Dean Wareham

American musician and actor (born 1963)

Dean Wareham (born 1 August 1963) is an American musician and actor who co founded the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He departed from Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and went on to establish the band Luna. Following Luna's dissolution in 2005, Wareham has collaborated on albums with fellow Luna band member (and wife) Britta Phillips, forming the duo known as Dean and Britta. They have also ventured into film composition, notably contributing to the soundtracks of Noah Baumbach's films The Squid and the Whale and Mistress America. In 2014, Wareham released a self titled album and in 2015, he reformed Luna.

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham is the son of John Wareham, an author, and Margaret Wareham (née Owles). His family relocated to Sydney, Australia, before eventually settling in New York City in 1977. Wareham attended the Dalton School in New York and Harvard University, where he earned a B. A. in social studies. He has three siblings, one of whom is Louise Wareham, a novelist.

Guitarist Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang began playing together as Galaxie 500 in 1987, after their time as students at Harvard University. 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 albums. 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 was a dream pop/indie pop band Wareham formed in 1991 after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski and Justin Harwood (Demeski also in The Feelies and Harwood formerly of New Zealand band The Chills). In 1997, Lee Wall replaced Stanley Demeski on drums, and the band recorded Pup Tent, their fourth album for Elektra, which was followed by the self titled album Dean Wareham in March 2014. October 2018 saw the release of Dean Wareham Vs. Cheval Sombre a collection of western themed songs featuring Wareham and singer songwriter Cheval Sombre. In 2021, Wareham released I Have Nothing to Say to the Mayor of L. A., the first full album of new songs since his eponymous 2014 solo album. The album features 8 brand new original compositions, plus covers of songs by Scott Walker and Lazy Smoke.

Wareham has written a memoir about his years in indie rock. The book recounts his experiences in music and otherwise, from high school in New York City in the 1970s through his years in Galaxie 500 and Luna and his divorce. Titled Black Postcards, it was published by Penguin Press in March, 2008.