East Bay Ray

Samuel Barker: How long have you all been on tour so far?

East Bay Ray: Since about November. We did some shows in California. Our first show was in September, it was unannounced in Los Angeles. We put a new record out, Mutiny on the Bay, a live CD, and D.H. suggested we do a record release party in Los Angeles. We were there mainly to meet and greet and sign autographs. D.H. got the idea of getting on stage and playing a few tunes unannounced, which we did. We had been rehearsing in Los Angeles with Brandon and the rehearsal studio had a window and people were looking in when they were hearing the sound. Word spread around Los Angeles and it sold out like two to three weeks in advance. There were 200-300 people outside hoping to get in.

Klaus Flouride: Then there were plenty of happy promoters who wanted to put us on tours. We decided to with someone who wasn’t to ridiculous about it.

Ray: So here we are in Houston.

Samuel: So was the record release what got you guys together and wanting to play or were you planning to do shows before the idea of the live record?

Klaus: No, it’s already out. The album itself is already out. It’s music from the 80s.

Samuel: Yeah, I knew it was a compilation of older live tracks, but what I’m trying to say is, was the album released because you wanted to tour or are you touring because the record was released?

Klaus: We’re playing because it came out. That’s not how we planned it, but that is how it happened.

Ray: Yeah, we’re at the tail end of this. The promoter is our tour manager now. He promotes punk shows around Los Angeles and said he had never seen so many smiles on the kids’ faces. People were singing along, it was very fun and very intelligent. We didn’t realize how much love there was for the band. In Texas we’re getting a really good response.

Klaus: Yeah, the thing too is that we’re not playing so much, well, that show was more of a promotional gig, but we are also realizing 80 percent of the people who are coming to the shows never saw the band live and are having a blast. It’s just a group of people who have never been able to see it before.

Ray: It sounds a little different than your home stereo.

Klaus: Yeah, it’s a lot louder than you can crank it up at home.

Samuel: That is something interesting, that so many young fans are coming out. The line outside right now is made up mostly of kids, is it surprising that these kids are so into the band?

Ray: Well, I think the most experienced people will come later.

All: (laughter)

Samuel: Well, is it interesting to see that so many younger kids can not only relate the music, but understand the ideals in the lyrics?

Ray: No, there have always been intelligent people out there, and we feel, not to toot our own horn, that the music is pretty good. We feel it’s good music.

Klaus: Yeah, and our audience has always been a bright audience, to put it mildly. It wasn’t a pile of idealistic crap that some bands were doing, not that most bands do that, but we stood out beyond that. Musically we sounded different. It’s a fun thing to be playing to a younger audience again. Especially intelligent audiences, which are not fighting much at all,, unlike back in the day. There are a lot of differences from those two eras.

Samuel: You said you’ve gotten a good response in Texas, which I’ve heard stories of shows in this region in the late 70s and early 80s, how is it to see how far this style of music has reached, as opposed to back then?

Ray: I don’t personally recall Texas being negative in the 80s. I know in Corpus Christi when we played, it was huge. We played San Antonio as well, and had a great response. We are loving it.

Klaus: The other thing too is that the music has been around a while longer than it had been in the 80s so obviously, the people who originally liked it, if they still do, will be coming back and there is a whole two generation area that hadn’t heard it.

Brandon Cruz: I’ve seen dads bringing their kids and all of them know the lyrics. Dad puts the records on for the kids and they all come together.

Samuel: I know on this tour you’re doing old Dead Kennedys songs, are there any plans to write anything new with this line-up?

Klaus: We don’t know at this point. We’re not really looking for anything beyond learning some more of the old stuff. There is some of the stuff people are requesting, so we want to get to that. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, as they say. Right now I think Brandon has been thinking of some words, but we haven’t worked on anything yet.

Brandon: Well, I’m still in Dr. Know too. This came up as a surprise.

D.H. Peligro: Same with Peligro too.

Samuel: I know you’ve all had other projects over the years since the initial stop of the Dead Kennedys.

Ray: Yeah, on deadkennedys.com, you can go to the band members page and see all the projects we’ve done since then.

Samuel: So I guess everything has been put on hold while you’re out on the road doing this.

