In 1991, after leaving Galaxie 500, Dean Wareham signed a demo deal with Elektra Records, and recorded some demos with drummer Jimy Chambers of Mercury Rev. Songs included Anesthesia, I Can’t Wait, and Slash Your Tires. Anesthesia was released as a single (under the name Dean Wareham) on Number 6 records.

Elektra liked what they heard and Dean began to put Luna together in earnest, calling his friend Justin Harwood (former bassist with the Chills) in New Zealand. Justin moved over to New York City, taking an apartment on east 16th street, and the two began auditioning drummers. The first drummer’s name was Byron, and the trio rehearsed in the basement underneath his apartment on Avenue B. They recorded another group of demos (produced by Dave Fridmann) and played a couple of shows together that included Grasshopper (also of Mercury Rev) on guitar.

Byron was replaced by the legendary Stanley Demeski (ex of the Feelies), and this lineup recorded the first album, Lunapark. The record was produced by Fred Maher (former drummer with Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Lou Reed) and recorded at RPM Studios in New York.

Upon completion of Lunapark, an ad was placed in the Village Voice seeking a permanent guitar player, and Sean Eden was recruited. Sean had come to New York to pursue an acting career after studying at North Carolina School of the Arts.

The first recordings as a quartet were the covers for the Slide EP: Ride Into the Sun, That’s What You Always Say, Indian Summer, and the Christmas single Egg Nog. These recordings were produced by the band and recorded at Mixolydian Studios in Boonton, New Jersey.

Luna toured the United States in the fall of 1992 and spring of 1993 opening for The Screaming Trees and the Sundays respectively, and landed the bizarre job of opening for the Velvet Underground on their European tour that summer.

Bewitched was recorded in the fall of 1993, co-produced by Victor Van Vugt (the Bad Seeds), and recorded in New York at Right Track and RPM over a period of six weeks. Sterling Morrison of the VU came to New York and played guitar on two songs, Friendly Advice and Great Jones Street. Bewitched was released in 1994. The singles from this record were Tiger Lily and This Time
Around.

On the third album, 1995’s Penthouse, Luna really hit their stride -- this was recently deemed one of the 150 best albums of the 90s by Rolling Stone magazine. Most of the record was recorded by Mario Salvati at Sorcerer Sound in New York. Penthouse features a secret hidden track which is a duet with Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab and a cover version of Serge Gainsbourg’s Bonnie
and Clyde, and the record also features Television guitarist Tom Verlaine on a couple of tracks. The record was mixed, with some additional recording and production by Pat McCarthy. This record marked the beginning of LUNA’s relationship with Beggar’s Banquet in Europe, as they successfully lobbied Elektra to let the band license the record to an independent label in Europe.

In 1996 Lee Wall replaced Stanley Demeski on drums. Lee had in fact been working at RPM making coffee and sweeping the supply closet during the Penthouse sessions, and he (like Sean) had attended North Carolina School of the Arts. His first assignment was a short but hellish trip to Spain. Upon returning the band recorded demos for the Pup Tent album. Pup Tent was recorded over a period of 14 weeks (more than twice as long as usual for the band) at seven different studios, mostly in New York but also including a three week stint in Cannon Falls, MN in the dead of winter. It was
painstakingly produced from beginning to end by Pat McCarthy. Singles from this record were IHOP and Bobby Peru, and once again the band toured the United States, Europe, Japan and, for the first time ever, Australia.

In November and December of 1998 LUNA recorded their fifth album, The Days of Our Nights, produced by Paul Kimble over a period of six weeks, at Sear Sound and RPM studios in New York. After much discussion, the powers at the Elektra Entertainment Group decided that they did not want to release The Days of Our Nights. It was released on schedule in Europe by Beggar’s Banquet, and the band were quickly signed by the Jericho label in the U.S. The album was released domestically in October, garnering Luna their best reviews ever, and moving to the number 1 slot on the CMJ radio charts.