Geoffrey Lyall (born May 30, 1949), better known as Klaus Flouride, is an American musician best known as the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

and backing vocalist for the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

punk rock band

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing ...

.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 49-50

Early life

Lyall was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

to Bryce Lyall and Louise Robbins Lyall. As a child, he was fascinated by records, and the music hidden in their grooves and started collecting records at age seven. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, his father had played saxophone and banjo in New Orleans speakeasys, and from an early age Klaus had access to his parents' wide-ranging record collection. His older brother and sister began introducing him to rock when they were in middle and high school, with his brother introducing him to

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, his sister introducing him to

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

, and both introducing him to

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as " rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis mad ...

. At age 8, After seeing

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

on the

Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...

, his parents bought him his first Stella guitar after his continuous insistence. He started learning to read music, but the guitar was unmanageable for his small hands. His guitar teacher declared to his parents that he would never learn to play. At age 13, he moved to a

Gibson Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * Gi ...

and started another serious attempt at learning to play it. At age 14, he formed his first band, a surf group called The Woodsmen; his first real band was The Liberators.

Career

Flouride moved to Boston in 1967, where he bought his first bass to play in a power trio named Thursday Parade. He briefly played with singer

Billy Squier William Haislip Squier (, born May 12, 1950) is an American rock musician and singer who had a string of arena rock and crossover hits in the early 1980s. His best-known songs include " The Stroke", " Lonely Is the Night", "My Kinda Lover", " I ...

in Magic Terry & The Universe. He moved between Boston and New York City for the next few years, playing concerts ranging from solo performances to R&B and blues bands. He became involved in punk rock after moving to San Francisco in 1977 and spending time at the

Mabuhay Gardens The Mabuhay Gardens, also known as The Fab Mab or The Mab, was a former San Francisco nightclub, located at 443 Broadway Street, in North Beach on the Broadway strip area best known for its striptease clubs. It closed in 1987. History The Mab ...

. He joined Dead Kennedys after answering

East Bay Ray Raymond John Pepperell (born November 17, 1958), better known by his stage name East Bay Ray, is an American musician best known as the guitarist for the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys. His guitar work was heavily influence ...

's ad in a local music magazine. He played on all their records, and co-wrote many of their songs. 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 Dead Kennedys broke up in 1986, Flouride concentrated on 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".Valdivia, Victor W.
''Light Is Flickering'' Review
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

, retrieved 2011-07-09 Flouride also works in the studio as a producer and mixer and has done projects with many artists including the

Hi-Fives The Hi-Fives are an American rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area. History The band was formed in 1994 after drummer Al Sobrante (John Kiffmeyer) left the previous incarnations, The Ne'er Do Wells and Thee Shatners. Sobrante was replaced by ...

. In 2001, Flouride reunited with Ray and Peligro under the

name.

Equipment

Klaus Flouride played a Lake Placid Blue

Fender Jazz Bass The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to ''J-Bass'') is the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on th ...

from 1966 that he purchased for $200; this was his main bass guitar during his years with the

. However, in March 2013 the bass was stolen in Brazil; Flouride believes that the airlines lost it. Luthier Tony Schroom, built Flouride a new instrument complete with the same stickers and scratches of the old one. He has also played with a Fender Bass VI, particularly on the Bedtime For Democracy album. Flouride used "an Acoustic 150b amp, and an Acoustic 402 cabinet with stock speakers at least thru 'In God We Trust'", before getting a Traynor Mono Block B amp to replace the Acoustic head. He primarily uses a

Gallien Krueger Gallien-Krueger, also referred to as 'GK' (as in their logo), is a manufacturer of bass amplifiers and speaker cabinets . The company is based in Stockton, California, and was founded in 1968. History Robert Gallien started his company, then ...

MB 500 and an Ampeg SVT cabinet when he is on tour. According to a recent post on Flouride's website, he uses a Boss Blues Driver and a Boss TU-2 tuner pedal. Flouride also played

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...

on the DK song Terminal Preppie.

Solo discography

Albums

*''Cha Cha Cha With Mr. Flouride'' (1985),

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent labe ...

*''Because I Say So'' (1988), Alternative Tentacles *''The Light Is Flickering'' (1991), Alternative Tentacles *''Flouride Treatments'' (2011) - sold via Flouride's web store only

Singles

*"Shortnin Bread" (1982), Alternative Tentacles

References

External links

Dead Kennedys Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flouride, Klaus Alternative Tentacles artists American punk rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Dead Kennedys members 1949 births Living people Guitarists from Detroit 20th-century American bass guitarists