6025

Guitarist 6025 (AKA: Carlos Cadona), born 1958/59, was the second guitarist for the Dead Kennedys throughout their early years. He played with the band from July 1978 to March 1979, with his last live performance being March 3rd, 1979 at the Deaf Club. That same show was recorded and later released as on a album titled Live at the Deaf Club.

Guitarist ‘6025’ took his stage name from a clothing inspection ticket, and met Jello Biafra; where he was recruited to pose as the band’s drummer for their first promotional photo shoots. After playing rhythm guitar on the band’s early demos (1978) with an unknown drummer, the band found a more experienced musician (“Ted” AKA Bruce Slesinger) to play drums instead.

According to Biafra, “he was the best all-around musician in the band, however his taste for prog rock and idiosyncratic songwriting alienated him from the rest of the band.”
This is true, for his love of Captain Beefheart as well as his mental-illness further harmed his relationship with the band. However, those two aspects of his life is what made his songwriting unique and unheard of. Featuring songs about suicide, schizophrenia, surreal imagery, suicide due to pressures from school, turmoil, and musical-surrealistic avant-garde lyrics. It all culminated into a dark, deep, discography. Despite writing only a few songs with the band, each one of them was memorable, and took the punk rock song standard a step further from before.

‘6025’ wrote: “Ill in the Head” , “Forward to Death” , “Religious Vomit” , “Straight A’s” , “Gaslight” , and “Short Songs”. As well as other unreleased songs such as “Dance of the Laughing Death Angel”; which the band refused to record, on account that it was a Prog-Rock Ballad, and in terms of complexity, took the already convoluted “Ill in the Head” , “many steps further” according to Jello Biafra.

His time with the band was cut short, after him and Biafra supposedly got into a argument about musical differences, which nearly culminated into a fist-fight. His love of Prog-Rock and the avant-garde distanced himself from the rest of the band. It is unclear whether or not he left on his own terms, or was kicked out. But he has claimed to have the left the band because of his distaste with their “raunchy and hardcore” sound.

After leaving the Dead Kennedys, he was then rumored to play with The Residents for some time, before playing with Snakefinger, and appearing on their live album “Live at the Savoy 1981” as a musical guest, before disappearing entirely from public eye.

His current whereabouts are unknown. Although, an article by The Press Democrat titled “Shelters remain safe havens for Santa Rosans fleeing fires”.
He was listed among other residents, being noted as a former musician for the Dead Kennedys. A fundme page was created to help pay for the damages done to his property after the Californian fire. Him and the band are still in contact with each other, as several interviews with Jello and East Bay Ray have proven, although the majority of these interviews have been taken down.

Little to nothing else is known about him beyond this, other then being cited as a “Reborn-Christian” , who, according to Biafra, “Is still trying to be the Captain Beefheart of gospel music. 6025 has been working on a Christian punk rock opera for years that, due to his mental state he has decided he is now finished and not coming back ever again.”

All sources (and the gofundme page) are listed here:
https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/1212267
https://www.gofundme.com/f/dk6025
https://books.google.com/books?id=JJW6BwAAQBAJ&vq=6025&source=gbs_navlinks_s
https://genius.com/albums/Various-artists/Can-you-hear-me-music-from-the-deaf-club
http://self.gutenberg.org/articles/eng/Carlos_Cadona

Hopefully, we see a release of 6025’s new works, sometime, in the future.

[Bonus] Gallery of 6025 in the Dead Kennedys: