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Jello Biafra Lashes Out At Ex-Dead Kennedys
Calls lawsuit over royalty payments a vendetta that 'makes Kenneth Starr look like a nice guy.'
By Randy Reiss
Music News of the World, November 5, 1998
SAN FRANCISCO -- Jello Biafra, singer of the now-defunct
seminal-punk band the Dead Kennedys and currently head of the Alternative
Tentacles record label, lashed out at his former bandmates Wednesday
afternoon, charging that guitarist East Bay Ray is trying to destroy the label.
In a statement, Biafra called the lawsuit Ray and the other members of the Dead
Kennedys recently filed against the label over royalty payments frivolous.
"Their whole vendetta makes Kenneth Starr look like a nice guy," Biafra said,
referring to the special prosecutor investigating President Clinton. "We expect it
to be quickly thrown out of court."
Ray (born Ray Pepperell) and the rest of the former Dead Kennedys -- bassist
Klaus Fluoride (born Geoffrey Lyall) and drummer D.H. Peligro (born Darren
Henley) -- are seeking damages, access to royalties owed and a legal
recognition of their Sept. 30 decision to end their music-distribution relationship
with Alternative Tentacles and Mordam Records.
Biafra's statement said he has "never taken a penny in salary or profit from
Alternative Tentacles" and claimed the only shortchanging has been done by
the other ex-DKs, deliberately withholding his share of royalties.
His statement also said an amount of money in excess of the disputed royalties
has been put in a trust account with a lawyer for the three former Dead
Kennedys.
The statement was written before Biafra and Alternative Tentacles were served
with a copy of the suit, which was filed in California Superior Court in San
Francisco on Oct. 29. Biafra instead focused on a press release issued by Ray's
publicist the same day.
"We deny everything in their current press release," the statement read. "It is
riddled with outright lies."
The statement also claimed that Ray has publicly stated his intention to destroy
Alternative Tentacles.
Besides failing to pay the other bandmembers their full share of royalties, the group's
lawsuit claims, Biafra, as head of the San Francisco-based Alternative
Tentacles, took the money for himself and the label; promoted his solo efforts
much more than the catalog of his former band; and placed money
acknowledged to be owed to Ray, Peligro and Fluoride into a trust that could not
be released without either his approval or a court order. The suit also states that
Biafra would not let the other parties look at Alternative Tentacles' financial
records and that he will not acknowledge the decision by Decay Music, the
business and administrative partnership formed by the three other former
bandmembers, to shop the Dead Kennedys catalog to other labels.
"Biafra is morally and legally obligated to be responsible with the Dead
Kennedys' royalties," David M. Given, the lawyer representing Ray, Peligro and
Fluoride in the suit, said. "He's refused to let the bandmembers verify financial
information, which is something that even big labels do.
"We're not on a moral crusade," he continued. "We just want what is fair."
The suit specifically asks for a jury trial and seeks "declaratory and injunctive
relief." It also seeks financial damages from Biafra and Mordam Records on
charges of "breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, breach of oral contract, unjust
enrichment and unfair business practices."
Alternative Tentacles manager Uli Elser said Wednesday that the label has
since been served with the suit.
Elser also said that a check was cut to Decay Music in trust of its lawyer,
Michael Ashburn, but he did not know the particulars of how Ray, Peligro and
Fluoride could access that money.
Given said the money has been put in a trust with a Decay Music lawyer but is
inaccessible without either a court order or Biafra's permission.
"That's why we're suing," Given said Wednesday evening. "We can't get to that
money without a court order, so we're going to get a court order."
Ashburn could not be reached for comment by press time.
The Dead Kennedys formed in San Francisco in 1978. The group became
known for its trend-setting hardcore sound and Biafra's shrill, hyper-political
vocals.
Their songs, including "Kill The Poor", "Holiday in Cambodia" and "Nazi Punks Fuck Off," marked
the Dead Kennedys as precursors to such political-punk groups as Rage
Against The Machine and Bikini Kill. Many of their albums, such as Fresh
Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980) and Frankenchrist (1985), are
considered landmarks of American punk for their creative song structures and
biting social commentary.
The band broke up in early 1986; later that year they were embroiled in an obscenity trial over
a poster by Swiss artist H.R. Giger that was included with Frankenchrist.
Ray and Fluoride currently perform in the San Francisco surf-instrumental band
Jumbo Shrimp. Ray also performs in the band Candyass. Peligro, who was later
a member of the Los Angeles funk-rock outfit the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
currently heads up a band called Peligro.
Biafra's solo career, meanwhile, has primarily concentrated on spoken-word
performances and political activism.
Unless the parties can come to an agreement beforehand, the suit's first status
hearing is scheduled for April 2, 1999.
"I think that it's unfortunate that things have gotten so ugly," Elser said. "I think it
may change how the public perceives the group's music and message, which is
just really unfortunate."
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