SAN FRANCISCO — Ex–Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra testified on Wednesday (May 10) that he felt threatened by guitarist East Bay Ray after he refused to let Levi's use one of the band's songs in a commercial.

After Biafra turned down an ad agency's offer to put "Holiday in Cambodia" (RealAudio excerpt) in an ad for khakis, he said Ray told him, "There's going to be repercussions."

"I thought it would be a very bad move for the long-term reputation of the band," Biafra said. "Our whole stance was very anti-corporate."

East Bay Ray (born Ray Pepperell), bassist Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall) and drummer D.H. Peligro (Darren Henley) are suing ex-frontman Biafra (Eric Reed Boucher) for allegedly mismanaging the defunct punk-rock group's royalties and catalog. Biafra has filed a countersuit against Ray, accusing him of mismanaging Decay Music, the bandmembers' business partnership.

Biafra, wearing a black, blue and gray-striped shirt and black jeans, testified in Superior Court for much of the day. Opposing attorney David Phillips repeatedly jumped out of his chair to object to Biafra's "narrative responses."

Biafra's charismatic testimony brought the jury to laughter several times, and even got a few chuckles out Ray.

The black-haired Ray alternated between grinning and grimacing and conferred regularly with Flouride and attorneys. The dreadlocked Peligro shifted in his chair on occasion, but mostly sat stone-faced and pensive.

When Biafra's attorney, John Stewart, played a video of the Dead Kennedys performing the song "MTV Get Off the Air," Biafra, Flouride and Ray appeared to enjoy watching their younger selves perform, and all three complained when Stewart moved to stop the tape before the song's end.

Answering Ray, Peligro and Flouride's charges that Alternative Tentacles Records, the band-founded label owned solely by Biafra since 1986, failed to promote the Dead Kennedys' catalog of albums, Biafra defined the label's promotional strategy: "To market and maintain the integrity of the catalog, consistent with the [anti-music-industry] philosophy of the band."

Biafra maintained that he is the best-known member of the band and that his high-profile activities — such as spoken-word performances and his current bid for the presidency as a Green Party candidate — serve to promote the Dead Kennedys.

Answering charges that he covered up discrepancies in the rate of royalties being paid to the Dead Kennedys by Alternative Tentacles, the singer testified that once he was told about the discrepancy, he felt a "moral obligation" to pay the difference.

Biafra said the process of working out the differences in the royalty payments, as well as communication with his ex-bandmates on other business issues, was slowed by attorneys' orders for the bandmembers not to talk to one another about matters involved in the lawsuit, filed in October 1998.

Another issue in the case is ownership, as well as authorship, of the band's catalog of hard-driving punk tunes known for their satirical social commentary.

Apparently in response to Peligro's statement Tuesday that Biafra is "not really a musician," Biafra said he showed up for his audition for the band with a guitar, and that during the songwriting process he would demonstrate melodies as best he could on the guitar, until Flouride suggested he just sing the melodies to them.

Former Alternative Tentacles general manager Greg Werckman began his testimony Wednesday regarding his work at the label. Werckman is expected to continue on the stand Thursday.