Dean Wareham on Tell Me Do You Miss Me

Dean Wareham on Tell Me Do You Miss Me

With the premiere of the Luna documentary Tell Me Do You Miss Me only weeks away A Head Full of Wishes took the opportunity of harassing the former members of Luna and director Matthew Buzzell with an email questionnaire.

New Yorker’s should head to the Tribeca Film Festival website to buy their tickets to one of the five screenings the film will receive - the rest of us will have to drum our fingers and wait for the Rhino DVD release in June.

#4: Dean

A Head Full of Wishes:Do you think the film shows the band as they really are? Do we get to see the dark side of Luna? Was there a dark side of Luna?
Dean: That’s a mind-boggling question. We all have many aspects to our personalities, depending on the situation and the mood that we’re in. I might be cranky in the morning, and cheerful by the afternoon.

AHFoW: How different was the last tour different from previous Luna tours? Did the fact that it was the last one make it easier/harder?
Dean: It was nostalgic. Sometimes that was fun, sometimes it was emotionally draining. And I think we actually all got along better than ever. We were out there playing these shows for the sheer joy of it, knowing that we would not be coming back again. All of a sudden there was no point arguing or fretting about things.

AHFoW: Did you get used to having the camera around? How long did that take? Did your recent acting experience make it easier to work with a camera around?
Dean: I think you can tell in the early scenes of the film that we’re a little uncomfortable with the camera being there. It felt like we were pretending to be ourselves. But after a few days in Japan we got used to it. It’s not like acting at all. With acting, the words are already written, and all you have to do is stand in the right place. We had to make up our own words as we went along.

AHFoW: What are your favourite rock films and ‘rockumentaries’?
Dean: I thought Dig was very funny. I like Smithereens, which is perhaps not a rock film, but it stars Richard Hell, and has music by the Feelies. And I like Rude Boy, which has all that footage of the Clash. And of course A Hard Day’s Night and Help! The Metallica film was interesting too, just to see how long it takes for those guys to write a song.

AHFoW: Who’ll play Dean in the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster of the Luna story?
Dean: Adrien Brody. Justin will be played by Vin Diesel.

AHFoW: What next?
Dean: Finishing the next Dean & Britta album, with Tony Visconti producing. Then it will be time to start thinking about performing live again, before I forget how to do it.