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.
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.
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 Carlo Cadona.
Raymond John "East Bay Ray" Pepperell is an American musician who plays guitar 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.
Brujeria is an American extreme metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1989. The band has Spanish lyrics with topics such as Satanism, anti-Christianity, sex, immigration, narcotics smuggling, and politics. Brujeria portrays Mexican imagery, with several members being Hispanic and Latino Americans, while the band's name stands for brujería.
Tsunami Bomb is an American punk rock band from Petaluma, California. They were formed in 1998 by bassist Dominic Davi, with keyboardist/vocalist Oobliette Sparks and later joined by drummer Gabe Lindeman. With vocalist Emily Whitehurst aka "Agent M" they would become a staple of Warped Tour and toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan, going through a number of lineup changes until they disbanded in 2005 after releasing two full length albums and a number of EP's. In 2015 the band reformed with new vocalist Kate Jacobi and later guitarist Andy Pohl and has remained active since, touring and appearing on a variety of festivals.
The Fartz were a hardcore punk band that was founded in 1981 and were one of the first well-known bands in their genre from Seattle, Washington. They were signed to Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles Record label. They were notable not only for playing incredibly fast and heavy music, but also for their politically and socially conscious song lyrics that criticized government policies, religious hypocrisy, racism, sexism, and poverty. Throughout their musical career they championed a blue collar, working class perspective on life.
Victims Family is a hardcore punk band formed in 1984 in Santa Rosa, California, by bass guitarist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and vocalist Ralph Spight. Devon VrMeer completed the trio as drummer. Their sound blended punk, heavy metal and jazz, making them difficult to categorize into a single genre. Allmusic says, "Since its inception, the trio has refused to be pigeonholed to any single musical style — incorporating elements of hardcore punk, jazz, funk, hard rock, and noise into its challenging sound". They were known as one of the most musically diverse bands in the San Francisco underground music scene. Over the years, Victims Family went through four drummers and two break-ups. Their name was taken from a piece by the cartoonist B. Kliban.
Fleshies is an American punk rock band from Oakland, California, United States, that released three albums on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles, Kill the Dreamer's Dream, The Sicilian, and Scrape the Walls. Fleshies have also released albums on Recess Records, Adeline Records, Life is Abuse Records, Thrillhouse Records and S.P.A.M. Records, as well as singles, 7" records and splits on a variety of labels. They are known for their outlandish stage presence, their left-wing politics and their non-stop world touring schedule from 1999 to 2006. From their inception, they were an influential presence at events such as Geekfest, held in the late 1990s, The Fest in Gainesville, Florida, and Wantage Records' Total Fest. As of May 2019, the band released Introducing The Fleshies on Portland's Dirt Cult Records, its first album in ten years.
Les Thugs were a punk band from France. Their records are distributed in North-America by Sub Pop Records.
The Pattern was an American punk garage rock band, based in Oakland, California, United States, from 2000 to 2004.
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."
Akimbo was an American indie band from Seattle, Washington.
Ani Kyd is a Canadian, Vancouver-based musician, actor, and life coach.
Burning Image are an American deathrock band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation 1983–1987 in 2004 and album Fantasma (2009) were both released on Alternative Tentacles, record label owned by former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, with album Oleander (2011) being self-published. Burning Image celebrates 39 years as a band, in 2021, with a new album.
Triclops! was an American, San Francisco and Oakland-based acid punk/progressive rock band, formed in 2005. They released two full-length albums, a 7" picture disc single, and an EP on noted independent record labels Gold Standard Laboratories, Alternative Tentacles, and Sick Room Records. Triclops! includes members of noted bay area bands Victim's Family, Fleshies, Bottles and Skulls, and Lower Forty-Eight. The band went on hiatus in 2010 following the release of their second full-length Helpers On The Other Side, with the members remaining busy in their older bands and new projects. Triclops! guitarist Christian Eric Beaulieu's current project is as the primary songwriter for Los Angeles-based band Anywhere, which also features progressive punk luminaries Mike Watt and Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Phil Becker drums for Pins of Light, while singer John Geek plays bass and sings in Street Eaters and bassist Larry Boothroyd is a member of Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine.
Stevenson Sedgwick is an American musician, record producer, author, programmer and professional gambler, most known for his compositions as the songwriter for the post-punk, experimental, deathrock group The Phantom Limbs, and as one of the principal songwriters for Black Ice. He is also known for work as producer assistant and mixer for artists including electronic music pioneer Gary Numan.
Walk on Jindal's Splinters is a live album by Jello Biafra and The Raunch and Soul All-Stars, a group of Southern musicians assembled especially for the occasion by Dash Rip Rock's Bill Davis and Cowboy Mouth's Fred LeBlanc. The album title is a play on the Dr. John song "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" meant to insult now-former Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.
DUH was a San Francisco-based alternative and noise rock supergroup. The band comprised an ever-rotating line-up that featured members of Steel Pole Bath Tub, Faith No More, Models, Fang, Milk Cult, Phantom 309, Pansy Division and Despise You.
