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Ex-Nine Inch Nails Drummer Records Plug For Maureen Sullivan in 11th Ward

By Casey Cora | January 30, 2015 6:20pm | Updated on February 2, 2015 8:27am
 Martin Atkins, hard rocking drummer and music business entrepreneur, calls Bridgeport home.
Martin Atkins, hard rocking drummer and music business entrepreneur, calls Bridgeport home.
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Martin Atkins

BRIDGEPORT — An unlikely voice has emerged in the 11th Ward's vaunted political landscape.

Martin Atkins, a punk rocker-turned-professor who resides in Bridgeport, has thrown his support behind Maureen Sullivan, who's taking on John Kozlar and Patrick Daley Thompson in the 11th Ward race

A career musician, Atkins pounded drums for hard-core punk and industrial groups like the Johnny Rotten-led Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Killing Joke, The Damage Manual and Nine Inch Nails.

His short YouTube video praises Sullivan for her work at the grassroots level and takes aim at the political legacy of the Daley family. He likened the Bridgeport neighborhood to England, "with almost royalty, with generations of people who just assume that they get the gig." 

Born in England, Atkins is considered a "resident alien" and therefore can't vote. 

"But it's nice to be able to help someone who's working so hard," he said. "I'm not saying the other candidates are crap — John Kozlar has done amazing things and one of my kids play Little League down there [at Canaryville Little League] — but I like what Maureen is planning to do over a period of time," he said. 

Since moving to Bridgeport sometime around 2000, Atkins has been a staple on the business-of-music circuit, giving talks across the globe, writing books and heading up the Chicago branch of SAE, a school specializing in careers in audio engineering and the music business. 

On her campaign blog, Sullivan, a longtime fan of punk music and culture, said Atkins' endorsement aligns with her do-it-yourself ethos.

''Punk rock is an attitude, not a style. It’s about doing things yourself, and not waiting for someone else to do it for you. Don’t like the music you’re hearing? Start a band. Don’t like the way the neighborhood looks? Pick up some garbage. Don’t like the candidates you’re seeing run? Run yourself or back up someone who sees things your way. It’s all one continuum, a way of thinking that I believe in.  It says: we can change things. Be real, be active and don’t take word from royalty as gospel."

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