SAYING THAT JELLO BIAFRA IS OUTSPOKEN
is a bit of an understatement. As frontman for
the Dead Kennedys, candidate for mayor of
San Francisco in 1979, prime mover behind
Alternative Tentacles record label, and a spo-
ken word commando, anyone who wants
Mister Biafra to shut up is in for a mighty long
wait. Jello loves music, mountains, sex, wild
rivers, sabotage and people who fuck shit up
in a good way. He hates greed, pollution, cor-
ruption, liars, intolerants, racism, "me first"
types and health care being a for-profit indus
try. Overlooking the SF cityscape from Bernal
Heights, Jello offloaded a few things he had
on his mind.
-Brian Brannon
What are the best tools for change?
Once I figure that out in a sentence short
enough to put in an interview, I won't have to
write any more songs. I guess with the individual
it starts with trying to consciously divorce your
solf from the corporate octopus: not working for
them, if possible, trying to buy as few of their
products as possible, just try to avoid buying in
or being bought out to the degree that one can
and still survive. I would say that a majority of
people in the world are mad as hell at what's
going on. They can sense that it ain't just com
munism that's died, but capitalism is dying too.
Maybe they don't realize it's capitalism, but I
notice people from all sides comparing the cur
rent state of America with the fall of Rome, and
to that degree they're right. But then some peo
ple want to answer it by joining militias or blow
ing up abortion clinics or wiping out affirmative
action so whitey can keep control, while pao-
ple in other parts of the world want to try and
reign in the corrupt corporate greed that's
allowed everything from pollution to AIDS and
racism to spread. I think that there's a common
thread where anybody from a Jesse Jackson to
a Rush Limbaugh to an underground band can
tap into that anger, it just depends on what they
do with it. What I'm getting at is that the people
have to decide what's really important and be
willing to work together with people they don't
agree on a lot of other things with in order to
get key problems even worked on.
We have to decide what's really
important and commu-
nicate that to people
from other walks of
life. It's important that
artists, musicians, film mak
ers, painters, poets and jour
nalists be more conscious
of trying to get information
out that's being suppressed
by the sugar-coated
corporate media,
while the looting
of the savings
and loans is
a bigger
scandal
than OJ.
I opted
for try
THE
ing to cram more suppressed information in my
work after I noticed how people responded to
my spoken word piece, "Why I'm glad the
Space Shuttle blew up." When I noticed people
were responding more to the suppressed infor-
mation and my trademark wicked humor I aimed
the shows more in that direction than trying to
cast myself as a poet or a great writer. I'm more
of a commentator and hopefully a shit stirrer,
What causes do you actively support?
Anybody who is constructively fighting the
drug war like Families Against Mandatory Min-
Imums, Drug Policy Foundation, even NORML.
and direct action environmental groups like
EarthFirst! and Sea Shepherd, and human
rights organizations, from Amnesty Inter-
national, all the way on down to the
Coalition Against Police Abuse.
WESLEY WILLIS
FIASCO
On Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police,
you talk about how there are so-called
experts on everything, but you seem to
be a bit of an expert yourself.
That's why I also said in the piece.
"Don't believe anything I say, if
it strikes a raw nerve, get
a second opinion-even if
it means parotting my
opinion to another party
just to see how they
respond." But then
again, it's like Mikel
Bored says, 1 may
change my mind but
I'm always right."
"the perfect mix of high-energy
ska, punk and beautiful pop"
Нурпо
Jane of all
RASHERS
Lockjaw
JELLO
BIAFRA
510
records
On (510) CDs, Tapes And Vinyl
http://www.mca.com/mca_records