Klaus: Yeah, it’s really a pain in the ass. I was in the middle of producing albums for two groups and they’re like ‘Yeah, I understand you’re on tour, but when you get back can you work on it a little bit,' because we have little sections where we take off. We’re doing it regionally, so we have time off between each one, so people are calling me and wanting me to work on their music when we’re home.

Ray: ‘Hey, I’ll be in South America.’

All: (laughter)

Ray: We did our first tour of South America last November. There were 2000 people in Brazil.

Brandon: It was nuts. It was great.

Ray: They don’t speak English over there really, but they knew all the words to the songs.

Brandon: Some of the most rabid fans I’ve ever seen were down there.

Klaus: Foaming at the mouth they were.

Brandon: Basically.

Samuel: Well, you’ve talked about the positive response in the band, but if you go to message boards and sites online, there is the negative verbage about the band touring without Jello singing, have those people avoided the shows thus far? Have there been any problems with angry fans?

Ray: I think people can’t form an intelligent opinion until the see the show. If you go on deadkennedys.com, we have letters from people who came into the shows skeptical and came out totally convinced. Every night, I have one or two people who come up and tell me it’s the best show they’ve ever seen.

Brandon: Yeah, a lot of people walk up to me and say that they were very skeptical about me singing instead of Biafra. My response to that is, I was skeptical too. I didn’t know how it was going to turn out, but people have walked up to me after the shows and said ‘You did it, I liked the show.’

Ray: The message of the band is more important than any individual, the message isn’t about certain personalities, it’s about thinking for yourself. The other messages are how it’s not what you say, it’s what you do to make life better for the people around you. Anyone can talk, anyone can say anything, but actually doing something for your friends, family or community...

Klaus: Positive stuff.

Ray: Yeah, make the world a better place.

Klaus: To say what Brandon said, people have come up to me, as close as last night, and said that their friends were dissing them for coming to the show, because J.B. is not there, but I’m going to go back and tell them ‘Ha ha, look what you missed.’ Basically, a lot of people come in with a very skeptical attitude and eight or nine out of ten come out and have fun. Not many people are saying ‘Fuck you, I feel ripped off.’ No one is actually saying it to us.

Brandon: I haven’t heard that at all. If they come in with an open mind, as soon as you hear the guitar ring out on the first song, all the political bullshit goes out the window, the lawsuit and everything. It’s the Dead Kennedys playing, just a different voice singing it, and yeah he was a unique individual, and yeah, he has a unique voice, but like Ray said, the message is the same. They’ve never retracted from that socially or socially. I grew up on the music. I opened up for these guys when I was starting Dr. Know in the early 80s. So I’ve been a huge fan of the band for a long time. Then to even get the call from D.H. to see if I wanted to come jam with them was just really amazing. Then when I heard I was going on the road with them, I didn’t know what to think.

Klaus: It's akin to when Ringo got the call to play with the Beatles.

Brandon: (laughing) Yeah, exactly.

Klaus: And all those people who loved Pete Best had to either not go to the show or go to the show.

Samuel: Has it been rewarding to come out and do this after all these years? Has it been everything you had hoped it would be?

D.H.: Well, we didn’t come into this with any expectations, at least I didn’t.

Ray: We don’t do it because we like the inside of a bus, we do it for the music and the people who like the music.

Klaus: What bus? We’re in a van! (laughs)

Ray: Yeah, we’re in a van. A lot of work goes into this before we ever hit the stage.

Brandon: I love being on stage, I hate everything else about it. The travel, the airports, long drives, but being up on stage, even though I didn’t write these songs originally, I see the look on the kids faces and their smiles. I like to get the audience involved, I’m not the only singer in the band, the audience is a part of the band too.

Ray: In any art, as well as music, is communication to another individual. To do it live and see people reacting to it is wonderful.

Klaus: It’s one of the few, outside of theatre, which is involved in this any how, but it’s one of the few instant gratifications of any of the arts. Painters, movie actors don’t get to see the immediate reactions on their faces. It’s great, there is nothing like it.

Brandon: Whether they are screaming ‘Fuck you!’ or ‘Fuck yeah!’ You know what they’re thinking.

Samuel Barker is Senior Editor. Contact him at suma@rockzone.com.