Daniel Bejar (; born October 4, 1972) is a Canadian singer and musician from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia. He is the frontman of

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

, and is a member of

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

the New Pornographers The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...

Overview

In 2006, he joined with Carey Mercer of

Frog Eyes Frog Eyes are an indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada fronted by Carey Mercer. Their 2010 album Paul's Tomb: A Triumph was a longlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize. They have released eight albums and two EPs an ...

and

Spencer Krug Spencer Krug ( ) (born May 4, 1977) is a Canadian musician. He is the singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the indie rock band Wolf Parade and also records under the name Moonface. He has also performed with other Canadian bands including Sun ...

Sunset Rubdown Sunset Rubdown is a Canadian art rock music group from Montreal. The band began as a solo project for Spencer Krug of Wolf Parade, who released his debut, '' Snake's Got a Leg'', in early 2005. By the next year the project expanded to become a fu ...

and

Wolf Parade Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2003 in Montreal. The band released three full-length albums before taking a five-year hiatus in 2011. They announced their return in 2016, releasing a self-titled EP in May of that year, and a ...

as part of indie

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

. He has also collaborated with his wife Sydney Hermant as the duo Hello, Blue Roses, whose debut album was released in 2008.

Personal life

Bejar was born in 1972 to a Spanish father and an American mother at

Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver General Hospital (locally known as VGH, or Vancouver General) is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical faciliti ...

. Bejar's father was a physicist who grew up in Spain during the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

and his mother was a teacher who taught the Spanish language. His father died when he was 13 years old. Growing up Bejar moved frequently and in adulthood has resided in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, Canada and Spain. Bejar attended

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

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." He has one daughter and currently lives in the Strathcona neighbourhood of Vancouver with her and Hermant. In the late 1990s, Bejar had an acting role in his future New Pornographers bandmate

Blaine Thurier Blaine Thurier (born 1967) is a Canadian musician and film producer. He plays synthesizer with the Canadian indie pop supergroup The New Pornographers. His videos for The New Pornographers have been critically well received. Thurier has written ...

's microbudget film '' Low Self-Esteem Girl''.

Miscellaneous

In March 2010, an article in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' touched on visual artist Dan Bejar's elaborate efforts at impersonating the singer of the same name, resulting in confusion and numerous errors in coverage by the media.

Discography

References

External links

Destroyer at Merge RecordsDestroyer at Misra Records
– Destroyer Special Issue

– Destroyer's Dan Bejar Interview
Dan Bejar's 'Other' Band

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

segment aired March 18, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bejar, Dan 1972 births Living people Canadian people of Spanish descent Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian indie rock musicians Musicians from Vancouver The New Pornographers members Spanish-language singers of Canada 21st-century Canadian male singers Merge Records artists University of British Columbia alumni Canadian male singer-songwriters