Rocker from 'one of the coolest bands of the 90s' opens up on huge career change

04 September 2023 , 15:19

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The Dandy Warhols musician pursues new passion of working in the real estate industry (Image: Redferns)

The Dandy Warhols was one of the hippest bands of the 90s from global smash hits to taking the stage with the legendary David Bowie, but now one former rocker has revealed she is straying from the music industry to focus on her new career as a real estate agent.

In the late '90s and early 2000s The Dandy Warhols met widespread success with their famous single Bohemian Like You. The band rose to stardom as Bowie took their band on the road after capturing the rockstar's attention during the Meltdown festival bill at London's Southbank Centre in 2002.

Now Zia McCabe, keyboard player for The Dandy Warhols, has decided to push fame to the side and focus her energy on her side hustle. She, like the other members of the band, while still making music together have also discovered their individual passions and are working on their own "exotic" gigs.

The Dandy Warhols are still making music as a band today as they pursue their individual passions (Getty Images)

Zia told the US Sun: "So we did this wonderful switching of gears a lot of people do in midlife. We fired almost everybody who was taking a percentage off the top — which is why we weren't making money — and now we're doing all these exotic gigs and weekends away, and netting almost the same."

Since the height of their career touring with Bowie the band has continued to create albums and tour. The Dandy Warhols are still together and making new music, but the current band members - including Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Peter Holmström, and Brent DeBoer - have also focused on new projects. Zia now works as a real estate agent in her hometown in Portland, Oregon which she studied for on the road with the band.

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Zia McCabe now works as a real estate agent in her hometown of Portland, Oregon

The musician told the news outlet that she faced a fair amount of judgement from her clients as she made the transition from being a partying rockstar to working a "normal" job. She said: "There's quite a bit of rebranding between the way people see you as a rock star and the way people see you doing a complicated legal transaction for them," and added: "I was expecting everyone to go, 'Zia's smart, she can do this.' Some people still think I'm just drunk every day."

Zia shared that since starting her new career, she has gained an added level of job security that she didn't have in the music industry and learned valuable skills to help her balance both careers. She explained her newfound business knowledge has helped the band understand how to better handle their finances. She said: "Not once has one band member known what our overhead is. If you get a check each month, it's so easy to not pay attention to where the rest of the money went. Now, everyone wants to know where every penny went."

Caroline Gaspich