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Singer, bassist, guitarist, and actress
Britta Phillips is a sweet-toned yet powerful vocalist who has had a varied career on her own and with others. Best known as a member of
Luna, she is also one-half of the duo
Dean & Britta with husband and
Luna singer/guitarist
Dean Wareham. Born in Boyne City, Michigan in 1963,
Phillips grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania the daughter of musician, songwriter, and educator Peter Phillips.
Hoping to pursue a music career from a young age, she moved to New York City at age 19. It was during this period that she won an audition to be the singing voice of the titular rock star character on the animated television series Jem. From 1985 to the show's end in 1988,
Phillips recorded all of the Jem and the Holograms songs. In 1988,
Phillips made her feature film debut alongside Justine Batemen, Julia Roberts, and Liam Neeson in Satisfaction, playing a guitarist/vocalist in an all-girl rock band.
During the '90s,
Phillips began focusing primarily on her music career. She formed the short-lived shoegaze trio
the Belltower along with singer/guitarist
Jody Porter and future
Fountains of Wayne founder/bassist
Adam Schlesinger. The group spent time in London and released the album
Popdropper in 1992. After
the Belltower disbanded in 1997,
Phillips joined the indie rock outfit
Ultrababyfat, with whom she recorded the album
Silver Tones Smile in 1998.
In 2000,
Phillips left
Ultrababyfat and replaced
Justin Harwood as the bassist in former
Galaxie 500 leader
Dean Wareham's band
Luna. With
Luna,
Phillips recorded such albums as
Romantica (2002) and Rendezvous (2004).
Wareham and
Phillips eventually married and released several of their own albums as the duo
Dean & Britta, including
L'Avventura (2003) and
Back Numbers (2007). The couple also provided the soundtrack to director Noah Baumbach's 2015 feature film,
Mistress America.
In 2016,
Phillips released her debut full-length solo album,
Luck or Magic. Originally a collaboration with electronic producer
Scott Hardkiss, the album was temporarily shelved by
Phillips after
Hardkiss' tragic death in 2013. However,
Phillips revisited the material and finished the album with engineer
Eric Broucek (
LCD Soundsystem,
the Juan Maclean,
Eleanor Friedberger) and drummer Roger Brogan (Spectrum), with contributions from
Wareham, among others. It included five original songs, as well as covers of artists such as
the Cars,
Fleetwood Mac, and
Dennis Wilson. ~ Matt Collar