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Rumors of the dreamy lo-fi band Luna calling it quits began to swirl among the various indie rock communities early last month. By mid-October, founder and frontman Dean Wareham quelled such gossip and admitted that yes, after 12 years and seven albums, Luna was indeed calling it a day. On the band’s official site, (www.fuzzywuzzy.com), the always clever Wareham listed 10 explanations as to why he, bassist Britta Phillips, guitarist Sean Eden and drummer Lee Wall were moving on. A few of those are: rock and roll was killing his life, the universe is expanding, too much time spent in 15-passenger vans, too many dinners at Wendy’s, and too many hands to shake, and that means germs. “We are not giving up on music, but there are way too many bands out there,” says Phillips. “If your band has been around for 12 years and has seven records out, it’s hard. It’s not a normal job where you work for so long and get promoted.” Phillips, who joined the band in spring 2000 after original bassist and Wareham’s longtime friend Justin Harwood left to focus on a new family, says that Luna has been a dream band. Once a member indie-pop outfit Ultrababyfat and the voice of cartoon star Jem, Phillips says that it wasn’t a conscious thing to end the band while recording Rendezvous, which was released in the end of October on Jet Set Records. Their 1994 release, Bewitched is hailed as their classic, and Rendezvous can measure up to the brilliance of that album as well as to 2002’s Romantica. “I guess it was something like two months after we finished Rendezvous where were having a band meeting about something like art work or a tour, and it just came up very naturally,” she says. “It wasn’t a surprise to anybody. It’s not that we have problems or fight. It just seemed like it was a time that we would all like to do other things before we get old. It’s about more time for other things, really, because it’s a lot of work and time. There’s the financial aspect, too. It’s a very hard way to make a living for four people on an indie label. We don’t sell zillions of records.” Luna
also felt it was just to announce their demise prior to the end
of their world tour. Having just performed several dates in Japan,
Luna kicks off their month long North American tour on November
5 in Boston. These particular shows will be bittersweet and exciting
for both the band and the fans, however Phillips hopes it won’t
be too sad of an experience. Luna lunatics, as Phillips likes to call their fans, shouldn’t fret. Luna has plans to release a time-capsule of sorts in documentary form sometime next spring. Filmmaker Matthew Buzzell, who directed the PBS special, “Jimmy Scott: If You Only Knew,” will be capturing everything from Luna’s tours in North America and Japan to their 2005 dates on the West Coast and Canada as well as close ups of Luna traveling, shopping and doing interviews will be included in this movie, which is slated for a May 2005 release. “To have somebody we know like Matthew, someone who is both a fan as well as a friend, has been really fun for us,” says Phillips. “What he’s doing, it makes you appreciate everything. The main thing is the concert film to have for those who have never seen us. I think Luna is a really great live band. I’m not really good about taking photos on the road, so it’s nice to have this sort of thing going on. Matthew has been filming Dean doing interviews, so you get it in a voyeuristic way.” A2P Luna
performs at the Blind Pig, Wednesday, November 10 with special guests
Apostle of Hustle. The Blind Pig is located at 208 S. First St.
in downtown Ann Arbor. Doors are at 9:30 p.m. and tickets are $15.
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