Destroyer (band)
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Daniel Bejar (pronounced beːhaɹ) (b. 1972), is a singer songwriter native of the Canadian city of Vancouver well known for his challenging and often cryptic lyrics featured in many of his songs. Bejar has gained widespread popularity through his musical collaborations with Vancouver indie band The New Pornographers, but has released far more material through his other band, Destroyer. Most recently, he has joined together with members of Frog Eyes and Wolf Parade to create another indie supergroup known as Swan Lake.
Destroyer
Bejar created Destroyer in 1995, producing his first album, the lo-fi We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, recorded at his in home studio in Vancouver. As the band gained popularity in the Vancouver music scene, Destroyer began to grow in popularity as Bejar was joined by John Collins on City of Daughters after which he managed to put together a band. In 2000 the band broke up and Bejar took an extended vacation in Spain.
Following his brief break from Destroyer, he returned to Vancouver to release Thief in 2000. Interpreted by many critics as an indictment of the music industry, this album brought Destroyer significant recognition. Following Thief's release, Bejar put more focus into his music, beginning his music contributions to The New Pornographers. After the 2001 release of Streethawk: A Seduction on Misra Records, Destroyer picked up something of a cult following. Having the band Frog Eyes play back-up for several shows inspired Notorious Lightning & Other Works, a reworking of six tracks from the previous album Your Blues with Frog Eyes once again as back-up.
Style
Destroyer's unique style is almost impossible to categorize. Bejar calls it "European Blues". It is often compared to David Bowie, but admitted influences are Pavement, Guided by Voices and other indie and shoegaze bands. Bejar's lyric stylings are also noteworthy for their cryptic poetry, which frequently vex and intrigue listeners. Bejar openly borrows phrases from other artists and a variety of other sources (and others' songs), even political rhetoric (ex: Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire"). Your Blues presented a new direction in Destroyer's style by introducing orchestral elements as well as a heavy reliance on midi instruments. [1]
Musical collaborators
Over the 10-plus years that Bejar has been performing and recording as Destroyer, there have been numerous lineup changes and shifts within the artists he plays with. This ever-evolving shuffle of musicians has led some to consider Destroyer as a solo project, but Bejar has always insisted that he sees Destroyer as a band, with full contributions from his collaborators. Bejar has said in interviews that he’s just never been especially good at the logistics of keeping a band together.
Bejar has said that the current musician line-up from the recording sessions for Destroyer's Rubies shall be the definitive and permanent line up for the band from this point forward. Many members here have performed with Bejar in one form or another before, some on previous Destroyer albums, many of whom have the commonality of being from the production team of JC/DC (John Collins and Dave Carswell).
Discography
References
External links
- Destroyer at Merge Records
- Destroyer at Misra Records
- Billions Corp - Destroyer's Tour and Booking agent
- Destroyer Wiki
- Streethawk: The LiveJournal Destroyer Community
- Your Blues: a Destroyer forum originating from Streethawk
- Studio Session from Just Concerts - Recorded by CBC Radio 3 with Frog Eyes after the Your Blues Tour.
- Destroyer - Destroyer Lyrics at LyricWiki.Org
- Bejar-O-Matic - Destroyer Lyrics Dispenser
- The Bejar Family Circus - Random cartoon based on the Bejar-O-Matic
- The Ratio - Destroyer Special Issue
- *sixeyes Interview - Destroyer's Dan Bejar Interview
- Dan Bejar's 'Other' Band NPR segment aired 18 March 2006
- Destroyer - Cover story on Destroyer in Exclaim! magazine
- Destroyer in Session at CBC Radio 3