Daniel Bejar (/ˈbeɪhɑːr/ BAY-har; born October 4, 1972[1]) is a Canadian singer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia. He is the frontman of Destroyer, and was a member of indie rock band the New Pornographers.
Dan Bejar | |
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Background information | |
Born | Vancouver, Canada | October 4, 1972
Genres | Chamber pop, indie pop, folk, indie rock |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano, tambourine |
Years active | Mid-1990s–present |
Labels | Tinker, Granted Passage Cassettes, Merge, Endearing, Jagjaguwar, Locust Records, Rough Trade, Misra |
Overview
editIn 2006, he joined with Carey Mercer of Frog Eyes and Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade as part of indie supergroup Swan Lake.[2] He has also collaborated with his wife Sydney Hermant[3] as the duo Hello, Blue Roses, whose debut album was released in 2008.
Personal life
editBejar was born in 1972 to a Spanish father and an American mother at Vancouver General Hospital.[4] Bejar's father was a physicist who grew up in Spain during the Francoist dictatorship and his mother was a teacher who taught the Spanish language.[4][5] His father died when he was 13 years old.[4] Growing up, Bejar moved frequently and in adulthood has resided in Southern California,[4] Canada and Spain.[5][6] Bejar attended University of British Columbia for three years: "To my credit, I eventually dropped out; to my discredit, I waited three years to do it. I was taking mostly English and Philosophy classes, fooling myself into thinking I might be an academic."[5]
Bejar has one daughter[5] and lives in the Strathcona neighbourhood of Vancouver.[4]
In the late 1990s, Bejar had an acting role in his future New Pornographers bandmate Blaine Thurier's microbudget film Low Self-Esteem Girl.[7]
Bejar has occasionally been mistaken for American visual artist Daniel Bejar. In March 2010, an article in The New Yorker detailed the visual artist Bejar's project "The Googlegänger", which detailed his efforts to impersonate the singer of the same name, and the past confusion by the media between the two.[8]
Discography
editYear | Title | Band | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1996
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Tinker Records
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1997
|
Destroyer
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Granted Passage Cassettes
| |
1998
|
Destroyer
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Endearing/Triple Crown Audio
| |
1999
|
Offshore
|
Points Gray
|
Tedium House
|
2000
|
Vancouver Nights
|
Vancouver Nights
|
Endearing
|
2000
|
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2000
|
Destroyer
|
Catsup Plate/Triple Crown Audio/Cave Canem Records
| |
2001
|
Destroyer
|
Misra/Talitres Records
| |
2002
|
Destroyer
|
Merge/Talitres Records
| |
2003
|
The New Pornographers
|
Mint (CA)/Matador (US, EU)
| |
2004
|
Destroyer
|
Merge/Talitres/Acuarela Discos
| |
2005
|
Destroyer
|
Merge
| |
2005
|
The New Pornographers
|
Mint (CA)/Matador (US, EU)
| |
2006
|
Destroyer
|
Merge
| |
2006
|
|||
2007
|
The New Pornographers
|
Last Gang Records (CA)/Matador (US, EU)
| |
2007
|
The Szabo Songbook
|
Heartbreak Scene
|
Fayettenam Records
|
2008
|
The Portrait Is Finished...
|
||
2008
|
Destroyer
|
Merge/Rough Trade
| |
2009
|
Swan Lake
|
Jagjaguwar
| |
2009
|
Bay of Pigs (EP)
|
Destroyer
|
Merge
|
2010
|
loscil
|
Kranky
| |
2010
|
The New Pornographers
|
Matador
| |
2010
|
Archer on the Beach (EP)
|
Destroyer
|
Merge
|
2011
|
Destroyer
|
Merge
| |
2013
|
Five Spanish Songs (EP)
|
Destroyer
|
Merge
|
2014
|
The New Pornographers
|
Matador
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2015
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WZO
|
Jaz Records
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2015
|
Destroyer
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Merge Records/Dead Oceans
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2017
|
Destroyer
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Merge Records/Dead Oceans
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2020
|
Destroyer
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Merge Records/Dead Oceans
| |
2022
|
Destroyer
|
Merge Records/Dead Oceans
|
References
edit- ^ Matt LaMay "Pitchfork Interviews: Destroyer", Pitchforkmedia.com, June 12, 2006
- ^ Matthew Solarski, "Exclusive: Mercer, Bejar, Krug Join Forces as Swan Lake" Archived March 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, PitchforkMedia.com, March 28, 2006.
- ^ Hello Blue Roses' Bandcamp page [1], Bandcamp.com.
- ^ a b c d e Dombal, Ryan (January 14, 2020). "Destroyer's Dan Bejar Serenades the Apocalypse". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "5-10-15-20: Destroyer | Features". Pitchfork. July 2, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ "An Interview with Destroyer's Dan Bejar". Freewilliamsburg.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
- ^ James Keast, "The New Pornographers: Mutual Appreciation Pop Society". Exclaim!, November 1, 2000.
- ^ "Two Bejars". The New Yorker. March 2, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
External links
edit- Destroyer at Merge Records
- Destroyer at Misra Records
- The Ratio – Destroyer Special Issue
- *sixeyes Interview – Destroyer's Dan Bejar Interview
- Dan Bejar's 'Other' Band NPR segment aired March 18, 2006