Dreadnaught

King of Afropunk

By: D.H. Peligro, William Knoedelseder - introduction

Narrated by: Brad Sanders

A no-holds-barred memoir of legendary Dead Kennedys and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer D.H. Peligro, Dreadnaught chronicles Peligro from his pre-DK years growing up in a deprived St. Louis ghetto to his years in San Francisco with Jello Biafra, East Bay Ray, and Klaus Flouride - from Los Angeles with the Red Hot Chili Peppers through years of drug and alcohol abuse all over the world amidst a backdrop of some of the most defining periods of late 20th century cultural, social, and music history.

©2013 D.H. Peligro (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

My Cousin I Didn’t Know

I’ve known my cousin my whole life. He is 16 years older than me so we grew up in different times and cities. I moved to LA in 2000 and he was the only family I knew I had here. We would get together here and there and always when my mom would come to town. I even did artwork for his CD “Sum of Our Surroundings”. I never knew of his addictions. I only ever saw him smoke squares (cigarettes). I always knew him as my traveling punk rock cousin. Just all around good dude. He did a great job of keeping his demons from me. I had journeyed into music creation as I’m a filmmaker and was in need of music for my projects and none of my usual suspects of 20 years were available. I saw D.H. Last on September 23, 2022. I went by his new spot in the valley 10 min from me. We sat for a few hours and chatted. I did most of the talking as I was sharing things I was excited about. The new young lady who had changed my life and also the music I had been creating. He sat and vibed to my tracks. Nodding his head and calling out the instruments he heard in my pieces. This was the best moment. The living musical god of our family was giving me props and encouraging me to keep going. I left there feeling overwhelmed with pride and joy. That would be the last time I saw him. A month later I got a call from my mother late on October 28th telling me that he died. I rushed over to the house only to met with the coroner and the police. It was an unreal moment. I am sitting here scanning photos of my legendary cousin now for a tribute video for his funeral. I decided to listen to his book while I completed this task. What an eye opener to a person whom I loved.
My cousin I didn’t know, D.H. Peligro
Salute and Goodnight….

His honesty. I know a lot of the same people, was in the same places. He speaks truth.

Amazing. Must read for any Afro punks out there. Drummers have such an interesting perspective on the scene.

All cake no frosting!

I could relate to his story, music also dealing with the racism of our society..