Destroyer (band)

Destroyer
Destroyer performing at Sudoeste Festival 2011.
Background information
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Chamber pop, breezy pop, indie rock
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Tinker, Granted Passage Cassettes, Merge
Associated acts	The New Pornographers, Swan Lake
Members
Dan Bejar Scott Morgan John Collins Ted Bois Nicolas Bragg Tim Loewen Fisher Rose

Destroyer is a Canadian indie pop band fronted by singer-songwriter Dan Bejar.

Overview

Daniel Bejar ( /ˈbeɪhɑr/) is an independent pop singer-songwriter from Vancouver who formed Destroyer in 1995. He self-produced his first album, the lo-fi We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, which was recorded at his in home studio in Vancouver. As Bejar gained popularity within the Vancouver music scene, he was joined by John Collins on City of Daughters and Destroyer formally became 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.^[1]

Following Thief's release, Bejar put more focus into his pop 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.

Destroyer continued its sonic development with 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, 2008's Trouble in Dreams, the 2009 EP Bay of Pigs, and 2011's full-length Kaputt. On June 16, 2011, Kaputt was named as a longlisted nominee (one of 40) for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.^[2] On July 6, the album was named as a shortlisted (one of 10) nominee for the 2011 award.

Style

Bejar called Destroyer's style, for the album Your Blues "European Blues" but has since stated that this description has come to haunt him. He has stated that the album was an attempt to emulate musician Scott Walker. It is often compared to David Bowie; the band's admitted influences are Pavement, and Guided by Voices, as well as 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, 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 ten-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 has never been especially good at the logistics of keeping a band together.^[3]

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

Studio album	Year	Title	Label
#1	1996	We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge	Tinker
Cassette	1997	Ideas for Songs	Granted Passage Cassettes
#2	1998	City of Daughters	Endearing/Triple Crown Audio
#3	2000	Thief	Catsup Plate/Triple Crown Audio/Cave Canem
#4	2001	Streethawk: A Seduction	Misra/Talitres
#5	2002	This Night	Merge/Talitres
#6	2004	Your Blues	Merge/Talitres/Acuarela
EP	2005	Notorious Lightning & Other Works (EP)	Merge
#7	2006	Destroyer's Rubies	Merge
#8	2008	Trouble in Dreams	Merge/Rough Trade
EP	2009	Bay of Pigs (EP)	Merge
EP	2010	Archer on the Beach (EP)	Merge
#9	2011	Kaputt	Merge

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Destroyer's Artist page on Merge Records
2. ^ "2011 Polaris Music Prize Long List announced". aux.tv, June 16, 2011.
3. ^ Sixeyes Interview

External links

• Destroyer at Merge Records
• Destroyer at Misra Records
• Dan Bejar discusses Destroyer's collaboration with Kara Walker on "Kaputt"
• 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's artist page at CBC Radio 3
• May 2008 Interview with L.A. Record
• Destroyer Lyrics Wiki
• September 2010 Interview on Farrar, Straus and Giroux's Work in Progress