Dead Moon may be considered the most important band in the Northwest. Fred Cole played in independent bands in Portland since the 1960s. In 1988, at age 40, he started Dead Moon with his wife Toody on bass and local raconteur Andrew Loomis on drums. The band stayed together for the next 18 years, releasing 12 albums and touring the world. They turned down an opening slot on Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” tour, deciding to go play small bars in New Zealand instead. They are known largely for being the ultimate DIY band—doing everything for their own records from design to cutting them on their own lathe to recording to releasing to distributing.