Everything about Jello Biafra totally explained
Eric Reed Boucher (born
June 17,
1958) is more widely known by the
stage name Jello Biafra. He first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco
punk rock band
Dead Kennedys. After his time with the band concluded, he became more directly involved with
political activism and took over the influential
independent record label Alternative Tentacles, founded in 1979 by him and
East Bay Ray. Although now primarily focused on
spoken word art, he's continued as a musician in numerous collaborations.
Politically, he's a member of the
Green Party and actively supports
leftist political causes. Biafra ran for the party's Presidential nomination in
2000, finishing second to
Ralph Nader. He is a self-proclaimed
anarchist who advocates
civil disobedience,
direct action,
culture jamming and
pranksterism in the name of political change. Biafra is known to use
absurdist media tactics in the tradition of the
Yippies to highlight issues of
civil rights,
social justice, economic
populism,
anti-corporatism,
peace movements,
anti-consumerism,
environmentalism,
anti-globalization,
universal health care,
LGBT rights,
anti-capitalism,
reproductive rights,
feminism, and the
separation of church and state.
His stage name is a combination of the brand name
Jell-O and the name of the short lived country of
Biafra which attempted to secede from
Nigeria in 1966. After four years of fighting and horrific starvation in Biafra, Nigeria regained control of the nascent Biafran state. Jello Biafra created his name as an ironic combination of a nutritionally poor mass-produced food product and mass starvation.
Early life
Eric Boucher was born in
Boulder, Colorado,
U.S. to parents Stanley Boucher, a psychiatric social worker and poet, and Virginia Boucher, a librarian. He also had a sister Julie J. Boucher, the Associate Director of the Library Research Service at the Colorado State Library who died in a mountain-climbing accident on October 12, 1996. As a child, Boucher developed an interest in international politics that was encouraged by his parents. He was an avid watcher of news and one of his earliest memories is of the
John F. Kennedy assassination. Biafra says he's been a fan of rock music since first hearing it in 1965, when his parents accidentally tuned in to a rock radio station. During the 1970s, he became involved in activism in reaction to several events of the era including the
Vietnam War, the
Chicago 7 trial, and the
Kent State shootings.
He began his career in music in January of 1977 as a
roadie for the punk rock band The Ravers (who would later change their name to
The Nails). In the autumn of that year, he began attending the
University of California, Santa Cruz. He studied acting and the history of
Paraguay before leaving to become involved in
San Francisco, California's punk scene.
Musical career
The Dead Kennedys
In June of 1978 he responded to an ad put out by guitarist
East Bay Ray and together they formed the Dead Kennedys. He began performing with the band under the stage name Occupant, but shortly after began using his current name. Biafra wrote the band's lyrics, most of which were political in nature and displayed a sardonic, sometimes absurdist, sense of humor despite their serious subject matter. In the tradition of UK
peace punk bands like
Crass, Dead Kennedys was one of the first US punk bands to write politically themed songs. The lyrics Biafra wrote helped popularize the use of humorous lyrics in hardcore. Biafra cites
Joey Ramone as the inspiration for his use of humor in his songs (as well as being the musician who made him interested in punk rock), noting in particular songs by
The Ramones such as "
Beat On the Brat" and "
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue".
Biafra initially attempted to compose music on guitar, but his inexperience on the instrument and his own admission of being "a fumbler with my hands" led Dead Kennedys bassist
Klaus Flouride to suggest that Biafra simply sing the parts he was envisioning to the band. Biafra would later sing his riffs and melodies into a tape recorder, which he brought to the band's rehearsal and/or recording sessions. This would later become an issue when the other Dead Kennedys sued Biafra over royalties and publishing rights. By all accounts, including his own, Biafra isn't a conventionally skilled musician, though he and his collaborators (
Joey Shithead of D.O.A. in particular) attest that he's a skilled composer and his work, particularly with Dead Kennedys, is highly respected by punk-oriented critics and fans.
