Brian Baker (musician)

Brian Baker
Baker performing with Bad Religion live in Los Angeles, California in 2019
Background information
Born	February 25, 1965
Genres	Hardcore punk, punk rock
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, bass guitar, vocals
Years active	1980–present
Labels	Dischord, Epitaph, Atlantic, Geffen
Associated acts	Minor Threat, Samhain, Dag Nasty, The Meatmen, Bad Religion, Government Issue, Junkyard, Beach Rats, Fake Names

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]

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

• The Gray Race (1996)
• Tested (1997)
• No Substance (1998)
• The New America (2000)
• The Process of Belief (2002)
• The Empire Strikes First (2004)
• New Maps of Hell (2007)
• The Dissent of Man (2010)
• True North (2013)
• Age of Unreason (2019)

Doggy Style

• The Last Laugh (1986)

Dag Nasty

• Can I Say (1986)
• Wig Out at Denko's (1987)
• All Ages Show 7" (1987)
• Field Day (1988)
• Trouble Is 12" (1988)
• 85-86 (1991)
• Four on the Floor (1992)
• Minority of One (2002)
• Dag with Shawn (2010)
• Cold Heart 7" (2016)

The Meatmen

• War of the Superbikes (1984)

Government Issue

• Make An Effort EP (1982)

Minor Threat

• Minor Threat EP (1981)
• In My Eyes EP (1981)
• Out of Step (1983)
• Salad Days EP (1985)

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)

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  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.

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  Brian Baker (left) performing with Bad Religion live in the Netherlands in 1995.

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  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.

References