>>PREVIEW
MINISTRY
Saturday, June 3
MacEwan Hall (U of C)
"Every day you’re above ground is a good day," says Paul Raven with a wry chuckle.
A rather pessimistic outlook to be sure, but you can’t doubt the sincerity of the statement as it comes from a man who knows the perils of the dark side and has personally traversed the slippery slope of unadulterated infamy and unbridled hedonism.
A legend in his own right, the 45-year-old bassist was there when his band Killing Joke (the UK’s answer to Ministry) abandoned England and trekked to Iceland in anticipation of the apocalypse. Killing Joke’s lead singer, Jaz Coleman, was heavily involved with a doomsday cult at the time.
Well, the world didn’t go up in flames, but Coleman and company did stick it out long enough to start the band Theyr, which would eventually morph into The Sugarcubes. Raven’s distinctive sound became synonymous with Killing Joke’s music and he enjoyed their enormous popularity through the late ’80s until internal tensions within the group prompted him to form his own band, Murder Inc., in 1992. Two years later he made another leap of faith and joined New York-based grindcore specialists Prong, with whom he recorded the modern classics Cleansing and Rude Awakening.
"Prong was great to play with, especially Tom (Victor)," says Raven. "The rest of the guys in Killing Joke and I differed in some ways. They were such fucking genre purists and fucking hated everything else. Hey, I grew up in Birmingham, England and in my neighbourhood you’d better not like a band that wears fucking makeup or you’d get the shit kicked out of you. You were either a Skin or a Nazi, or you were a pothead and hung out with the Rastas. I fell right in the middle."
Always on the lookout for new conduits for artistic expression Raven joined forces with Matt Zane’s goth-rawk brainchild, Society One, in 2001. Then the extended family tree of alt-metal dipped its gilded branches once again and Raven found himself hashing out Ministry’s new album, Rio Grande Blood, and laying down the hardcore bass riffs on stage for their latest tour. How did this convergence of the mighty come about? According to Raven, the tale is in the tape, and the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels.
"Actually, Al (Jourgensen) and I have been friends for a long time," says Raven. "It was basically just a matter of time before we did something together. We always talked about working on stuff, but it’s hard to maintain your grip on any spare time you might have when you’ve both got busy careers. After working with Killing Joke, I finally had some time off, but then I got the call to start with Prong so we had to push things back again. Finally, I was able to work with Ministry on their most recent record."
As avant-garde and industrial minded as Raven and Jourgensen may be, it’s been a good while since either of them was at the peak of their popularity. Still, Raven maintains that what’s old is new again.
"I’ve always considered Ministry and Killing Joke as the big two. We really set the bar for that whole wave of industrial music," Raven explains with regard to the recent resurgence of public interest in all things heavy and loud. "We are just now catching up with technology and are re-releasing in new formats to a new audience. I see what’s happening when I’m at gigs. The audience holds a mix of old Ministry t-shirts and new Ministry t-shirts. Bald spots and dreadlocks. The way I look at it, AC/DC is a prime example of a band that has stuck to their original blueprint over the years. Sure you could say it’s just doing the same thing over and over, but to me that’s anything but boring. We’re not ripping ourselves off, we’re developing our style. Our own bludgeoning, smashing style."
While smashing his way through Ministry’s latest material is enough to keep any bassist jumping, Raven has learned that the key to longevity is diversity. Having lent his musical talents to so many recordings over the years it was inevitable that he would find himself on the other side of the studio’s soundproof glass. Raven has earned high praise for his technical skills as a producer and remixer – bands such as Die Krupps, Spahn Ranch and Psychic TV have already reaped the benefits of his hard won experience.
"I tried to retire many years ago, but I ran out of money back in the day. Too many drugs…. Now, I’ve got a regular job and drive a green Explorer like every other asshole on the road," he laughs. "I am not in any way, shape or form shy of music. As I’ve gotten older I’ve discovered that I can find something good in just about any type of music. I’m open to many influences.
"Lately, I’ve found myself in the role of producer. I fucking love people and it’s a producer’s job to get people to work together despite their histories. I’ve always found that music is the best bridge between two ideas.
"Now, with the advent of the computer, the producer’s job is often reduced to drumming one’s fingers on the table and doing mob research. Making an album is like making a baby. Ultimately the project belongs to the artists and I always call myself the referee." |
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