Paul Gordon Barker (born February 8, 1959), also referred to as Hermes Pan, is the former

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

ist, producer and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

of the

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine ...

band Ministry from 1986 to 2003. Prior to Ministry, Barker provided bass for the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

ensemble

The Blackouts The Blackouts were a punk rock band formed in Seattle in 1979 by singer/guitarist Erich Werner, bassist Mike Davidson, and drummer Bill Rieflin, who were all former members of a local punk band, The Telepaths. They were joined by Roland Barker, f ...

alongside future Ministry drummer

Bill Rieflin William Frederick Rieflin (September 30, 1960 – March 24, 2020) was an American musician. Rieflin came to prominence in the 1990s mainly for his work as a drummer with groups (particularly in the industrial rock and industrial metal scene ...

and his brother, one-time Ministry touring keyboardist/saxophonist Roland Barker, from 1979 until 1985.

Ministry

Beginning as touring bassist for Ministry's 1986 ''

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

'' tour, Barker collaborated with frontman

Al Jourgensen Alain David Jourgensen (born Alejandro Ramírez Casas; October 9, 1958) is a Cuban-American singer, musician and music producer. Closely related with the independent record label Wax Trax! Records, his musical career spans four decades. He is b ...

and collectively released ''

The Land of Rape and Honey ''The Land of Rape and Honey'' is the third studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released on October 11, 1988, by Sire Records. This is the first Ministry album to include bassist Paul Barker and marks a departure from the ...

'' in 1988. Although many musicians briefly contributed to Ministry in the nearly two-decade period after Barker joined the band, he and Jourgensen were the only continuous members. The dynamics between these two different personalities came to shape Ministry's sound, along with a number of side-projects which they were involved in together. In 2003, Barker left the band a year after the release of their eighth album ''

Animositisomina ''Animositisomina'' is the eighth studio album by American industrial metal band Ministry, released on February 18, 2003 by Sanctuary Records. Background The album's title is a palindrome made of the word " animosity" spelled without the final ...

''. The decision was made official after the death of his father. Despite being in Ministry for almost 18 years, Jourgensen did not do anything to spur his departure. "Over the years we've had strained relations as well as good times, and the last tour was no different than any other tour. That means it was extremely difficult and very intense and lots of fun," Barker had said. It is often believed that Jourgensen and Barker were close bandmates and the latter played a huge creative role in the band. Jourgensen rebuffed these claims saying that their relationship was more like an arranged marriage and "acrimonious." He said that they were never friends but business partners. Since leaving Ministry, Barker has distanced himself from Jourgensen and the two have had almost nothing positive to say about their relationship in the band. Barker was quoted in a 2011 interview that it was "tough to watch" the band's ''Fix: The Ministry Movie'' documentary as he could no longer associate himself with the band. When asked in a 2015 interview if he would ever work with Jourgensen again, he replied, "I'm fairly confident we will not work together. We have zero relationship now." When asked why he left Ministry, he replied he was no longer willing to put up with the stupidity and decided that it was enough. Barker has since moved on to other things and in 2016, seems to have more or less made peace with Ministry. "Of course, that was a very intense time and extremely rewarding. That was quite a while ago and I rarely think about it. I'm still fascinated with the heaviest, ugliest music and it's now hard to find the time for those pursuits. I am not in direct contact with Al these days." In 2018, Jourgensen got back in touch with Barker. He contacted Barker while they both made appearances at screenings for the documentary ''Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records''. Jourgensen has stated he is eager to collaborate with Barker very soon.

Post-Ministry

Since 2003, Barker has spent his time recording new material, producing such acts as I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness and collaborating with artists such as Stayte (on their 2007 ''Cognitive Dissonance (The Art of Lying To Yourself)'' EP). He joined U.S.S.A. with Duane Denison (

Tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...

, ex-

The Jesus Lizard The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground… hoturned out a series of independent records filled with ...

