Rig Rundown: Dead Kennedys' East Bay Ray

Punk rock is about energy, attitude, and message. It’s been the gateway drug for a lot of guitarists and music lovers. And those forces are what steered East Bay Ray away from his bar-band gig in 1978.

“The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up,” Ray remembered during a 2016 PG interview. “I saw the Weirdos playing. I said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I phased myself out of the bar band and put an ad up in Aquarius Records and Rather Ripped Records. Klaus Flouride (bassist Geoffrey Lyall) and Jello Biafra (singer Eric Boucher) answered the ad.”

And with the addition of drummer Ted (Bruce Slesinger), the Dead Kennedys were born. By the time they recorded their 1981 EP In God We Trust, Inc. (on their own independent label, Alternative Tentacles), Ted was gone and D.H. Peligro (Darren Henley) became their stalwart skin slammer.

Through the band’s initial eight years, four albums, and an EP, their subversive harpoon of jagged political commentary was tipped by Biafra’s lyrics. That got the nation’s attention, but what inspires musicians to this day was the power trio’s cohesive combination of familiar and unfamiliar elements of punk and primal rock. Sure, you’ve got the power chords and the four-on-the-floor tempos, but depth and nuance under the biting messaging is essential to the DK’s chemistry. Their punk-rock bangers have modal tendencies and atonal flourishes, and some of their most thrilling songs have odd-metered backbones. Their debut single, “California Über Alles,” is a take on composer Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, no less. And nobody else in the land of the 6-string shreds quite like East Bay Ray.

“One of the reasons our songs have lasted so long is the structure underneath has a lot in common with a Beatles song or a Motown song or even a ’30s standard,” he says. “There are basic constructions that make a song work. I really had a hard time copying or figuring out solos off my favorite recordings when learning to play, so I’d develop my own musical method to get from one place to another. It’s actually a lack of technique that helped with the music.”

His creativity and resourcefulness don’t stop there. East Bay Ray was the band’s co-producer/engineer on most recordings, and he’s tinkered with his own tone tools, assembling partscasters that best suited his approach. Ray has jammed humbuckers into the bridge of a T-style for a twangier bite that helps his rapid-fire arpeggios sting a bit more. He’s slapped on short-scale Japanese F-style necks for slinkier playability. And, most notably, he put a Maestro Echoplex in front of his amp to create the signature clanging sound heard on his classic recordings with the band. (“One of my favorite records of all time is Elvis Presley’s Sun Sessions. That is one of the records that inspired me to get an Echoplex, to get that slapback echo.”)

“We just didn’t know the rules on what to play and how to play,” he relates. “That’s where not knowing something forces you to make your own solution, creating something unique and new, proving that necessity is the mother of invention. The lack of technique and knowledge helped create our sound and the music.”

Before the Dead Kennedys’ headlining show at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl on June 15th, PG hit the stage for a brief but illuminating tone talk. We covered Ray’s economically rich setup that includes a single Schecter doublecut and a simplified, solid-sounding Marshall, and we were enlightened about why he puts his Line 6 delay ahead of the amp and what that does to repeats.

00:00 - D’Addario Nexxus 360 Tuner
00:15 - East Bay Ray Intro
00:54 - Schecter S-1
05:33 - Marshall JCM2000
06:25 - Line 6 DL4
08:57 - Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer

#rigrundown #deadkennedys #eastbayray

[anthonysclafani]

Never thought we’d get this but I’m soooo glad we did

[andrewpappas]

I always thought that Ray was such an underrated guitarist, he's such a great player and his parts on Holiday In Cambodia and California Uber Alles are some of the coolest and most inventive playing I've ever heard

[TheFairway]

I’d love to see a Billy Zoom Rig Rundown

[sergiomarques]

EAST BAY RAY is a phenomenal guitarist!!!
I've been listening to all of DK's records for years and this guitarist's riffs are one of a kind, PUNK ROCK masterpieces with a hint of surfmusic, rockabilly and more
Greetings from Brazil

[BlueeyesofSkye]

I love these older punk rock guitarists and their take on things. They always have a humble take on guitar. The riffs are fun, playable, and often at a breakneck speed. I’d love nothing more than a Gregg Ginn rig rundown, and him not be him, and just give an honest breakdown of his evolution.

[Chris-nby]

East bay ray is an incredible guitar with him implementing elements of jazz and rockabilly into a punk fusion

[christopherwelch]

Dead Kennedys were the first punk band I listened to back in the 80s and his guitar sound is THE ONE. Dude you are greatness.

[ScottDaddyMac]

This dude is one of my all time favorite guitarists. The first time I heard the opening chords of "Lynch the Landlord", which was the first song I heard from the DKs, I was immediately hooked onto his style and tone. Listening to the DKs for the past 35 years and he is still one of the most unique players I have heard in any genre.

[naturaljoe]

I did NOT expect that voice to come out of East Bay Ray

[Goomer]

I remember reading an article/interview on Ray and they asked about his Strat, like "where was it made"...."I don't know", "what kind of pickups", I'm not sure. Was very refreshing. One thing Ray seems sure about is his sound.

[jmecklenborg]

This guy knew how to create a sense of panic and dread. Yes, that's "all in the fingers", and between the ears.

[Jacobcfuller]

The compressed repeats are so important for this sound. Couldn't figure out how to get that sound with my delay ("why do they sound so weak???") then I tried putting a dirt pedal after the delay, and boom, there it was

[bronzeageancientone]

Best punk guitar player IMHO. Like surf rock met the Clash.

[sysop]

Now do Klaus! One of my favs..! Still is.. One of a kind.

[RamblinBob]

The ONLY thing cool about me in 1986 was that I listened to the Dead Kennedys … thank you East Bay Ray!

[ThirteenMusic]

This guy is a such a legend he has such a unique and instantly recognisable sound as soon as he plays 1 note you know its him. Writer of some of the most awesome riffs too.

[DavidMueller]

I HAVE BEEN INSPIRED AND AMAZED BY EAST BAY RAY AND THE DEAD KENNEDY'S EVER SINCE I FIRST HEARD THEM IN THE 1970'S.

[mickdestiny]

Thanks for this one. The guy is a living legend. The day i went around to show my Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous he showed me Give Me Convenience. A great day..

[GlynDwr-dh]

He really has it dialed in where it has that unmistakable sound you hear on their records from way back. It sounds awesome. Nobody else sounds like that.

[VincentVader]

1:30 those aren't Seymour Duncan pickups. They have the Schecter logo on them just like the stock guitar. They call the. Schecter Diamond Plus pickups.