Description Dead Moon were a lo-fi Garage/Rock’n’Roll band from Portland, Oregon, active for almost 20 years between 1987 and 2006, during which time the band gained a mythic and legendary iconic status. Off the Grid is a ‘dizzying oral history about this most stubborn, idealistic and arguably wildest band in the world – a saga about love itself and the love of rock and roll, about DIY and about an improbable career. The biography of singer and guitarist Fred Cole (formerly of The Weeds, Lollipop Shoppe and The Rats before Dead Moon) is like a rollercoaster ride through countless bands and musical styles beginning in the Teenbeat era of the 60s driven by an invisible force and one big love. Dead Moon cultivated their DIY code built around Fred’s superstitions and avoidance of conventional music industry pitfalls. They toured around the world, played in live clubs between Oregon, Europe and New Zealand. They cut their own records and ran their own music store and label – Tombstone Music. Their story is completely unique in the pantheon of rock music: a group who never sold out, never gave in and built a legacy of art and community in a sustainable way almost unheard of. The book is a tribute to their unique aesthetic, unbelievable, twisted path of a story and role as pioneers of the Portland music scene. Off The Grid is a declaration of love to Dead Moon, to music in general and to rock’n’roll in particular. The first two sold out US editions of this book – first published in [tel]Dead Moon – The Book, incl. 2 LPs) – meanwhile gained the status of collector items selling at an eye watering high price. The following third (and first) European hardcover edition published by Ventil in 2020 is sold out as well. We are now making it accessible again as an affordable softcover book (without the vinyl) for the worldwide market. Close friend, author and editor szim spent three summers [tel] in Fred and Toody Coles’s attic sifting through photos, flyers and tour diaries, collecting posters and T-shirts and conducting extensive interviews. This fourth revised and updated edition contains 16 more pages than the third and 36 more pages than the first one. The already extensive photo section now holds even more historical material, posters, flyers as well as an extended and completed discography and gig list. Exclusive to this edition is an interview with Edwin Heath, Dead Moon’s longtime tour manager and a detailed view on their musical equipment.
