Carlos Cadona

Carlos Cadona, better known by his stage name 6025, is (or possibly was) an American musician who served as the second guitarist for the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys, from their formation in July 1978 to March 1979. Although he is sometimes claimed to have been considered as a drummer or singer, frontman Jello Biafra has stated that 6025 was recruited solely as a guitarist.^[1] Initially the band was a quartet, consisting of bassist Klaus Flouride, vocalist Biafra, guitarist East Bay Ray, and drummer Bruce Slesinger, all of whom had answered an ad placed by Ray.^[2] 6025 was added to the line-up only a week before their first live performance, which took place on July 19, 1978. Due to his very short tenure in the band and disappearance from the public eye almost immediately thereafter, very little is known about him, and the circumstances surrounding his departure from the band remain contested.

Dead Kennedys (1978-1979)

Cadona, dubbing himself 6025 for reasons unknown, joined the Dead Kennedys in July 1978.^[3] Biafra has stated, "a week before our first gig we got a guitarist who called himself 6025 and he left about 6 months later".^[1] He actually parted with the band roughly eight months later, in March 1979.^[4]

6025's guitar playing with the band was minimal and generally shadowed Flouride's basslines, with lead player Ray doing the majority of the guitar work. His writing style focused on chromatic, quirky time signature melodies and harmonies, creating polyrhythms against the other instruments. His lyrics were notably different from the band's usual repertoire, often making use of strange, nonsensical imagery and carrying a morbid, fatalistic tone, as opposed to Biafra's signature sociopolitical and satirical leanings.

He wrote seven songs with the band: "Ill in the Head" and "Forward to Death", both of which appear on the band's debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables; "Gaslight, "Short Songs" and "Straight A's" as, which appear on the live album Live at the Deaf Club (as well as, in the case of the latter two tracks, the 1987 compilation Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death); "Mutations of Today", which appears on The 1978 Demos; and "Religious Vomit", which appears on the 1981 extended-play In God We Trust, Inc.

He left the band before they made any studio recordings, but he did guest as a second guitarist on the studio recording of "Ill in the Head", recorded by the band over a year after his departure. Following his departure, the Kennedys auditioned numerous second guitarists, and even (having been inspired by The Screamers) considered replacing him with a keyboardist. Ultimately, the band decided to continue as a four-piece.

It has never been made clear exactly how or why 6025 parted ways with the group. It is rumored that he did not leave of his own accord, but was instead thrown out due to musical differences. According to East Bay Ray, 6025 left the band because he wanted to play progressive rock, and felt the band's style was "too raunchy, too rock". In an interview, Fluoride asserted that 6025 and Biafra became heavily opposed to each other's songwriting ideas, and after an argument culminating in a near fist-fight, 6025 chose to depart.

6025's final live appearance with the Dead Kennedys was on March 3, 1979. The performance was taped and officially released 25 years after the fact as Live at the Deaf Club.

Later years

After leaving Dead Kennedys, 6025 is rumored to have briefly played with The Residents before being replaced by Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman. As of 2013, whether he is alive or dead is unclear.

In a 2005 interview with Loud Fast Rules! magazine, a spin-off of the magazine AMP,^[5] Klaus Flouride states that 6025 went on to become a born-again Christian.

He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Dead Kennedys' website^[6] simply states that 6025 has been suffering from a disability since the early 1980s. In a 2003 interview for Russian Darkside E-Zine,^[7] East Bay Ray said that 6025's mother was by then acting as his legal trustee, and that she received all royalties on his behalf.

According to Jello Biafra, quoted in the Alternative Tentacles bio^[8] for Dead Kennedys, 6025 remained active, aspiring to be "the Captain Beefheart of gospel music." He is said to have worked on a "Christian punk rock opera" for many years, and to have finished it prematurely due to his diminished mental state.

Discography

• 1980 - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
• 1987 - Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death
• 2004 - Live at the Deaf Club

References