Mikey "Offender" Donaldson - R.I.P.

Mikey "Offender" Donaldson passed away in his sleep on September 22 in Barcelona, Spain where he had recently relocated from Amsterdam. The cause is unknown at the moment. He was 46. He is survived by his brother Joe Donaldson, sister Marie Donaldson Ward, and sister Sumiko Hakari.

Mikey was the bass player for Austin punk band the Offenders from 1978-86. He also recorded bass tracks on MDC's groundbreaker "Millions ofDead Cops" and DRI's "Dealing With It." Mikey also performed regularly with MDC in the early 1980s. He moved to San Francisco in 1986 and went on to play and record with Gary Floyd (Dicks) and Lynn Perko (Imperial Teen) in Sister Double Happiness. After leaving the music scene for ten years or so, Mikey returned to Austin and reunited with the original Offenders line-up for a gig at Emo's in March 2002. In 2003 MDC recruited Mikey and their original line-up, recorded a new album, and have been touring all over the world ever since.
Mikey is universally regarded as one of the most innovative and inimitable masters of the bass guitar. He played his Rickenbacker like itwas a out-sized rhythm guitar. Taking cues from Jack Bruce and Lemmy, Mikey pioneered an aggressive speed-picking style and liberal employment of bass chords that few have been able to emulate in the past 20 years. He will be sorely missed, certainly in Austin and his hometown of Killeen, but also across the globe. A memorial celebration in Austin is pending and the date will be announced soon.

R.I.P.

Paul Raven - R.I.P.

MINISTRY bassist Paul Raven was found dead (Saturday, October 20) in a private home in a small French village on the Swiss border after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was 46. Raven (who is also known for his work with KILLING JOKE and PRONG) was in Geneva working with French recording artists TREPONEM PAL on their new release alongside drummer Ted Parsons (PRONG) and members of THE YOUNG GODS.

Born in Wolverhampton, UK on January 16, 1961, Paul Vincent Raven established himself with his work in the seminal post-punk/industrial act KILLING JOKE after he replaced the band's original bassist in 1982, recording and touring with the group throughout its most commercially successful period, performing on "Fire Dances", "Night Time" and "Brighter than a Thousand Suns". Throughout his extensive career, Raven participated in other collaborations, including PRONG, MURDER, INC., PIGFACE and GODFLESH. Most recently, Raven was nominated for a 2006 Grammy for "Best Metal Performance" for his work with MINISTRY's Al Jourgensen, with whom he had begun collaborating in late 2005 on the MINISTRY release "Rio Grande Blood". After a 2006 world tour with the group, Raven helped Jourgensen and PRONG's Tommy Victor pen the latest MINISTRY CD, "The Last Sucker", which is also the band's final studio release.

R.I.P.