Nov

17

Jello speaks

November 17, 2007 |

Former Dead Kennedy punk-band frontman singer and songwriter, now political philosopher, Jello Biafra speaks his mind at the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast’s Cathedral Quater on Nov 22, 2007 from 8pm. Tickets £11 from www.wegottickets.comJello Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. 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. After his time with the band concluded, he became more directly involved with political activism. Politically, he is a member of the Green Party and actively supports liberal political causes. 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 to highlight issues of civil rights, social justice, anti-corporatism, peace movements, anti-capitalism, reproductive rights, feminism, and the separation of church and state.

Biafra 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, moving on to become renowned spoken-word artist and political activist who says he’s lived his life as one big act of sabotage against the corporate society he despises. In 1987 Biafra released his first spoken word album, No More Cocoons. Tracks include “Names for Bands” and “Message From Our Sponsor”; which is sampled by Ice-T for the opening to his Freedom of Speech-Just Watch What You Say album. His eighth spoken word album, In the Grip of Official Treason, was released in October of 2006. His spoken word evenings generally run to about 3 hours, so here’s hoping for some interesting opinions and debate!


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