Biafra's first popular song was the first single by Dead Kennedys, "
California Über Alles". The song, which spoofed California governor
Jerry Brown, was the first of many political songs by the group and Biafra. The song's popularity resulted in it being covered by other musicians, such as
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (who rewrote the lyrics to parody
Pete Wilson) and
John Linnell of
They Might Be Giants. Not long afterward, Dead Kennedys made a second and bigger hit with "
Holiday in Cambodia" from their debut album
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.
All Music Guide cites this song as "possibly the most successful single of the American hardcore scene" and Biafra counts it as his personal favorite Dead Kennedys song. The band's most controversial album,
Frankenchrist, brought with it the song "MTV Get Off the Air", which accused
MTV of promoting poor quality music and sedating the public. The album also contained a controversial poster by artist
H. R. Giger entitled
Penis Landscape.
The Dead Kennedys toured widely during their career, starting in the late 1970s. They began playing mostly at southern Californian clubs (most notably the
Whisky a Go Go), but eventually they moved on to major clubs across the country, including
CBGB in New York. Later, they played to larger audiences such as at the 1980 Bay Area Music Awards (where they played the notorious "
Pull My Strings" for the first and only time), and headlined the 1983 Rock Against Reagan festival.
Biafra has been a prominent figure of the Californian punk scene and was one of the founding members of the San Francisco
hardcore punk community. Many later hardcore bands would cite the Dead Kennedys as a major influence. Hardcore punk author Steven Blush describes Biafra as hardcore's "biggest star" who was a "powerful presence whose political insurgence and rabid fandom made him the father figure of a burgeoning subculture (and a) inspirational force (who) could also be a real prick... Biafra was a visionary, incendiary [performer]."
After the Dead Kennedys disbanded, Biafra's new songs were recorded with other bands, releasing only spoken word albums as solo projects. These collaborations had less popularity than Biafra's earlier work. However, his song "That's Progress", originally recorded with D.O.A. for the album
Last Scream Of The Missing Neighbors, received considerable exposure when it appeared on the album
Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1.
Obscenity prosecution
In April of 1986, police officers raided his house in response to complaints by the
Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). In June of 1986, then- L.A. deputy city attorney
Michael Guarino, working under then-City Attorney
James Hahn, brought Biafra to trial in Los Angeles for distributing "harmful matter" in the Dead Kennedys album
Frankenchrist. In actuality, the dispute was about neither the music nor the lyrics from the album, but rather the print of the poster
Landscape #XX (also known as
Penis Landscape), by
Swiss surreal artist
H. R. Giger included with the album. Biafra believes the trial was politically motivated; it was often reported that the PMRC took Biafra to court as a cost effective way of sending a message out to other musicians who have "offensive" content in their music.
Music author Rebee Garofalo argued that Biafra and Alternative Tentacles may have been targeted because the label was a "small, self-managed and self-supported company that could ill afford a protracted legal battle." Facing the possible sentence of a year in jail and a $2000 fine, Biafra founded the
No More Censorship Defense Fund, a benefit made up of several punk rock bands, to help pay for his legal fees, which neither he nor his record label could afford. The jury deadlocked 5 to 7 in favor of
acquittal, prompting a
mistrial; despite a
district attorney motion to re-try the case, the judge ordered all charges dropped. The Dead Kennedys disbanded during the trial, in December 1986, due to the mounting legal costs; in the wake of their disbandment, Biafra made a career of his spoken word performances. His early spoken word albums focused heavily on the trial (especially in
High Priest of Harmful Matter), which made him renowned for his anti-
censorship stance.
Jello had a cameo role as an
FBI agent, arresting the main characters played by
Tim Robbins and
John Cusack, in the
1988 film
Tapeheads. His character says, whilst arresting them, "Remember what we did to Jello Biafra?"; lampooning his 1986 obscenity prosecution.
