SEATTLE — If you're looking for some of the Seattle music scene's biggest impact players of the '90s, you might find them in the '70s, as members of a Glam Rock tribute band called Bowie/Rex and His Boogie Army.
At a rehearsal space in Seattle, Lazy Susan guitarist Tim Dijulio plays the opening riff to T. Rex's "20th Century Boy." Posies and Fastbacks drummer Michael Musburger joins in. Producer Martin Feveyear (Brandi Carlile, Mark Lanegan) grabs the microphone and Presidents of the United States of America guitarist Dave Dederer enters the fray.
"It's just a blast to go out and have fun, rock out, play music that you love for people who love it," Dederer said.
It's been 30 years since Dederer's band shot their "Lump" video on a tugboat in the middle of Elliot Bay, one of four singles from a debut album that sold three million copies
'I've had hard jobs," Dederer said. "I've been a tugboat deckhand, a teacher. I worked at Amazon for 10 years. And having a successful pop record is the hardest job I've ever had because you're working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Until it fizzles out."
When the ride ended Dederer took more than a decade off from music.
"Being a professional musician is one of those amazing opportunities," he said. "But there's also an element of be careful what you wish for."
"The '90s were a little tumultuous in my opinion," photographer Charles Peterson said. "A little much. A little too much, a little too fast."
Behind the lens, Peterson captured Seattle's grunge era, where bands that formed in the 1980's for the fun of it, suddenly hit it big in the 90's and then faced relentless new demands. So many of the scene's heroes died so young. Mother Love Bone's Andrew Wood died at 24. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain at 27. Alice in Chains's Layne Staley died at 34. Soundgraden's Chris Cornell at 52 and Screaming Trees's Mark Lanegan at 57.
"The music came from a place of angst," Peterson said. "A lot of it and it doesn't go away because you become famous or you sell a lot of records. When you're in the public eye it makes it that much more difficult too."
Though they remain one of Seattle's most beloved bands, Fastbacks could only watch as friends in other bands were wined and dined by major labels.
"'94, '95, '96 goes by and it's like nobody ever took us out to dinner," Kurt Bloch said. "We never even got asked once! Well what about us over here?"
An invitation actually did arrive in 1996 when Eddie Vedder invited Fastbacks to open for Pearl Jam on a European tour. Overnight the band went from the Crocodile to Wembley Stadium.
"That was the coolest thing in the world," Kim Warnick said. "It was literally like running away and joining the circus."
But the circus life isn't for everyone. After a decade-long break from rock'n'roll, Dederer has found his love for music again. Bowie/Rex and His Boogie Army is just one of four bands he plays in these days.
"Now it's just like being 13 years old again," he said. "Everything I said no to for the last 8-10 year, I just said yes to. Yeah, 'You wanna come over and jam?' 'Sure!!' And it's been great fun!"
Bowie/Rex and His Boogie Army play Flight Path in Burien July 19
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