Jello Biafra

“I think that what's perceived as punk out in shopping malls or in chain stores or on MTV has almost nothing to do with what punk is about.”

“Once you get involved with bloodsport litigation, you can not only get drunk on your own greed but start to believe your own lies.”

“We didn't have money to put out everything we wanted to put out.”

“If you love god, burn a church.”

“I went through a big Alice Cooper phase, which was probably a major influence on my writing style later, especially after Plastic Surgery Disasters.”

“You have to be down here in the States to realize just how tightly controlled the corporate media is and how much they practise Soviet-style censorship through creative omission.”

“Especially in local elections, because hardly anybody pays attention to those - but it's really important who's mayor and who's on the city council, county commissioners, sheriffs, district attorney, and of course the school board.”

“What I'm getting at is, you know, if we really want to get serious about helping all the people living in the street and getting people jobs, we could just hire half the people in the country to spy on the other half.”

“The Sonics I found later and that was pretty important.”

“Don't hate the media, become the media.”

“I've never been a big fan of subtle art. I like art that gets deep into my head and starts my brain spinning with new ideas and inspiration and my whole body is full of energy.”

“Let me start by saying, I'm utterly disgusted with the former members of the Dead Kennedys.”

“All of these reissues were not authorized by me, I do not endorse them, the live album was put out without my permission, and I've not seen a dime at this point, either.”

“If I get even five per cent of my ideas out and documented before I die, I'll be lucky. I'm not in danger of running out of riffs or ideas anytime soon. They overwhelm me and it's hard to find time to deal with them.”

“I think one of the most important things punk brought back was the whole concept of staying independent and doing things yourself. It made music a lot less boring in any category you can name.”

“I have very mixed feelings about Jesse Jackson. He's very good about labor, and human and civil rights issues, but not so good on cultural issues.”

“Respecting other people's cultures is well and good, but I draw the line at where some branches of Islam, what they do to women. It's indefensible.”

“If evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.”

“Punk is not dead. Punk will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it.”

“This is my home. Home is where the disease is. As long as I stay in America, I'll never run out of subjects for songs.”