The projects first release was a single in 1988 of two Ministry outtakes from the Land of Rape and Honey album, entitled "Apathy" b/w "Better Ways". The name supposedly came from WaxTrax! co-founder/co-owner Jim Nash. When he heard the songs, he said "No one's gonna play this, it's gonna take a thousand homo DJs to play this for anyone to buy it."
"Apathy" was followed up by another single in 1990 featuring a cover of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut". The cover featured Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor on vocals and Rigor Mortis ' and Ministry touring member Mike Scaccia on lead guitar. The B-side featured a track called Hey Asshole, written by Al Jourgensen and drummer Jeff Ward. The track features a droning bass line and a constant chant of "Hey! Asshole!" (with Jello Biafra, amongst others), while Ward does an impersonation of a cop.
The "Supernaut" single was eventually issued on CD with the entire "Apathy" single as a bonus, while all four songs were later re-issued on the 2004 Ministry compilation "Side Trax" with the bands other short lived side projects.
The members of 1000 Homo DJs are identified by pseudonyms in the "Supernaut" CD liner notes. The identities of most members are fairly certain.
* Buck Satan: Al Jourgensen
* Officer Agro: Jeff Ward
* Ike Krull: Trent Reznor
* The Temple of Drool Choir: Mike O'Connell, Wes Kidd, Brian St. Clair, Herb Rosen, Joe Kelly, Jerry Rodgers
* Wee Willie Reefer: William Rieflin
* Viva Nova: likely Pamela Manning (stage name Viva Nova)
* Count Ringworm: Jello Biafra
Trent Reznor's contribution to "Supernaut" (see below) is uncredited.
The nature of Trent Reznor's contribution to 1000 Homo DJs' record has been debated. What is certain is that Reznor recorded the original vocals for "Supernaut." This performance was not officially used because Reznor's label TVT Records refused to allow his appearance on the release.[6] Reznor's version would ultimately be released as "Supernaut (Trent Reznor Vocal Version)" by TVT four years later on the retrospective Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years after TVT's purchase of Wax Trax!.
Jourgensen's immediate response to TVT's ultimatum is uncertain. An oft-repeated story tells that instead of recording new vocals, Jourgensen merely ran Reznor's performance through a distortion effect to mask its identity.[7][8] According to this story, every WaxTrax! recording of "Supernaut" contains Reznor's vocals. However, a dissenting group claims this is an urban legend, and that Jourgensen did record new vocals for the EP—albeit in a similar style to Reznor's initial performance.
Statements made by both Reznor and Jourgensen seem to confirm the latter view. In a 1992 Prodigy post regarding "Supernaut," Reznor said,
finally told Al to redo it without me. The version that Wax Trax put out is Al, the version on the NIN (bootleg, i might add) single is me.[9]
Reznor refers to the two-track Suck bootleg, which contains the recording of "Supernaut" that later appeared on Black Box. Jourgensen made a similar statement in a 2003 interview. When asked whose vocals appear on "Supernaut," Jourgensen replied,
That would be me on the original, on WaxTrax! The later version released on TVT was Trent Reznor... then the remixed version had my vocals on it.[10]
referring to the WaxTrax! EP, Black Box, and Greatest Fits versions, respectively. This corroborates that only the Trent Reznor Vocal Version contains Reznor's performance, and Jourgensen in fact sings on most versions of the song.
Released February 11, 2022 A rare treat for fans of the studio side project from Ministry's Al Jourgensen & Paul Barker - 1000 Homo DJs (via Bandcamp
Includes both the Al and Trent vocal takes of the title track, a killer cover of the Black Sabbath classic, plus an exclusive never before released remix along with the rest of the tracks from the 1990 EP plus the 1988 self-titled 12" single
Better Ways
1000 Homo DJs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can laugh until you're sick
You can laugh at anything you want
But I'm laughing back at you
And I'll remember you
There's no concern to you
Cause you're so independent
And I'll hide in the basement
Well I'll hide in the basement
I'll stick my head in sand
Well I'll stick my head up high
(Chorus:)
There must be better ways than this, I ask you
There must be better ways than this, well I'm on my knees
There must be better ways than this, I ask you
There must be better ways than this, well I'm on my knees
It seems so far away
We're so safe and sound
We let them fight their wars
And I'll buy the next round
And I'll buy the next round
I'll buy the next round
If there's anyone around
(Chorus)
The lyrics of 1000 Homo DJs' song "Better Ways" speak about a moral dilemma that the singer is facing as he observes a world filled with problems. He acknowledges the freedom to ignore these issues and laugh at everything, however, he chooses to remain vigilant and remember those who choose to keep their heads buried in the sand. The singer recognizes that the notion of independence is often used to excuse oneself from doing something to help the community, so he decides to hide in the basement and stick his head up high, implying that he chooses to remain grounded and aware, but at the same time, he is not going to participate in the war.
The rest of the song raises a question about the existence of better ways to confront problems rather than ignoring them or making them someone else's responsibility. The singer feels like the world is far away from the point of addressing these issues, and people around him are more interested in their personal lives than looking outside their comfort zones. The phrase "I'll buy the next round" suggests a temporary escape from life's problems, but the singer is still questioning if there are better ways to handle them.
Line by Line Meaning
You can laugh at the world
You have the option to scoff at everything around you
You can laugh until you're sick
You can laugh so much that it makes you nauseous
You can laugh at anything you want
You can mock anything that you please
But I'm laughing back at you
I'm responding to your laughter with my own laughter
And I'll remember you
I'll hold onto the memory of our laughter
There's no concern to you
There's no reason for you to be worried
Cause you're so independent
Because you're self-sufficient and don't rely on anyone else
Well I don't fight your war
I won't engage in the conflicts that you're involved in
And I'll hide in the basement
I'll retreat to a safe place
Well I'll hide in the basement
Repeated statement emphasizing the desire to hide away
I'll stick my head in sand
I'll ignore the problems and avoid dealing with them
Well I'll stick my head up high
But at times, I'll take a stand and face my troubles
There must be better ways than this, I ask you
I believe there must be better solutions than the current problem, and I'm voicing this concern to you
There must be better ways than this, well I'm on my knees
I'm begging for a better solution since the current one is not satisfactory
It seems so far away
A better solution seems unattainable
We're so safe and sound
We're in a comfortable and secure position, for now
We let them fight their wars
We allow others to engage in violent conflicts while we remain apart from it
And I'll buy the next round
I'll pay for the next set of drinks, as a sort of distraction from the harsh realities of the world
If there's anyone around
If there are others present to partake in this distraction
(Chorus)
Repeating chorus emphasizing the need for better solutions
Contributed by Kayla G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.