Dean Wareham
Encyclopedia
Dean Wareham is an American musician
, who formed the band Galaxie 500
in 1987. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia, before settling in New York City in 1977. Wareham attended high school at Dalton School in New York, and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated with a B.A. in Social Studies. He left Galaxie 500 in April, 1991 and founded the band Luna
. Since Luna's breakup in 2005, Wareham has released albums with fellow Luna bandmate (and wife) Britta Phillips
(see Dean and Britta
). He also works as a film composer, notably on the Noah Baumbach
film The Squid and the Whale
, and has been an occasional actor.
Wareham has written a memoir about his years in indie rock. The book recounts his experiences in music, from high school in New York City in the 1970s through his years in Galaxie 500 and Luna. Titled Black Postcards, it was published by Penguin Press in March, 2008.
. The band's name comes from a Ford
car of the 1960s, the Ford Galaxie 500
. Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade
label and went out of print upon Rough Trade's demise. Galaxie 500's entire catalog, along with a box set including singles, EPs and rarities was reissued during the 1990s by Rykodisc
.
Galaxie 500 leveraged fairly minimal instrumental technique with intense atmospherics, provided by producer Mark Kramer
, and their distinctive sound bore an influence beyond the small audience for their independently released album
s. The sound and the increasingly loyal audience grew with each release until Wareham quit the band in 1991. To mark twenty years since the release of the Galaxie 500 albums, Wareham embarked on his Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 tour. Notably absent were Krukowski and Yang.
/indie pop
band formed in 1991 by Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500
, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood
(Demeski formerly of The Feelies
and Harwood formerly of New Zealand
band The Chills
).
The original lineup was expanded with the addition of guitarist Sean Eden for their second album, 1994's Bewitched. Lee Wall replaced Demeski on drums in time for 1997's Pup Tent, and Britta Phillips of Belltower (also known as the singing voice of animated character Jem
) joined when bassist Justin Harwood departed in 2000. Phillips and Wareham eventually became romantically involved and married. They now release records under the moniker “Dean & Britta”.
In 1992, Wareham signed a demo deal with Elektra Records' A&R VP Terry Tolkin
and recorded a number of tracks with Mercury Rev
drummer Jimmy Chambers. Some of these recordings were later released on the Anesthesia single on Tolkin's No.6 Records in the US and Mint Tea in the UK under the name Dean Wareham.
Tolkin then signed Wareham to Elektra, who started pulling together a band. He first contacted Justin Harwood
whom Dean had met while Justin was playing with The Chills
and they recruited drummer Byron Guthrie. The trio recorded some more demos (produced by Dave Fridmann
) and played a couple of live dates augmented by Mercury Rev guitarist Grasshopper
(Sean Mackowiak). Guthrie was then replaced by former Feelies drummer Stanley Demeski and this lineup recorded the first album Lunapark
, produced by Fred Maher and released by Elektra under the name Luna2 to avoid confusion with a new-age musician who was already using the name Luna (later an agreement was reached which allowed the band to use the name Luna).
In the summer of 1993 the band was the supporting act for the reformed Velvet Underground on their European tour after which they set about recording their second album. Bewitched
was recorded in New York City and co-produced by the band with Victor Van-Vugt. Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison
played guitar on two tracks. The album was released in 1994.
Luna’s third album, Penthouse
(1995), was named one of the essential of the 1990s by Rolling Stone magazine. Penthouse was co-produced by Mario Salvati and Pat McCarthy in New York, and features guests Tom Verlaine
(Television
) and Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab
). While remaining on Elektra Records in the U.S., the band were signed to Beggar's Banquet for the rest of the world.
In 1997 Lee Wall replaced Stanley Demeski on drums, and the band recorded Pup Tent, their fourth album for Elektra, produced by Pat McCarthy. In 1998 Luna recorded their fifth album, The Days of Our Nights, produced by Paul Kimble (Grant Lee Buffalo). The album was released in the U.S. on Jericho Records and on Beggar's Banquet internationally.
In December 1999 Justin Harwood retired to New Zealand, and was replaced on bass by Britta Phillips. The band released Luna Live! in 2000 on the Arena Rock label, and then signed to Jetset Records, for whom they recorded two more studio albums, Romantica (2002), co-produced by Gene Holder (DB’s) and Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev), and Rendezvous (2004), produced by Bryce Goggin. The band announced plans to break up in 2004, and played their final concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on February 28, 2005.
, both former members of Luna. After Luna broke up in 2005, Dean & Britta spent the next year working on film scores (most notably Noah Baumbach's movie, The Squid and the Whale), and promoting the documentary film of Luna's farewell tour Tell Me Do You Miss Me. They were married during the recording of their new album, Back Numbers, (also produced by Tony Visconti) and simplified their name to "Dean & Britta". Back Numbers was released on Rounder Records in February 2007 followed by a limited edition EP, "Words You Used To Say".
