On a quiet block just west of Halsted Street in Bridgeport, a former funeral home now houses a collection of memories — both physical and emotional — so niche, so random, it almost shouldn’t exist.
Martin Atkins, a longtime musician (Public Image Ltd., Pigface, Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke) and producer, and lecturer at Millikin University in Decatur, opened the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music in 2021, though its curation started long before then. Unlike the precious or sterile museums that pepper the Gold Coast, Atkins’ space is a reflection of the community that’s continued to buoy the noisy, subversive genre since the ‘80s and early ‘90s, as well as the musicians and collaborators that helped breathe life into it.
Upon arrival, visitors are greeted by the “Fook Babies” — a 14-foot stage backdrop made by special effects and creature artist Tim Gore (“The Walking Dead”) for Pigface’s 1993 tour behind what is arguably the band’s most acclaimed album, 1992’s “Fook” — leering down from behind a cage from Ministry’s infamous Cage Tour. A small gift shop with reissued vinyl, Dark Matter Coffee’s specialty museum blends and voodoo dolls of Atkins occupies a room on the right side of the hallway before entering the main showroom. You can almost smell the dirty clubs, sweat and old leather boots as you enter and see Atkins’ drum kit from Nine Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole” music video front and center. Original artwork by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult’s Groovie Mann (born Franke Nardiello) hangs across from it, surrounded by so many photos, shadowboxed capsules, original art, tour suits and posters it could make you dizzy.
Initially conceptualized in 2020, Atkins used to display and discuss his trinkets and memorabilia casually while on the road — things kept to remember his fame’s “15 minutes.” Partially inspired by late rapper Nipsey Hussle’s Marathon store and entrepreneurial empire, what he had always considered “random, artistic pursuits” slowly began to present themselves as so much more.
For nearly three years now, what began as the home of his label Invisible Records turned gallery that housed Atkins’ pieces from his 40-plus year career has unfolded into an unexpected place for camaraderie and inspiration — within the city’s creative communities and post-punk and industrial music fans of all ages across the globe. Visitors and independent collectors trading in nostalgia started donating their mementos, mailing Atkins their ticket stubs, flyers, tour merchandise and photos to enshrine. They’re given the chance to become “founders” of the museum, which includes access to museum-hosted events such as a Whiskey Pancake Brunch, priority spaces for tours and the opportunity to spend the night. By Atkins’ count, there are now over 1,400 museum founders. Even well-known musicians like members of The Dandy Warhols, Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Wax Trax! Records stalwarts KMFDM stop in when they’re in town. Chris Connelly of Revolting Cocks and Ministry has been known to take in an event or two in the space.
“If I can show you some things?” Atkins asks as he gives a tour. He stops in front of a small Nine Inch Nails announcement from 2007. “What’s all so strange is,” he says, “I never know what tiny (expletive) insignificant shit is gonna set somebody off, you know?”
He says that a guest once cried in front of the small cut-out displayed alongside other flyers, stickers and stencils. Others found themselves exchanging stories of specific concerts, albums and the subculture itself. Tours are typically three to four hours in length and some folks spend just as long shopping afterward. Though the museum’s website lists visiting “by appointment only” and the address is undisclosed, Atkins has been known to oblige folks who get last-minute recommendations to check it out from other local Bridgeport businesses like Jackalope Coffee & Tea House and Tangible Books.
“People who come here and freak out over the stuff, it’s ridiculous,” Atkins continues, not judgmentally, more surprised by the outpouring of support he’s received for his semi-accidental endeavor. “People take away those things. But sometimes it’s their kids looking at the fashion stuff, looking at how careers got started making suits for band members and stuff. I think we’re going deep enough that a fan of any one of these bands could sit here for half a day crying, remembering, and going on their own internal journey.”
When doors first opened, the collection displayed within the museum’s walls was about 98% Atkins’ own. By his estimates now, it’s about 50% his, possibly even less. Joking that only maybe his mother and sister would be interested in visiting a place that felt like “Martin Atkins presents Things Involving Martin Atkins,” he’s grateful that he and his small but mighty team have stumbled into the contribution of objects. A 1986 cassette tape Trent Reznor gave him of what are considered the earliest Nine Inch Nails demos, which Atkins sold on eBay in 2010 for $1,400, made its way back to him around Christmas last year. Another fan donated the original lederhosen worn by Throbbing Gristle’s late Genesis P-Orridge when she developed her satirical, provocative “Eva Adolf Braun Hitler” character, who appeared on stage and in a number of short films for Pigface.
When looking through the thousands of pieces that have made their way to the little house, the question remains — what is museum-worthy? But that element of D.I.Y. and spontaneity behind throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks is still the ethos behind PPIM. It’s even evolved into a sort-of love letter to what first drew Atkins to Chicago, considered by many the birthplace of industrial music, known for Wax Trax! Records, Chicago Trax Recording, Touch and Go Records, The Metro, Lounge Ax, The Alley, Club Neo and one Cynthia “Plaster Caster” Albritton. Albritton, the avant-garde artist most famous for her casts of musicians’ erect penises and later women’s breasts, cast Atkins in 1996. A corner of the museum was dedicated to her after she died in 2022.
Though the museum is a glimpse at what once was, Atkins has long been an advocate for the city’s independent artists since moving to Chicago in 1989. Local post-punk outfit Ganser — who he considers good friends — have a drumhead on display, and he often hosts or participates in student events, panels for those interested in industry careers, and workshops for emerging talent. He’s collaborated with After School Matters and cohorts like the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship out of Portage Park incubator, 2112 Chicago. In the museum’s recording studio basement, Atkins offers these visitors the chance at an introductory screen-printing lesson or to mix a song on Steve Albini’s old tape machines in the recording studio basement.
“I’d like it to have an educational component, because how could this not?” he says of larger ambitions. “If it’s not educational, I’d be doing something wrong. If you have a class that’s doing punk, post-punk, industrial — throw the textbooks away and just come here and smell it. Use this as a spot where students can learn about event management.”
He continues, “I get the sense the kids hear, ‘Oh we’re going to a museum’ and they’re like ‘Oh (expletive),’ but then they come in here and we’ll go downstairs and print T-shirts. I’m trying to show entrepreneurial, DIY commerce and transferable skills. This one kid was like ‘I always wanted to start a merch company’ and I’m like ‘You just did, didn’t you?’”
As PPIM continues to adapt, expanding accessibility is at the forefront of Atkins’ mind. He’s considering an online archive for interviews, photographs, and things that have yet to find a space onsite as well as a platform for virtual tours and experiences that can reach folks unable to travel to Chicago.
Marking its upcoming three-year anniversary with open house tours, Atkins laughs when asked if there’s a real “plan” for the future of his museum.
“I think I was sitting upstairs and I thought to myself, ‘Well that’s it. You’ve had a good run of complete (expletive) insanity, and now you’re gonna be a tour guide,’” he remembers. “I was like, ‘Am I really going to be like, ‘And then Johnny Rotten did this,’ or ‘Steve Albini did this’?
“But it actually feels like looking at the past to move forward,” Atkins says. “To people who this has been important to, who have felt like outsiders for whatever reason — just that this place exists kind of gives them some comfort. I don’t mean to make it sound like chicken soup,” he laughs, “but the sum of that, the connections with people, that’s really exciting to me.”
Tours 2:45 p.m. and 5 p.m. April 20, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. April 21 at the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music; tickets $5-$120 and more information at ppimchicago.com
Jessi Roti is a freelance writer.