) as bassist. The first album from his solo project Flowering Blight, entitled ''The Perfect Pair'', was released on November 19, 2008 via the official website. In 2011, Barker remixed the

Deadly Apples Deadly Apples is a Canadian rock / industrial metal band based in Montreal, Quebec. The band consists of frontman / lyricist Alex Martel (vocals) and main composer Antoine Lamothe (drums), with live musicians joining them on stage. An early ver ...

song ''Self Inflicted Oppression'' with samples from Ministry's ''

Psalm 69 Psalm 69 is the 69th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul". It is subtitled: "To the chief musician, upon Shoshannim, a Psalm of David". The Boo ...

''. The remix was featured on the soundtrack for the documentary film ''Fix: The Ministry Movie''. Barker released ''Fix This!!!'' on April 10, 2012. This album features guests such as Chris Connelly,

Ogre An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...

Taylor Momsen Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American musician, singer, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) and J ...

Puscifer Puscifer () is an American rock group formed in Los Angeles by Maynard James Keenan, known as the lead singer of the bands Tool and A Perfect Circle. Initially, Keenan was the only permanent member, and as such he considered the project to be h ...

, Alexis S.F. Marshall,

Joshua Bradford Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in ...

, and Devix Szell. In 2015, Barker joined the touring lineup of rock supergroup

as their bassist. Barker is also one of the founders of Malekko Heavy Industry Corporation, a manufacturer of

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis ...

modules and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

effect pedals.

Bands

(1979–1985) * Ministry (1986–2003) *

Pailhead Pailhead was a short-lived side project of Al Jourgensen of Ministry that featured Dischord Records founder and former Minor Threat frontman Ian MacKaye on vocals. The band's sound was a combination of industrial beats and hardcore punk, presagi ...

(1987–1988) *

Revolting Cocks Revolting Cocks, also known as RevCo, are an American-Belgian industrial rock band, and sometimes supergroup, that began as a musical side project for Richard23 of Front 242, Luc van Acker, and Al Jourgensen of Ministry. History 1984: Orig ...

(1987–1993, 2016–present) *

Lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the ...

(1988–2000) *

Lead into Gold Lead into Gold is a side project of American industrial musician Paul Barker, best known as the former bassist for Ministry and the Hermes Pan half of the Luxa/Pan production team. Primarily a solo project by Barker, Lead into Gold featured ...

(1988–1990, 2015, 2017–present) *

1000 Homo DJs 1000 Homo DJs was a side project of American industrial rock band Ministry. The project released two singles, one of which featured a cover of Black Sabbath's " Supernaut". 1000 Homo DJs began as a side project to release outtakes from Ministry ...

(1988, 1990) *

Acid Horse Acid Horse was a one-off collaborative side project between two industrial music pioneers, Ministry and Cabaret Voltaire. Only one single, "No Name, No Slogan", was released in 1989 on Wax Trax! Records. The band name is a combination of the s ...

(1989) *

PTP PTP may refer to: Science and technology *partial thumb print,an Impression left by friction ridges of a human thumb * Peak-to-peak, an amplitude of a signal * Permeability transition pore, a mitochondrial channel protein complex * Post-tetanic pot ...

(1989) *

Pigface Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin. History Pigface was formed from Ministry's ''The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste'' tour, which produced the '' In Case You Didn't Fe ...

(1990) *

Pink Anvil Pink Anvil was a duo consisting of former members of the group Ministry - Paul Barker and Max Brody. The pair formed during a time of personal turmoil in Ministry, which due to drug abuse and record label disagreements nearly ended the group. Up ...

(2001, 2003) * U.S.S.A. (2006–present) *Flowering Blight (2008) *Bells into Machines (2013–present) *

(2015–present, tour)

Footnotes

External links

Paul Ion Barker official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Paul 1959 births 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Alternative metal bass guitarists American audio engineers American heavy metal bass guitarists American industrial musicians American male bass guitarists American rock bass guitarists Record producers from California Living people Ministry (band) members Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Musicians from Palo Alto, California Pigface members Guitarists from California Lard (band) members Industrial metal musicians Puscifer members