Klaus Flouride | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Geoffrey Lyall |
Born | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | May 30, 1949
Instrument(s) | Bass, vocals |
Years active | 1978–present |
Labels | Alternative Tentacles |
Klaus Flouride is the stage name of Geoffrey Lyall (born May 30, 1949), an American musician who is the bassist and backing vocalist for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. [1]
Lyall was born in Detroit, Michigan to Bryce Lyall and Louise Robbins Lyall. [2] As a child, he was fascinated by records, and the music hidden in their grooves and started collecting records at age seven. [3] During the Great Depression, his father had played saxophone and banjo in New Orleans speakeasys, and from an early age Klaus had access to his parents' wide-ranging record collection. [4] His older brother and sister began introducing him to rock when they were in middle and high school, with his brother introducing him to Elvis Presley, his sister introducing him to Little Richard, and both introducing him to Jerry Lee Lewis. [3] : 1:05:08 At age 8, After seeing Buddy Holly on the Ed Sullivan Show, his parents bought him his first Stella guitar after his continuous insistence. [5] He started learning to read music, but the guitar was unmanageable for his small hands. His guitar teacher declared to his parents that he would never learn to play. At age 13, he moved to a Gibson and started another serious attempt at learning to play it. At age 14, he formed his first band, a surf group called The Woodsmen; his first real band was The Liberators. [5]
Flouride moved to Boston in 1967, where he bought his first bass to play in a power trio named Thursday Parade. [4] He briefly played with singer Billy Squier in Magic Terry & The Universe. [6] He moved between Boston and New York City for the next few years, playing concerts ranging from solo performances to R&B and blues bands. [4]
He became involved in punk rock after moving to San Francisco in 1977 and spending time at the Mabuhay Gardens. He joined Dead Kennedys after answering East Bay Ray's ad in a local music magazine. [3] : 45:45 He played on all their records, and co-wrote many of their songs. [7]
Flouride began working on a solo album following the release of Dead Kennedys' second album, 1982's Plastic Surgery Disasters, coming out with the 12" single "Shortnin' Bread" (with "The Drowning Cowboy" as the B-Side) in 1982 and the EP Cha Cha Cha With Mr. Flouride in 1985. [8]
After Dead Kennedys broke up in 1986, Flouride concentrated on his solo career, releasing Because I Say So in 1988 and The Light Is Flickering in 1991, the latter album including the song "Dancing with Shauna Grant". [9]
Flouride also works in the studio as a producer and mixer and has done projects with many artists including the Hi-Fives. [10] [11]
In 2001, Flouride reunited with Ray and Peligro under the Dead Kennedys name. [4] [12]
Klaus Flouride played a Lake Placid Blue Fender Jazz Bass from 1966 that he purchased for $200; this was his main bass guitar during his years with the Dead Kennedys. [13] However, in March 2013 the bass was stolen in Brazil; Flouride believes that the airlines lost it. [4] [14] Luthier Tony Schroom, built Flouride a new instrument complete with the same stickers and scratches of the old one. [4] [13] He has also played with a Fender Bass VI, particularly on the Bedtime For Democracy album. [4]
Flouride used "an Acoustic 150b amp, and an Acoustic 402 cabinet with stock speakers at least thru 'In God We Trust'", before getting a Traynor Mono Block B amp to replace the Acoustic head. He primarily uses a Gallien Krueger MB 500 and an Ampeg SVT cabinet when he is on tour. According to a recent post on Flouride's website, he uses a Boss Blues Driver and a Boss TU-2 tuner pedal. Flouride also played clarinet on the DK song Terminal Preppie. [4]
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Eric Reed Boucher, known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and political activist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.
Frankenchrist is the third album by the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys, released in 1985 on Alternative Tentacles.
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, they released records for other bands as well. Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray and vocalist Jello Biafra formed Alternative Tentacles, but Biafra became the sole owner in the mid-1980s. Alternative Tentacles no longer owns the rights to Dead Kennedys recordings after a 2000 lawsuit.
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Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and I.R.S. Records in the United States. It was later issued by Jello Biafra's own Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. It is the only Dead Kennedys studio album to feature drummer Bruce Slesinger and guitarist Carlos Cadona.
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East Bay Ray is the stage name of Raymond John Pepperell, an American musician and guitarist for the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys. His guitar work was influenced by jazz and rockabilly. Alongside Jello Biafra's astute lyrics and unique vibrato-based vocal style, East Bay Ray's playing was one of the defining factors of the music of the Dead Kennedys, and by extension, of the "second wave" of American punk. He is also the only Dead Kennedy to remain a constant member of the band since its formation.
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M.I.A. is an American 1980s punk rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. The band's sound is generally hardcore and thrasher, though they produced more melodic and progressive sounds in their later albums. AllMusic called the band "one of the 50 best So-Cal punk bands of the great early-'80s second wave explosion."
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