In 2005 Biafra appeared on Episode 285 of
This American Life, themed "Know Your Enemy", which featured a phone call between Jello Biafra and
Michael Guarino, the prosecutor in the
Frankenchrist trial. The episode was about Guarino's change of opinion and the reconciliation between Guarino and Biafra.
Lawsuit against Jello
In October of 1998, former members of the Dead Kennedys sued Biafra for not paying them royalties due to them. According to Biafra, the suit resulted from his refusal to allow one of the band's most well known singles, "
Holiday in Cambodia", to be used in a commercial for
Levi's Dockers; Biafra opposes Levi's because he believes that they use unfair business practices and
sweatshop labor. The three former members claimed that their motive had nothing to do with advertising, and that they'd filed suit because Biafra had denied them royalties and failed to promote their albums. Biafra maintained that he'd never denied them royalties, and that he himself hadn't even received royalties for rereleases of their albums or "posthumous" live albums which had been licensed to other labels by the
Decay Music partnership. Decay Music denied this charge and have posted what they say are his
cashed royalty checks
. Biafra also complained about the songwriting credits in new reissues and archival live albums of songs that Biafra claims he composed himself to the entire band. In May 2000, a jury found Biafra liable for
fraud and
malice and ordered him to pay $200,000, including $20,000 in punitive damages, to the band members. After an appeal by Biafra’s lawyers, in June 2003, the California Court of Appeals unanimously upheld all the conditions of the 2000 verdict against Biafra and Alternative Tentacles.
The other band members reunited without Biafra under the name of "DK Kennedys" (later returning to the original band name), replacing Biafra first with
Brandon Cruz, then with
Jeff Penalty. Dead Kennedys fans have criticized the new band, owing to Biafra's absence. Biafra himself has also openly criticized his former bandmates' legal tactics and reunion tours, most notably in the song "
Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)", in which he performed with
The Melvins.
Other bands
In 1988, Biafra and
Alain Jourgensen of the band
Ministry formed the band
Lard. The band became a side project for the members of Ministry, with Biafra providing vocals and lyrics. While working on the film
Terminal City Ricochet in 1989, Biafra did a song for the film's soundtrack with D.O.A.. As a result, Biafra worked together with D.O.A. on the album
Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors. Biafra also worked with
Nomeansno on the soundtrack, which lead to their collaboration on the album
The Sky is Falling and I Want My Mommy the following year.
In 1999, Biafra and other members of the
anti-globalization movement protested the
WTO Meeting of 1999 in
Seattle. Along with other famous musicians from the west coast, he formed the short-lived band the
No WTO Combo to help promote the movement's cause. The band was originally scheduled to play during the protest, but the performance was canceled due to riots. The band performed the following night at the Showbox in downtown Seattle (outside of the curfew area) where they played a short set. The hiphop group Spearhead also played at the event. A CD containing recordings from the concert, titled
Live from the Battle in Seattle, was later released.
As of late 2005, Biafra currently performs with the band
The Melvins. The new band was dubbed "Jello Biafra and the Melvins", though fans often refer to them as "The Jelvins." Together they've released two albums, and have been working on material for a third collaborative release, much of which will be premiered live at two concerts at the
Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, commemorating Biafra's 50th birthday. Biafra is also working with a new, as-yet-unnamed band that includes Ralph Spright of
Victims Family on guitar and Billy Gould of
Faith No More on bass. This group will also be debuting at the aforementioned shows.
Alternative Tentacles
In June of 1979, Biafra co-founded the record label
Alternative Tentacles with which the Dead Kennedys released their first single, "California Über Alles". The label was created to allow the band to release albums without having to deal with pressure from
major labels to change their music (although the major labels were not willing to sign the band due to their songs being deemed too controversial). After dealing with
Cherry Red in the UK and
IRS Records in the US for their first album
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, the band released all later albums (and later pressings of
Fresh Fruit) on Alternative Tentacles (with the exception of live albums released after the band's break-up, which the other band members compiled from recordings in the band partnership's vaults without Biafra's input or endorsement). Biafra has been the owner of the company ever since its founding, though he doesn't receive a salary for his position (Biafra refers to his position in the company as the "absentee thoughtlord").
