Cool. So final tour for Ministry which is going to be a big deal. So there’s nothing else as far as music is concerned, leftovers or anything like that? This is the last thing that will be coming from the band?
Sin: I mean as of right now, yeah. I don’t see anything else happening. We do have stuff in the vaults so to speak but I don’t know if anything will ever see the light of day again. Al and I are working on this Lard record, there might be another project or 2 that we’ll do but it won’t necessarily be Ministry, it will be something else. It’s tough to answer ’cause you never know. I always say never say never, things change but as of right now there doesn’t look like there will be any new Ministry material.
Andrew: What’s Al going to be doing after the tour?
Sin: After the tour we’re going to be working on that movie and then he’ll be doing more production stuff in the studio. He’ll be in the studio working on records and that’s where he’s happy.
Andrew: OK I got a couple of questions that we try to ask everyone and it would be great to hear your answers. If you could be a fly on the wall as a witness to the recording of any classic album in history, what album would it be?
Sin: Are You Experienced – Jimi Hendrix.
Andrew: Why that album?
Sin: Jimi is one of my, if not my favorite guitar players. One of the guys that influenced me, a huge influence on me growing up. One of the guys that made me want to pick up a guitar. To me, every tune on that record is just a classic and man, to have been there, I can’t even imagine.
Andrew: That is a great album! Aside from Jimi Hendrix, who are your main influences?
Sin: Ace Frehley from Kiss.
Andrew: Ah ok. Big Kiss fan obviously?
Sin: Oh yeah huge Kiss fan. Kiss is the band that actually first got me wanting to play the guitar and they’ve been my all time favorite band. I mean Kiss from like ’74 to ’79, that classic lineup…all time favorite band. Ace Frehley, his style of playing to this day, I take some stuff from Mr Frehley.
Andrew: Do you still follow his stuff like his solo stuff?
Sin: Oh yeah absolutely! I just got “Space Invader”, I think it’s great. He’s playing better than he ever has, he sounds great! I’ve always continued to follow Ace.
Andrew: What do you think of Ace Frehley and the rest of the band, what’s your take on it?
Sin: Oh you know man, it’s just a bunch of unnecessary drama I think that happens sometimes. Sometimes it’s just stuff that shouldn’t be out in public and in the media and it just is. It just leaves a bad taste in your mouth for the true fans who just care about the music. Sometimes just dirty laundry being aired, it’s just unfortunate.
Andrew: And for you, what is the meaning of life.
Sin: The meaning of life. Music and be happy, surrounding yourself with the ones you love and that’s it man. Keep it simple.
Andrew: Sounds like good advice! So thanks for taking the time to chat with us, we’re looking forward to seeing you guys at Soundwave and really hope you can make it to Perth because The Rockpit is based in Perth as well.
Sin: Oh awesome man! We’re definitely working on Perth, that’s like the big thing that we’re working on with our agent. So we’re really pushing to make that happen.
Andrew: Yeah if that could happen that would be great! So yeah thanks again for talking to us, it’s been a pleasure!
Sin: Thank you very much man, hope to see you down there!
