Eric Reed Boucher born June 17, , 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. Initially active from to , Dead Kennedys were known for rapid-fire music topped with Biafra's sardonic lyrics and biting social commentary, delivered in his "unique quiver of a voice".
From to , he contributed to the San Francisco punk zine Damage. Politically, Biafra is a member of the Green Party of the United States [ 5 ] and supports various political causes. He ran for the party's presidential nomination in the presidential election , finishing a distant second to Ralph Nader. He is a supporter of a free society and utilizes shock value and advocates direct action and pranksterism in the name of political causes. As a child, Boucher developed an interest in international politics that was encouraged by his parents.
Boucher became a fan of rock music after his parents accidentally tuned in to a rock radio station. In , he worked as a roadie for a local band called The Ravers who later changed their name to The Nails , [ 12 ] helping set up their equipment at shows, including as an opener for the Ramones. Shortly after graduating high school, he formed a band called The Healers, with John Greenway and an unknown third member. Boucher has described The Healers' music as "banging on instruments we didn't know how to play when our parents weren't home".
Boucher left Boulder to attend the University of California, Santa Cruz but dropped out after the first quarter of the school year. In June , Boucher responded to an advertisement placed in a store by guitarist East Bay Ray , stating "guitarist wants to form punk band", [ 18 ] and together they formed the Dead Kennedys. He began performing with the band under the stage name Occupant, [ 19 ] but soon began to use the stage name Jello Biafra, a combination of the brand name Jell-O and the short-lived African state of Biafra.
Biafra initially attempted to compose music on guitar, but his lack of experience 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 envisioned to the band. By all accounts, including his own, Biafra is not a conventionally skilled musician, [ 20 ] though he and his collaborators Joey Shithead of D. The song, which spoofed California governor Jerry Brown , was the first of many political songs by the group and Biafra.
