Dean Anthony Fertita (born September 6, 1970) is an American rock multi-instrumentalist.[1] He is best known as a keyboardist and occasional guitarist of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age, and as the guitarist and keyboardist for the Dead Weather.
Fertita was the lead singer and guitarist of the Waxwings from the band's formation in 1997 to its breakup in 2005. Fertita then moved on to collaborate with Brendan Benson, playing keyboards and guitar on Benson's solo releases and as a touring keyboard player for the Raconteurs. In 2007, Fertita joined Queens of the Stone Age to replace the late Natasha Shneider on keyboards and occasionally guitar on some songs.
Fertita has released two solo albums to date, with his first being released under the name Hello=Fire in 2009, and his second under the name Tropical Gothclub in 2022.
Recording career
Reigndance
Fertita was a member of the band Reigndance from 1989–97 and appeared briefly on the first season of MTV's The Real World.
In 1997 Fertita formed the power pop band The Waxwings[1] along with bassist Kevin Peyok, drummer James Edmunds and guitarist Dominic Romano. The band's name, as well as the name of their debut record, was derived from the first line of a poem in Vladimir Nabokov's novel Pale Fire:[2] In 2000 The Waxwings signed with Bobsled Records and began work on their debut album, Low to the Ground, recorded at Terrarium Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Bryan Hanna. The albums was featured in Magnet Magazine's Top 20 albums of 2000–2001.[3] In 2002 the band released their second album Shadows Of... After the band's release party a letter surfaced, in which Bobslead Records head, Bob Salerno, ridiculed the band for what he considered to be a poor live performance. The letter gained notoriety after being posted on the internet entertainment forum the Velvet Rope.
After the controversy with Salerno the band released their third album – recorded with Brendan Benson – Let's Make Our Descent on Rainbow Quartz Records in 2004.[4] In 2005 the band stated on its official website that work had begun on songs for a fourth studio album.[5] Since then members of the band have been involved with other projects and no information regarding the band's status have been released.
After The Waxwings broke up in 2004, Fertita was recruited by Brendan Benson to play keyboard on Benson's two-man British acoustic tour[6] Fertita and Benson first met each other via mutual friends in high school, and soon established a working relationship.[7] Fertita cites Benson as a big influence, inspiring him to focus more energy on song writing instead of loud riffs.[7] When Benson formed The Raconteurs Fertita was recruited to play keyboards and organ on the tour in support of the Broken Boy Soldiers album.[1] Fertita also recorded clavinet parts for the band's second studio album Consolers of the Lonely in 2008.[8] Benson also produced and made several contributions to Fertita's debut solo album.
During the tour with the Raconteurs, Fertita got to know the band's sound man Hutch, who is also the long time sound man of Queens of the Stone Age.[9] In 2007, Hutch asked Fertita to join the Queens of the Stone Age as their new keyboardist and additional guitarist, replacing the late Natasha Shneider. Fertita accepted and along with newly recruited bassist Michael Shuman[10] recorded later bonus tracks. Era Vulgaris was released on June 12, 2007 and was followed by the Duluth Tour, which was named due to the fact that the band was scheduled to perform in many small towns and cities they had never played before, such as Duluth, Minnesota.[11] On August 16, 2008, Queens of the Stone Age performed a concert in celebration of Natasha Shneider's life at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. They were joined on stage by Alain Johannes, Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Matt Cameron, Brody Dalle, Jesse Hughes, Chris Goss and PJ Harvey, playing a variety of QOTSA and non-QOTSA songs. Proceeds from the concert went to defray the costs associated with Natasha’s illness. In 2009 the members of the band took time off and were involved in a variety of other projects, but reconvened in the summer of 2010 to play a number of shows in support of a reissue of Rated R which was released on August 3. They released a remastered version of their first self-titled album early 2011 which was supported with performances of the album in its entirety.
In 2013, Queens of the Stone Age released ...Like Clockwork, their first full album since Fertita joined the band. On the album, Fertita plays piano, guitar, slide guitar, synthesizers, clavinet and provides background vocals. The album was the first Queens album to reach number one on the Billboard 200. It also reached number two on the UK Albums Chart and was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Best Rock Album.
Dean Fertita (far left) along with The Dead Weather.
In 2009 Fertita along with Jack White on drums, Alison Mosshart on lead vocals, and Jack Lawrence on bass formed The Dead Weather.[12] The group originally only intended to record a 7-inch single but plans changed and the band wrote and recorded their debut album in fifteen days.[13] The band's debut album – Horehound – was released July 14, 2009 and was followed by a supporting tour. In October 2009 lead vocalist Mosshart confirmed that a second album was "halfway done".[14] Later, White revealed in an interview that the band is hoping to have 20 to 25 songs ready for their Australian tour in March 2010.[15] It was later confirmed that the first single from the new album – Sea of Cowards – would be called "Die by the Drop" which was released March 30. The Sea of Cowards Tour began on March 19, 2010, is ended on August 3, 2010. It included 42 shows over four legs. On September 25, 2015, the Dead Weather released their third studio album Dodge and Burn.
In June 2010, it was announced that Fertita would fill in on bass playing duties for Brian O'Connor, whilst the Eagles of Death Metal bass player undergoes treatment for cancer.[16] Prior to O'Connor's illness Fertita also made a guest appearance playing keyboards during a performance of "Wannabe In L.A". After returning to the Queens of the Stone Age Fertita was replaced by Abby Travis.
In 2009 Fertita released his first solo effort under the moniker Hello=Fire, the album was recorded over a period of a year and a half and was recorded when Fertita along with friends found available time in studios, however, some songs were written as early as 2005 and 2006 while touring with Brendan Benson.[7] The album includes performances by fellow Queens of the Stone Age bandmates Troy Van Leeuwen, Joey Castillo and Michael Shuman, as well as Brendan Benson and the Afghan Whigs' Michael Horrigan. The self-titled album was released October 26, 2009 on Schnitzel Records.[17] And the song "Nature of Our Minds" was its first single. Fertita had plans to play a number of concerts in support of the album during the break from Queens of the Stone Age however after joining The Dead Weather the planned live performances were canceled.[7] In 2010, Fertita re-recorded the Waxwings song "Different Plane" for the Novalis radiosurgery "Shaping Cancer Care Around You” national television commercial, currently running in the United States.[18] In 2011 Fertita revealed that he had begun working on a second solo album, but his main focus was to write and record the sixth record with the Queens of the Stone Age.[19]
Fertita recorded guitar and keyboards on Post Pop Depression, written by Iggy Pop and Josh Homme, which was released in March 2016. He will tour with them to support the album.[20]
On November 4, 2022 TROPICAL GOTHCLUB – the new project from renowned musician and multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita -released its self-titled debut LP via Third Man Records at all DSPs and streaming services. “I’m hoping the framework is in place with TROPICAL GOTHCLUB that I can experiment with releasing art and music in the future without following the conventional cycles. My focus has been on other projects the last few years and really, this is no exception. But I unexpectedly found more time than I thought I had and was able to move within the space I was given, veer off course, and speed towards the cliff.”[21]
