Daniel Bejar (/ˈbhɑːr/ 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
Bejar in 2022
Bejar in 2022
Background information
Born (1972-10-04) October 4, 1972 (age 52)
Vancouver, Canada
GenresChamber pop, indie pop, folk, indie rock
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, piano, tambourine
Years activeMid-1990s–present
LabelsTinker, Granted Passage Cassettes, Merge, Endearing, Jagjaguwar, Locust Records, Rough Trade, Misra

Overview

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In 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

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Bejar 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

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Year Title Band Label
1996
Tinker Records
1997
Destroyer
Granted Passage Cassettes
1998
Destroyer
Endearing/Triple Crown Audio
1999
Offshore
Points Gray
Tedium House
2000
Vancouver Nights
Vancouver Nights
Endearing
2000
Mint (CA)/Matador (US, EU)
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
2009
Swan Lake
Jagjaguwar
2009
Destroyer
Merge
2010
loscil
Kranky
2010
The New Pornographers
Matador
2010
Destroyer
Merge
2011
Destroyer
Merge
2013
Destroyer
Merge
2014
The New Pornographers
Matador
2015
WZO
Jaz Records
2015
Destroyer
Merge Records/Dead Oceans
2017
Destroyer
Merge Records/Dead Oceans
2020
Destroyer
Merge Records/Dead Oceans
2022
Destroyer
Merge Records/Dead Oceans

References

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  1. ^ Matt LaMay "Pitchfork Interviews: Destroyer", Pitchforkmedia.com, June 12, 2006
  2. ^ Matthew Solarski, "Exclusive: Mercer, Bejar, Krug Join Forces as Swan Lake" Archived March 16, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, PitchforkMedia.com, March 28, 2006.
  3. ^ Hello Blue Roses' Bandcamp page [1], Bandcamp.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e Dombal, Ryan (January 14, 2020). "Destroyer's Dan Bejar Serenades the Apocalypse". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d "5-10-15-20: Destroyer | Features". Pitchfork. July 2, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  6. ^ "An Interview with Destroyer's Dan Bejar". Freewilliamsburg.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  7. ^ James Keast, "The New Pornographers: Mutual Appreciation Pop Society". Exclaim!, November 1, 2000.
  8. ^ "Two Bejars". The New Yorker. March 2, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
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