Aaron Rossi is the terrific drummer of Ministry and, of course, Prong. Radio Metal was the very first media to interview one of the Ministry band members after the Toulouse incident. Therefore, it is on January 26, in Lyon, France, that Aaron discussed with us about this incident, the last Ministry album, his relation with Al Jourgensen and Tommy Victor as well as many other subjects ! This very long interview, almost 30 minutes long, can be heard integrally via the following podcast. And for the lazy ones, a résumé is also available.


Aaron Rossi (Ministry/Prong)


Interview conducted by Doc



Date : 2008-06-26
City : Lyon

Radio Metal : When we see the members of MINISTRY today, we have the feeling that MINISTRY is a great family. It’s like the members were together since the beginning. It’s a proof that MINISTRY is a real band now…

Aaron Rossi: Even the crew – the guitar techs, drum techs, sound engineers… They’ve been with MINISTRY for a handful of years now. Everybody knew each other else, everybody is friends. Sin also plays with REVOLTING COCKS and recorded with MINISTRY, Tony is from STATIC-X and has covered MINISTRY songs, and now Al wants me to play in REVOLTING COCKS. As soon as the tour is done, I'll tour with them, and Tommy can write a new PRONG album. Everybody's friends. It's just a lot of fun. On the last US tour, Burton C. Bell from FEAR FACTORY came out and wanted to "hang out with his friends", but we had to go and play, so he said: "OK, let's go play some music and then hang out together".

And now Burton takes part in the Cover Up album. Did you work with him?

No, because none of the MINISTRY drum tracks are recorded with a human drummer. They’re all done in a computer, they’re programmed drums from a keyboard or a computer program. My job is to recreate a computer. I have to play like a computer but with human feelings.

Why was a conjoined tour with PRONG and MINISTRY not possible? PRONG had to promote Power of the Damager, and MINISTRY had Cover Up and The Last Sucker, so why not have a joined tour?

It was Angie Jourgensen’s call. She said that Tommy and I would have to play double duty and do both bands, and the MINISTRY set-list alone is almost two hours. So we decided to just do MINISTRY, and then bring out a band with us. On the previous tour, I think Al Jourgensen played with REVOLTING COCKS and MINISTRY, and he was tired ! So Angie said no double duty. PRONG had just finished touring, so let people wait, and they’ll want more PRONG in the end. It will be a while till PRONG have their own farewell tour.

Al Jourgensen is a star in the metal universe. The media and the fans have a lot of respect for him, for is career and his personality. Is it easy to work with him?

It’s an honour to work with him, but I look at it differently. I look at it as playing music with my friends. When I met Al, I wasn't just a musician in his band, I was his friend first. "Come and play with me, and maybe you'll learn something from it". I've improved in my drumming since I joined him in MINISTRY. Same thing with Tommy. A lot of my friends are more familiar with PRONG than I am. I look at it as playing with my friends, but at the end of the day, I know I'm working with legendary musicians. It looks great on my résumé, while I'm still in my twenties, and I can move on with the music. It’s a kind of dream. It’s like playing in a band with James Hetfield or someone like that. I don't want anybody else to play drums for Tommy, or for Al. He makes me feel like my playing is really good, and he's a cool guy. I like hanging out with him.

I was at the show in Paris and at the Hellfest, and the set-lists were the same, so I was a little disappointed. As a big fan of MINISTRY, I like the first albums and the electronic, pop feel they have. The set-list could be a bit different, and a lot of fans think like me...

I think age has a lot to do with it. Al is the same age as my parents, and sometimes he has a hard time remembering lyrics. Before the show, he'll go over the lyrics, because no matter how many times he's sung them before, he still has to review the lyrics and practice. If we played some of the really old songs, he may forget the lyrics. Playing the same songs, he can go on stage and do his job. It pleases the crowd to see him on stage, but everybody wishes we would play Burning inside or something. But Al thinks that the songs we have in our set-list are enough to leave people on a high note. It's a farewell tour, and he's trying to promote this last album to increase sales.