Biafra is an ardent collector of unusual vinyl records of all kinds, from 50's and 60's ethno-pop recordings by the likes of
Les Baxter and
Esquivel to vanity pressings that have circulated regionally, to infamous German crooner
Heino; he cites his always growing collection as one of his biggest musical influences. In 1993 he gave an interview to
RE/Search Publications for their second
Incredibly Strange Music book focusing primarily on these records. His heavy interest in such recordings (often categorized as
outsider music) eventually led to Biafra discovering the prolific (and schizophrenic) singer/songwriter/artist
Wesley Willis, whom he signed to Alternative Tentacles in 1994, preceding Willis' major label deal with
American Recordings. His collection grew so large that on
October 1,
2005, Biafra donated a portion of his collection to an annual yard sale co-promoted by Alternative Tentacles and held at their warehouse in
Emeryville, California.
In 2006, along with Alternative Tentacles employee and
The Frisk lead singer
Jesse Luscious, Biafra began co-hosting
The Alternative Tentacles Batcast, a downloadable
podcast hosted by
alternativetentacles.com. The show primarily focuses on interviews with artists and bands that are currently signed to the
Alternative Tentacles label, although there are also occasional episodes where Biafra devoted the show to answering fan questions.
Spoken word
Biafra first became a
spoken word artist in January 1986, starting with a performance at
University of California, Los Angeles. In his performance he combined his sense of humor with his political beliefs, much in the same way that he did with the lyrics to his songs. Biafra has held this career since, but didn't begin recording spoken word records until after the disbanding of the Dead Kennedys.
His eighth spoken word album,
In the Grip of Official Treason, was released in October of 2006.
Politics
Mayoral campaign
In the autumn of 1979, Biafra ran for
mayor of San Francisco as a prank, using the Jell-O
ad campaign catchphrase, "There's always room for Jello", as his campaign slogan. Having entered the race before creating a campaign platform, Biafra later wrote his platform on a napkin while attending a
Pere Ubu concert. As he campaigned, Biafra wore campaign t-shirts from his opponent
Quentin Kopp's previous campaign and at one point vacuumed leaves off the front lawn of another opponent, current U.S. Senator
Dianne Feinstein, to mock her
publicity stunt of sweeping streets in downtown San Francisco for a few hours. Supporters committed equally odd actions; two well known signs held by supporters said "If he doesn't win I'll kill myself" and "What if he does win?"
His
platform included unconventional points such as forcing businessmen to wear clown suits within city limits, erecting statues of
Dan White all over town and allowing the parks department to sell eggs and tomatoes with which people could pelt them, and a citywide ban on cars (although the latter point wasn't considered abnormal by many voters at the time, as the city was suffering from serious pollution problems).
He finished fourth out of a field of ten, receiving 3.5% of the vote (6,591 votes); the election ended in a
runoff that didn't involve him (Feinstein was declared the winner). In reaction to his campaign (and that of
Sister Boom-Boom, a drag queen who also ran for mayor and handily won the third place spot above Biafra), San Francisco passed a resolution stating that no candidate could run under any name other than their
given name.
Presidential campaign
In 2000, the New York State Green Party drafted Biafra as a candidate for the Green Party
presidential nomination, and a few supporters were elected to the party's nominating
convention in
Denver, Colorado. Despite the fact that his address to the convention was positively received, the party overwhelmingly chose
Ralph Nader as the presidential candidate. Nader and the Green Party have grown increasingly popular among the punk rock community with artists like
Patti Smith,
Thought Riot,
Hungry March Band,
The Buzzcocks, and
Partyline, among others.
