Indie rock pioneers Damon & Naomi are proof that the couple that rocks together stays together. The duo’s ethereal May-released album, “False Beats and True Hearts,” marks a quarter of a century of making music. Initially, that was as Galaxie 500 with Dean Wareham, of course. But before all that, they were Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, a couple who met in high school and were inspired by punk’s DIY aesthetics. Twenty-five years? Krukowski doesn’t really think about it.
“It’s what we’re used to and what we’ve always done. It just comes naturally,” he tells Metro. “Aside from music, we have a publishing company together; we collaborate on some artwork together. We’re publishing a book later this year of poems and photographs together.”
Krukowski thinks the shared interests keep them close. “When you work with someone, I think it makes you closer in ways that you wouldn’t be otherwise. Mostly, people ask us, ‘How do you stay together?’” he laughs. “That’s more surprising to people in general, just the fact that we do work and stay together.”
Living in the moment
Don’t expect a Galaxie 500 reunion anytime soon.
The trio disbanded in 1991 and Dean Wareham’s recent tour billed as “playing the music of Galaxie 500” hasn’t helped heal old wounds.
“I’ve never been into the reunion thing as a fan,” Krukowski says. “We’re not going to do one for our own reasons as performers. But as a fan, I tend to shy away from those. I think bands are of their era. We’ve tried to be in the moment we are in now. We couldn’t have made the new album at any other time of our lives.”
