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 occasional guest performances by his Ministry bandmates Al Jourgensen and Bill Rieflin. In the video for "Faster Than Light", Nine Inch Nails' vocalist Trent Reznor can be seen playing the guitar. He was rumored to have been in the area for the "Head Like a Hole" video shoot when he made his cameo.