Biafra, along with a camera crew (dubbed by Biafra as "The Camcorder Truth Jihad"), later reported for the
Independent Media Center at the Republican and Democratic conventions. Biafra detailed these events in his album
Become The Media, which has resulted in him being credited with coining the slogan "
Don't hate the media, become the media".
Indymedia and related alternative media often use this line, or the now more apt "
Don't hate the media, be the media."
Personal life
Biafra married
Therese Soder, aka Ninotchka, lead singer of San Francisco-area punk band
The Situations on
October 31,
1981.
Flipper vocalist/bassist
Bruce Loose conducted the wedding, having paid to join the
Universal Life Church as a minister just to conduct the ceremony, which took place in a graveyard. The wedding reception, which members of Flipper,
Black Flag, and
D.O.A. attended, was held at director
Joe Rees'
Target Video studios. The marriage ended in 1986.
On
May 7 1994 people who believed Biafra was a
sell out attacked him at the
924 Gilman Street club in
Berkeley, California. Biafra claims that he was attacked by a man nicknamed Cretin, who crashed into him while
slamdancing. The crash injured Biafra's leg, causing an argument between the two men. During the argument, Cretin pushed Biafra to the floor and five or six friends of Cretin assaulted Biafra while he was down, yelling "Sellout rock star, kick him". Biafra was later hospitalized with serious injuries, The attack derailed Biafra's plans for both a Canadian spoken-word tour and an accompanying album.
Samples
Partial discography
For a more complete list, see the Jello Biafra discography.
Dead Kennedys:
Spoken word:
No More Cocoons - 1987
High Priest of Harmful Matter − Tales From the Trial - 1989
I Blow Minds for a Living - 1991
Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police - 1994
If Evolution Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Evolve - 1998
Become the Media - 2000
Machine Gun in the Clown's Hand - 2002
In the Grip of Official Treason - 2006
Collaborations:
Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors - 1989, with D.O.A.
The Power of Lard - 1989, with Lard
Supernaut - 1990, with 1000 Homo DJs (credited as Count Ringworm)
The Last Temptation of Reid - 1990, with Lard
The Sky is Falling and I Want My Mommy - 1991, with NoMeansNo
Tumor Circus - 1991, with Steel Pole Bath Tub
Chaos A.D. - 1993, with Sepultura
Prairie Home Invasion - 1994, with Mojo Nixon
Disclaimer - 1997, with The Offspring
Helter Skelter - 1997, with The D.O.C.
Nation - 2001, with Sepultura. He sung on "Politricks."
Never Breathe What You Can't See - 2004, with The Melvins (credited on the inner sleeve as Osama McDonald)
The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code - 2005, with Napalm Death
Sieg Howdy! - 2005, with The Melvins (credited on the inner sleeve as J Lo)
Grand Ol' Party Crash- 2005, from Cage's "Hell's Winter" as the voice of George W. Bush
J'Irai Chier dans ton Vomi - 2006, with Métal Urbain
Cocked and Loaded - 2006, with Revolting Cocks (credited on the inner sleeve as Jello Biafra as well as all of his former stage names including Occupant, Smegma Pigvomit, Osama McDonald, and J Lo)
Filmography
Massacre at Central High (1976)
This Is America Part 2 (1977)
Anarchism in America (1983)
Lovedolls Superstar, directed by Dave Markey (1986)
Tapeheads, directed by Bill Fishman (1988)
Terminal City Ricochet (1990)
Highway 61, directed by Bruce McDonald (1991)
Skulhedface, directed by Melanie Mandl (1994)
Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore, directed by Sarah Jacobson (1997)
The Widower (1999)
Virtue (1999)
Plaster Caster (2001)
Bikini Bandits, directed by Steve and Peter Grasse (2002)
Death and Texas (2004)
(2004)
(2005)
Punk's Not Dead, directed by Susan Dynner (2006)
Whose War?, directed by Donald Farmer (2006)
, directed by Kevin Booth (2007)
Nerdcore Rising, directed by Negin Farsad (2008)
References and footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jello Biafra'.
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