Dean Wareham

Singer/guitarist Dean Wareham is more influential than he is usually given credit for. Often sounding like a depressed slacker, Wareham has inspired a number of indie rockers to express their sadness with a wistful tenor. Wareham was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on August 1, 1963. In 1977, Wareham and his parents relocated to New York City. Wareham then moved to Boston to attend college. After spending a year in Germany, Wareham returned to Boston, MA, in 1987 and formed Galaxie 500 with his high school and college buddies Damon Krukowski (drums) and Naomi Yang (bass). Galaxie 500 was signed to Shimmy Disc and released their first album, Today, in 1988. Although Galaxie 500 received little mainstream recognition, the band's languorous, narcotic rhythms — recalling the Velvet Underground and Joy Division — had a significant impact in shaping alternative subgenres such as shoegazer and slowcore. Wareham recorded three albums with Galaxie 500 before leaving the group in 1991. Galaxie 500's label, the U.S. division of Rough Trade, also folded that year, leaving the band's LPs in limbo until Krukowski later bought the master tapes at an auction. Wareham then moved back to New York City, releasing the EP Anaesthesia and contributing vocals to Mercury Rev's "Car Wash Hair." A year later Wareham started Luna with Justin Harewood (bass) of the Chills and Stanley Demeski (drums) from the Feelies. Named after Diane Keaton's character in the Woody Allen film Sleeper, Luna recorded their debut full-length, Lunapark, for Elektra Records. The track "Slash Your Tires" was a minor hit on modern rock stations, but Luna's subsequent commercial failures diminished the label's faith in the group's ability to attract a bigger audience. Elektra dropped the band before their fifth album, The Days of Our Nights, was even released; it was distributed in 1999 by Jericho instead. The lack of major label support did nothing to diminish Luna's adoring fanbase. Wareham, et al issued Luna Live (Arena Rock Recording Company) in 2001, and moved to Jetset for the acclaimed 2002 release Romantica. Wareham returned a year later with L'Avventura. The album was a breezy mixture of originals and standards recorded with latter-day Luna bassist Britta Phillips.