It's the end of an era, but don't shed any tears. The Dead Kennedys, or more likely, one of their more aggressive fans would punch you in the eye if you did.

One of the founding members of legendary punk firebrands, bassist Klaus Flouride, has announced he will no longer be a performing member of The Dead Kennedys due to a recurring medical condition known as Angioedema. In a recent interview with Goldmine, he talked about the reasons for his departure, as well as future and present musical projects. Don't worry. Klaus is not going away.

That he's spent more than 30 years of his life in the controversial Bay Area band is nothing short of miracle to him, and there's a lot he's going to miss about it. But, his health comes first.

"It was a total surprise that it went where it did as far as I was concerned," says Flouride. "When we started, we thought, especially with the name we had, we had a length of about six months to two years, and if we were lucky, we'd get to go to L.A. once or twice, you know? When I was a kid growing up, and playing in bands, my dad, who was a musician, took me aside all the time and said, "There are 3 million kids out there who play guitar. Get a back-up plan."

Flouride, as it turns out, didn't need one. The Dead Kennedys lasted longer than that, becoming an iconic punk group that was labeled hardcore's Public Enemy No. 1 among right-wing politicians and religious fundamentalists. They pilloried Jerry Brown, then the governor of California, in the song "California Uber Alles," and then had to endure a protracted court case over an obscenity charge for the inclusion of an explicit poster that was included with its 1985 album, Frankenchrist.

"It's had its ups and downs, but it's been mostly good stuff to be involved in, and my father's statement about the 3 million kids resonated with me all the way through the Kennedys thing, even when we were onstage and watching mayhem go on," says Flouride. "[I'm] thinking, 'I'm getting to do what these 3 million other kids want to do, and having to do it to actually a big audience,' and it was one thing I'll never forget about whenever we play."

Without getting too much into it, the condition is a subcutaneous one that — in simple terms — involves hives and "... it's on my face and head." The doctors originally thought it was caused by some sort of allergy.

"And so they tested me for every allergy thing they could test me for, and I kept saying, 'You know, it always happens when I'm really stressed out or fatigued,'" says Flouride. "And so, after months of this, they finally come back and say, 'You know, these hives are usually caused by stress and fatigue (laughs)." And I said, 'Really? Can I have my money back for all these tests now?' But then, the doctor says, "What you've got to do is just eliminate stress in your life." And then he goes, 'Wah ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.'"

After enjoying his little joke, the doctor then told Flouride that he should try to eliminate "... whatever (stress or fatigue) you have control over, 'cause stress comes at you from all different angles and fatigue is just a part of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle," says Klaus.

And playing in band as big as The Dead Kennedys, which had been touring earlier this year with Flouride, original member East Bay Ray, Dave Scheff and Skip, is a high-pressure situation.

"That was the one thing that I could, you know, say whenever I go on the road with the DKs there's a lot of pressure to do the best show we can do every time," explains Flouride. "And that's true with any band that I play with, but there's, let's say, less expectations from the audience with the other things I'm involved with because they haven't reached the level that the Kennedys did. So, it was a hard decision certainly but one that I had to do because I have a kid and I want to watch her grow up. And just hives in general are not a dangerous thing, but the doctors are afraid because it's in my face and subcutaneous and under the skin that it could mess up other organs, and it closes my throat down and stuff like that. You know, when you can't breathe that's when it becomes something to worry about."

Flouride is not giving up performing altogether. He's got a number of irons in the fire, playing regionally near his California home with groups like The American Professionals, The Go Going Gone Girls, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy and others.

But after 30 years of playing with The Dead Kennedys, as decidedly unsentimental as that band is, it's hard to say goodbye.

In particular, he'll miss, "The camaraderie. I just like playing the songs in general. I never got tired of playing the songs onstage. You'd think after so many times of playing 'Holiday in Cambodia' or 'California Uber Alles,' how many times can a guy play that and still get into it? And ... I've watched other bands and said, 'How can they keep playing that one song over and over,' and still mean it. But the thing with the Kennedys is that... the musicianship was such that we could take it little different places each time and it wasn't like playing it by rote. We'd always fool around with it a little bit. And there's places in both of those songs where we can stretch it out."

Look for more from our interview with Klaus in an upcoming edition of Goldmine and watch for a podcast of our chat at www.goldminemag.com

To get caught up on everything with the Dead Kennedys, go to www.deadkennedys.com, and visit www.klausflouride.com to keep track of what Klaus is up to.