Q&A With Dean Wareham, Author of Black Postcards

Galaxie 500/Luna/Dean & Britta Front Man Discusses His Memoir

Jan 16, 2009 Mikala Taylor

In 2008, Dean Wareham, lead singer for seminal alternative New York rock bands Galaxie 500, Luna and Dean & Britta, released a memoir.

Black Postcards – Unreleased B-Sides & Notes from the Road (Penguin Press) is a fascinating look into the world of a cool (as in chilly), pragmatic, New Zealand-born musician and his ascent through the various stages of cult-hero-ness.

Rare is the rock biography of a man whose bands never made the mainstream.

Still, BP is a look at Wareham's life - the tours he went on, the shows he and his bands played, the characters he met, the disintegration of his personal life, the dissolution of his bands and the eventual meeting of his second wife and now-bandmate, Britta Phillips. This is not an attention-seeking groupies-and-grunge exposé. Black Postcards is a precise, finely crafted tale of a skilled, honest musician as he trundled through the 80s, 90s and beyond as an “indie” rock (though Luna were signed to a major label) front man of certain acclaim.

Galaxie 500 and Luna

Wareham’s music has been described as “a soft, sad comedown...a sleepy sickness of honeycomb guitar”. The ubiquitous back-of-book Rolling Stone quote calls Luna “the greatest band you’ve never heard of”. The music is, indeed, lush, hypnotic, uncomplicated, sparse and swoony. The front man is, well, fascinating and confusing. Wareham’s on-stage persona was reserved – and in Black Postcards, readers begin to understand why.

Recently, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh commissioned the effortlessly stylish Wareham and partner Phillips to compose some music to accompany silent “screen tests” of Warhol’s. Characters in the black and white short films include various Studio 54 types, Velvet Underground member Nico and other small actors of the time.

Andy Warhol's 13 Most Beautiful

On the eve of Dean & Britta’s US and Canadian mini tour for “The 13 Most Beautiful - Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests”, Wareham discusses Black Postcards, his life through 16 albums and his current project in this exclusive Q&A for Suite101.

Dean Wareham on Black Postcards

Q: Now that the book has been out for just under a year, what kind of feedback have you received from it from the people involved? What did your various band mates think of the retelling?

Wareham: Varied reactions. Some people were very happy with what I said. Others, not so much. You can’t please everyone – not if you want to write a book. I haven’t heard much from ex-bandmates about it. But being in a band is about conflict, and that’s something I wanted to write about.

Q: When music and lyrics are the currency you are most comfortable trading in, writing about your own life must be daunting. How did you propel yourself through the process?

Wareham: I didn’t have a good system. I procrastinated for about a year, then finally I got into a thing where I wrote all day and late at night too.

Q: What is the most satisfying aspect of having written your memoir - besides simply having a comprehensive diary?

Wareham: Well it’s nice when people respond to it, I’ve enjoyed the fan mail. Even when people call me arrogant and not-likeable.

Read more about (the actually likeable) what Dean Wareham has to say about Black Postcards, his favourite moments relived, his favourite characters and which music bios he wishes would be written.

Black Postcards is published by The Penguin Press. Dean and Britta are currently touring the US and Vancouver, Canada for The 13 Most Beautiful. Dean & Britta’s latest album is L’Avventura, and they will perform the Warhol show Vancouver on January 30th as part of PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Wareham will be reading from Black Postcards and performing in Vancouver at Zulu Records on January 31st.

The copyright of the article Q&A With Dean Wareham, Author of Black Postcards in Biographies/Memoirs is owned by Mikala Taylor. Permission to republish Q&A With Dean Wareham, Author of Black Postcards in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Black Postcards by Dean Wareham