Klaus Flouride

Geoffrey Lyall (born in 1949 in Detroit, Michigan), better known as Klaus Flouride, is best known as the bassist for the San Francisco, California, punk rock band Dead Kennedys from the group's inception in June 1978 until the band's break-up in December 1986, although he also produced four solo albums during the 1980s and 1990s.

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.

After the breakup, Flouride returned to 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".

Flouride also works in the studio as a producer and mixer and has done projects with the Hi-Fives, Ape, and Bad Posture. He and his former band-mates also became embroiled in a protracted lawsuit with former frontman Jello Biafra over reimbursement for band income and band material, which was settled in 2000 in the favor of East Bay Ray, Flouride, and D. H. Peligro.

In 2001, Flouride reunited with Ray and Peligro under the Dead Kennedys name, taking on Dr. Know vocalist Brandon Cruz as a replacement for Biafra. Jeff Penalty replaced Cruz in 2003.

Flouride wrote one song for the Dead Kennedys, "Dog Bite", which appears on the EP In God We Trust, Inc..

Klaus Flouride's bass style integrates not only typical punk-rock bass playing (heavy use of a pick, most of the time downstroke, fast tempo and bass notes stuck to the root notes of the guitar chords) but also contains elements from jazz music and exotic types of music.

Main Klaus Flouride bass gear includes a Sherwood Green matching-headstock Fender Jazz Bass from 1966 that he has been using throughout the Dead Kennedys early years and still owns and uses today on stage. The bass is covered with stickers, the biggest being the "DK" signs that stands for Denmark, and the pickguard is stained with blood. Other basses such as a black Fender Precision Bass and a blue Fender Bass VI have also been used.

Early Career

In the late 1960s, Klaus Flouride played in the band Magic Terry & The Universe, which included 1980s rock singer Billy Squier.

Equipment

Flouride used "an Acoustic 150b amp, and an Acoustic 402 cabinet with stock speakers at last thru 'In God We Trust'", before getting a Traynor Mono Block B amp to replace the Acoustic head. Recent pictures show a Gallien Krueger stack made of a 2x10 and a 1x15 cabinets, powered by a Gallien Krueger 1001 RB II head. An unknown Boss pedal can be seen in the same pictures.

External links

• http://www.klausflouride.com/