Brian Baker (musician)

Brian Baker (born February 25, 1965) is an American punk rock musician. He is best known as one of the founding members of the hardcore punk band Minor Threat,[1] and as a guitarist in Bad Religion since 1994.[2] In Minor Threat, he originally played bass guitar before switching to guitar in 1982 when Steve Hansgen joined the band, and then moved back to bass after Hansgen's departure. He also founded Dag Nasty in 1985,[3] was part of the original line-up of Samhain, and has had stints in Doggy Style, The Meatmen (with fellow Minor Threat member Lyle Preslar),[4] Government Issue,[5] and Junkyard (a hard rock band).[6]

Brian Baker
Baker performing with Bad Religion live in Los Angeles, California in 2019
Background information
Born (1965-02-25) February 25, 1965
GenresHardcore punk, punk rock
Occupation(s)Guitarist, songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, bass guitar, vocals
Years active1980–present
LabelsDischord, Epitaph, Atlantic, Geffen
Associated actsMinor Threat, Samhain, Dag Nasty, The Meatmen, Bad Religion, Government Issue, Junkyard

In 1994 Baker was offered a spot as a touring musician with R.E.M. but declined, opting instead to accept a position in Bad Religion as Brett Gurewitz's replacement.[7] He also experimented with a more pop direction influenced by U2, with a band called 400.[8] Baker briefly toured with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes in 2005 and appeared on Canadian punk band Penelope's second album (Face au silence du monde).[9] He has been a frequent guest guitarist on many songs and albums by artists as varied as Blood Bats, Tesco Vee, Ric Ocasek, Teenage Time Killers, Mind Over Four, Dangerous Toys, Pollen Art, Unwritten Law, Travis Cut, Lickity Split, Hot Water Music, Down By Law, Bash & Pop, Middle Aged Brigade, Careless, and many others.

In 2020, The band Fake Names, composed of Baker, Swedish vocalist Dennis Lyxzén (Refused, International noise conspiracy, INVSN), guitarist Michael Hampton (S.O.A., Embrace, One Last Wish) and bassist Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys, Soulside), released its first album (self-titled).

Discography

Bad Religion

Doggy Style
  • The Last Laugh (1986)

Dag Nasty

The Meatmen
  • War of the Superbikes (1984)

Government Issue
  • Make An Effort EP (1982)

Minor Threat

Junkyard
  • Junkyard (1989)
  • Sixes, Sevens & Nines (1991)
  • Shut Up – We're Trying To Practice! (2000)
  • Tried and True (2003)
  • Faded/The River 7" (2015)
  • High Water (2017)
  • Old Habits Die Hard (2019)

Foxhall Stacks
  • The Coming Collapse (2019)

Beach Rats
  • Wasted Time 7" (2018)

Fake Names
  • Fake Names (2020)
  • Brian Baker (center) performing with Minor Threat live at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. in 1981.
  • Brian Baker performing with Bad Religion live in the Netherlands in 1995.
  • Brian Baker (left) performing with Bad Religion live in the Netherlands in 1995.
  • Brian Baker performing with Bad Religion live at Rock im Park in 2018

Further reading
  • Azerrad, Michael (2001). Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-78753-1.
  • Blush, Steven (2001). Petros, George (ed.). American Hardcore: A Tribal History. Feral House. ISBN 978-0-922915-71-2.
  • Cogan, Brian (2008). The Encyclopedia of Punk. Sterling. ISBN 978-1-4027-5960-4.
gollark: I can get most things but:* silvers* golds* dinos* chickenseventually.
gollark: Well, I got a copper, that's something.
gollark: Hmm.
gollark: Are most of the golds/silvers between or at 5min drops?
gollark: I think the way it works is that you either have no slots and good stuff or slots and not so good stuff.

References
  1. "Dischord Records: Minor Threat". Dischord Records. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  2. "Bad Religion – 30 Years". Badreligion.com. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  3. "Dischord Records: Dag Nasty". Dischord Records. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  4. "Bio". The Meatmen. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  5. "Government Issue - Make An Effort EP". Discogs. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2018-04-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Zonda Books Limited. p. 46. ISBN 0958268401.
  8. 1989-2012, Mark Kennedy, copyright. "The 400 :: MisfitsCentral.com". Misfitscentral.com. Retrieved 5 August 2018.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. "Daghouse - Brianography". Daghouse.com. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
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