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, who formed the band Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...
in 1987. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia, before settling in New York City in 1977. Wareham attended high school at Dalton School in New York, and then attended Harvard University, where he graduated with a B.A. in Social Studies. He left Galaxie 500 in April, 1991 and founded the band Luna
Luna (band)
Luna was a dream pop/indie pop band formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood...
. Since Luna's breakup in 2005, Wareham has released albums with fellow Luna bandmate (and wife) Britta Phillips
Britta Phillips
Britta Phillips is an American musician, songwriter, actress and voice actor. She is best known as the singing voice of the title character of Jem and as one half of the duo Dean and Britta, with her husband Dean Wareham...
(see Dean and Britta
Dean and Britta
Dean & Britta is a musical duo consisting of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, both former members of Luna. Wareham had formed Luna in 1991 after leaving his first band, Galaxie 500. Phillips joined Luna in 2000, replacing bassist Justin Harwood.-History:...
). He also works as a film composer, notably on the Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach
Noah Baumbach is an American writer, director and independent filmmaker.-Background and education:Baumbach was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of novelist/film critic Jonathan Baumbach and Village Voice critic Georgia Brown. He graduated from Brooklyn's Midwood High School in 1987 and ...
film The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale
The Squid and the Whale is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach and produced by Wes Anderson. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of two boys in Brooklyn dealing with their parents' divorce in the 1980s. The film is named after a giant squid and sperm whale diorama...
, and has been an occasional actor.
Wareham has written a memoir about his years in indie rock. The book recounts his experiences in music, from high school in New York City in the 1970s through his years in Galaxie 500 and Luna. Titled Black Postcards, it was published by Penguin Press in March, 2008.
Galaxie 500
Guitarist Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang began playing together as Galaxie 500 in 1987, after their time as students at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. The band's name comes from a Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
car of the 1960s, the Ford Galaxie 500
Ford Galaxie
The Ford Galaxie was a full-size car built in the United States by the Ford Motor Company for model years 1959 through 1974. The name was used for the top models in Ford’s full-size range from 1959 until 1961, in a marketing attempt to appeal to the excitement surrounding the Space Race...
. Galaxie 500's records were released in the US and UK on the independent Rough Trade
Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...
label and went out of print upon Rough Trade's demise. Galaxie 500's entire catalog, along with a box set including singles, EPs and rarities was reissued during the 1990s by Rykodisc
Rykodisc
Rykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
.
Galaxie 500 leveraged fairly minimal instrumental technique with intense atmospherics, provided by producer Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer , known professionally as Kramer, is a musician, composer, record producer and founder of the New York City record label Shimmy-Disc...
, and their distinctive sound bore an influence beyond the small audience for their independently released album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s. The sound and the increasingly loyal audience grew with each release until Wareham quit the band in 1991. To mark twenty years since the release of the Galaxie 500 albums, Wareham embarked on his Dean Wareham Plays Galaxie 500 tour. Notably absent were Krukowski and Yang.
Luna
Luna was a dream popDream pop
Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...
/indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band formed in 1991 by Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...
, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood
Justin Harwood
Justin Harwood is a New Zealand-born bass guitarist, notable for his work with several indie rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s, The Chills, Luna, and Tuatara...
(Demeski formerly of The Feelies
The Feelies
The Feelies are a rock band from Haledon, New Jersey. They formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1992 having released four albums. The band reunited in 2008 and most recently released an album in 2011....
and Harwood formerly of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
band The Chills
The Chills
The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand. In the 1980s and 1990s, they were one of the proponents of the Dunedin Sound.- History :...
).
The original lineup was expanded with the addition of guitarist Sean Eden for their second album, 1994's Bewitched. Lee Wall replaced Demeski on drums in time for 1997's Pup Tent, and Britta Phillips of Belltower (also known as the singing voice of animated character Jem
Jem (TV series)
Jem, also known as Jem and the Holograms, is an American animated television series that ran from 1985 to 1988 in U.S. first-run syndication...
) joined when bassist Justin Harwood departed in 2000. Phillips and Wareham eventually became romantically involved and married. They now release records under the moniker “Dean & Britta”.
In 1992, Wareham signed a demo deal with Elektra Records' A&R VP Terry Tolkin
Terry Tolkin
Terry Tolkin was the Vice President of A&R at Elektra Records from 1992 to 1996. He signed a number of critically acclaimed alternative rock bands, including Luna, Stereolab, Afghan Whigs, Scrawl, Jennyanykind and Nada Surf...
and recorded a number of tracks with Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
drummer Jimmy Chambers. Some of these recordings were later released on the Anesthesia single on Tolkin's No.6 Records in the US and Mint Tea in the UK under the name Dean Wareham.
