Former Ministry, This Mortal Coil Members Join pinksideofthemoon

For Immediate Release

Contact: Joel Gausten/ gaustenbooks@gmail.com

Former Ministry, This Mortal Coil Members Join pinksideofthemoon

Legendary producer/mixer/guitarist/keyboardist John Fryer (This Mortal Coil) and former Ministry/RevCo producer/mixer/bassist Paul Barker have officially joined pinksideofthemoon, the “Electronica/Trip-hop/Space-Dub Dancefloor” project led by the Portland, OR-based husband-and-wife production/songwriting team of Lee and Jolee Popa. Now a quartet, pinksideofthemoon will focus their collective energies on new music and live performances during the final months of 2014.

One of the industry's most sought-after producers/mixers, John Fryer has worked with a stunning array of artists including Nine Inch Nails, Stabbing Westward, Cradle Of Filth, White Zombie, Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Peter Murphy and HIM. As a musician, he is perhaps best known for his work with UK legends This Mortal Coil alongside 4AD Records co-founder Ivo Watts-Russell. His most recent project, DarkDriveClinic, released the album Noise in My Head in 2011. Lee and Jolee Popa (credited as pinksideofthemoon) created a remix for the DarkDriveClinic track “Find The Flaws” in 2012.

Originally with the Seattle-based Post-Punk band The Blackouts, Paul Barker was a member of Ministry alongside Al Jourgensen from 1986 to 2004, contributing songwriting and production to the band's most commercially successful period with albums like Psalm 69, The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and The Land Of Rape And Honey. His other projects have included Lead Into Gold, RevCo, Flowering Blight, Pink Anvil and U.S.S.A. Additionally, he produced two albums for the Texas-based act I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness.

A primary figure in the Industrial Rock scene since the late 1980s, Lee Popa served as live engineer for Ministry’s legendary 1989/1990 The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste tour (as documented on the 1990 live album, In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up) and Killing Joke’s 1990/1991 Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions tour (as documented on the 2007 compilation Inside Extremities, Mixes, Rehearsals & Live). In addition to being an early member of the infamous Pigface, Popa’s extensive resume as a remixer/producer/sound engineer includes work with Living Colour (recording and mixing their 1994 Japan-only live album Dread), Korn, Prong, White Zombie, Danzig, KMFDM, Queen, Bad Brains, Zilch (the band featuring late Japanese music legend “hide”), Phantom Planet, Gnarls Barkley, The Phunk Junkeez and Bush, among countless others. He was also the frontman of The Slammin' Watusis, a Chicago-based act that released two albums on Epic Records in the late '80s.

Known to perform wearing sunglasses and a veil, the enigmatic Jolee Popa rarely shows her true face on the public stage, choosing instead to let her lyrics, voice and music be her connection to the world around her. The mysterious past of this one-time Timothy Leary associate is said to include stints as a “life coach” to artists as varied as Ministry, British Harlem and Macy Gray, while her musical exploits include production work with UK Progressive Metal act The Dark Sinatras and former Professionals guitarist Ray McVeigh. While some artists clamor for attention, Jolee prefers to simply let her sounds do all the talking.

In addition to performing in Brixton in recent years, pinksideofthemoon have built a strong base of fans, friends and supporters in Japan. The band's 2007 Japanese tour included stops at Club Plug and the legendary Club Goodman, while they have developed strong relationships with Japanese acts OWKMJ, Hifana, Hataken (synthesizer genius) and Akeyama Toyoaki.

The group is looking forward to performing in Japan with their new four-piece configuration.

“We enjoy the culture of Japan and the interaction with the people tremendously,” Lee says. “We can't speak the language, but we make music that transcends everything.”

Launched in 2006, pinksideofthemoon released a self-titled debut CD in 2011 and the six-song darkmatter EP (featuring mixes by both Fryer and Barker, with assistance from Branden Harper and his arsenal of rare mid-century vintage drums with cutting-edge analog electronics) the following year. The EP can be streamed in its entirety at www.soundcloud.com/pinksideofthemoon. The band's official website is at www.pinksideofthemoon.info.

With Fryer and Barker now on board, pinksideofthemoon have arrived at their ideal lineup.

“We don't need to add anybody else into the equation,” offers Lee. “These guys are our friends and family.”

(Photo by Giancarlo Tenorio/85 Photography)

READ JOEL'S BIO
PURCHASE JOEL'S BOOKS
FOLLOW JOEL ON TWITTER
EMAIL JOEL at gaustenbooks@gmail.com