Dead Kennedys Guitarist Claims Jello Biafra Is Holding Back Potential Reunion

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Fans wishing for a reunion from the Dead Kennedys and Jello Biafra will have to petition the former singer, founding guitarist East Bay Ray has claimed.

Ray (whose real name is Raymond Pepperell) has served as the guitarist for the San Francisco punk icons since their formation in 1978, stepping away from his role only during the band’s inactive period between 1986 and 2001. 

Though the Dead Kennedys reformed in the 21st century, they’ve not once been fronted by Biafra, whose relationship with Ray and drummer Klaus Flouride (aka Geoffrey Lyall) remains fraught to this day. As Ray explained in a recent interview with Guitar World, he’s open to the concept of a reunion with the classic lineup, though Biafra remains the sticking point in any potential plans.

“It’s not an issue for me or Klaus,” Ray explains. “It’s Biafra that turns down any offers for us to do something; we don’t have any problem. He got caught with his hands in the till and wants to blame us for getting caught, but he should never have put his hands in there in the first place.

Ray’s claims relate to a 1998 lawsuit in which Ray, Flouride and drummer D.H. Peligro (aka Darren Henley, who would pass away in 2022) accused Biafra and his Alternative Tentacles label of withholding royalties. In 2003, Biafra was ordered by California’s Court of Appeal to replay the outstanding royalties with additional punitive damages.

Ray, Flouride and Peligro reunited the Dead Kennedys in 2001, with various singers fronting the band until the appointment of Ron “Skip” Greer in 2008. Attempts to reunite the classic members of the Dead Kennedys have taken place over the years, including by Chicago’s Riot Fest in 2017.

“Dead Kennedys had a sincere invitation to play a reunion show at Riot Fest in Chicago this fall,” Ray wrote on social media at the time. “Jello Biafra turned it down. Klaus Flouride, DH Peligro and I were looking forward to doing it.”

The Dead Kennedys’ original eight-year run resulted in a string of singles and four studio albums, including their 1980 debut Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables. The conclusion of the band’s lawsuit in 2003 gave members the right to reissue past Dead Kennedys albums, including a 2022 release of their debut which left Biafra displeased.

“We actually wrote as a band, where in effect, due to the chemistry between us, it was a case of two and two equaling five, you know?” Ray rold Guitar World. “None of us has had a solo career that was bigger than Dead Kennedys, which, to me, shows the power of a bunch of talented people getting together and creating something that was far greater than the sum of its parts.

“Jello didn’t bring in the songs. I know he’s created the myth that he wrote them all, but the question here is that if he did, why didn’t he ever do anything significant after leaving the band?” he added. “Iggy left the Stooges and had a career; ditto Lou Reed with the Velvet Underground or Morrissey with the Smiths. Where’s Biafra’s solo career with a bunch of great songs?”