Tolkin then signed Wareham to Elektra, who started pulling together a band. He first contacted Justin Harwood
Justin Harwood
Justin Harwood is a New Zealand-born bass guitarist, notable for his work with several indie rock bands of the 1980s and 1990s, The Chills, Luna, and Tuatara...
whom Dean had met while Justin was playing with The Chills
The Chills
The Chills are a guitar and keyboard-based rock band from Dunedin, New Zealand. In the 1980s and 1990s, they were one of the proponents of the Dunedin Sound.- History :...
and they recruited drummer Byron Guthrie. The trio recorded some more demos (produced by Dave Fridmann
Dave Fridmann
Dave Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. From 1990 onwards he co-produced all releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips...
) and played a couple of live dates augmented by Mercury Rev guitarist Grasshopper
Grasshopper (musician)
Grasshopper is an American musician with the band Mercury Rev. He has also appeared with Rev side-project Harmony Rockets, his own band Grasshopper and the Golden Crickets, and as a guest musician on numerous other recordings.-Early years:Mackowiak's early years have been colored by a 1991...
(Sean Mackowiak). Guthrie was then replaced by former Feelies drummer Stanley Demeski and this lineup recorded the first album Lunapark
Lunapark
Lunapark was the debut album by New York rock band Luna. As the first musical outing of Dean Wareham since the disbanding of Galaxie 500, Lunapark set forth the new musical directions of Wareham and embraced a musical sound that would continue to evolve throughout Luna's tenure...
, produced by Fred Maher and released by Elektra under the name Luna2 to avoid confusion with a new-age musician who was already using the name Luna (later an agreement was reached which allowed the band to use the name Luna).
In the summer of 1993 the band was the supporting act for the reformed Velvet Underground on their European tour after which they set about recording their second album. Bewitched
Bewitched (album)
-Track listing:All tracks are by Luna with lyrics by Dean Wareham# "California " – 4:15# "Tiger Lily" – 4:46# "Friendly Advice" – 6:33# "Bewitched" – 4:45# "This Time Around" – 3:29# "Great Jones Street" – 3:36# "Going Home" – 5:26...
was recorded in New York City and co-produced by the band with Victor Van-Vugt. Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison
Sterling Morrison
Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. was one of the founding members of the rock group The Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.-Biography:...
played guitar on two tracks. The album was released in 1994.
Luna’s third album, Penthouse
Penthouse (album)
-Track listing:All songs music by Luna and lyrics by Dean Wareham except where noted# "Chinatown" – 4:39# "Sideshow by the Seashore" – 3:12# "Moon Palace" – 3:46# "Double Feature" – 4:27# "23 Minutes in Brussels" – 6:40# "Lost in Space" – 3:44...
(1995), was named one of the essential of the 1990s by Rolling Stone magazine. Penthouse was co-produced by Mario Salvati and Pat McCarthy in New York, and features guests Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.-Biography:...
(Television
Television (band)
Television was an American rock band, formed in New York City in 1973. They are best known for the album Marquee Moon and widely regarded as one of the founders of "punk" and New Wave music. Television was part of the early 1970s New York underground rock scene, along with bands like the Patti...
) and Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
). While remaining on Elektra Records in the U.S., the band were signed to Beggar's Banquet for the rest of the world.
In 1997 Lee Wall replaced Stanley Demeski on drums, and the band recorded Pup Tent, their fourth album for Elektra, produced by Pat McCarthy. In 1998 Luna recorded their fifth album, The Days of Our Nights, produced by Paul Kimble (Grant Lee Buffalo). The album was released in the U.S. on Jericho Records and on Beggar's Banquet internationally.
In December 1999 Justin Harwood retired to New Zealand, and was replaced on bass by Britta Phillips. The band released Luna Live! in 2000 on the Arena Rock label, and then signed to Jetset Records, for whom they recorded two more studio albums, Romantica (2002), co-produced by Gene Holder (DB’s) and Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev), and Rendezvous (2004), produced by Bryce Goggin. The band announced plans to break up in 2004, and played their final concert at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City on February 28, 2005.
Dean and Britta
Dean & Britta is a musical duo consisting of Dean Wareham and Britta PhillipsBritta Phillips
Britta Phillips is an American musician, songwriter, actress and voice actor. She is best known as the singing voice of the title character of Jem and as one half of the duo Dean and Britta, with her husband Dean Wareham...
, both former members of Luna. After Luna broke up in 2005, Dean & Britta spent the next year working on film scores (most notably Noah Baumbach's movie, The Squid and the Whale), and promoting the documentary film of Luna's farewell tour Tell Me Do You Miss Me. They were married during the recording of their new album, Back Numbers, (also produced by Tony Visconti) and simplified their name to "Dean & Britta". Back Numbers was released on Rounder Records in February 2007 followed by a limited edition EP, "Words You Used To Say".