May 15, 2008
After launching an album full of glistening new songs, musicians commonly hit the road to spread the gospel, promoting the record through many months, sometimes years, of touring.
Not Dan Bejar. The primary songwriter and lead singer of the Vancouver band Destroyer doesn't dig the grinding schedules of long strings of shows.
“We've never done that, (touring for long periods of time), and we're not going to start now,” said the 36-year-old singer from his cell phone, standing in the parking lot of a diner in Kansas City. “For the last record, 'Destroyer's Rubies,' I think we played 18 shows in total in support of that album. We're doing more like 30 this time around. There's been some talk about going to Europe in the fall. We'll see. But aside from that, I'm going to take it really easy. I'm getting old, you know?”
DETAILS
Destroyer, with Devon Williams
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown
Tickets: $12
Phone: (619) 220-TIXS or (619) 232-4355
Online: casbahmusic.com
Thirty-six is not old, thank you very much Mr. Bejar. Maybe he just feels old with the amount of projects he finds himself in these days.
Along with his long-standing gig as main man with Destroyer, the bearded Canadian played roles in the Vancouver-based collaboration with Carl Newman and Neko Case (among others) called The New Pornographers. He's also engaged with members of Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes in Swan Lake, along with collaborating with his girlfriend, Sydney Vermont, in forming the group Hello, Blue Roses.
Despite all the time spent in studios recently, Bejar is finding the occasional two-week mini-tour – at least the hour or two on stage every night – to his liking.
“I like playing live music,” admitted Bejar. “I'm getting more and more into it. I find that having difficulty playing live and having difficulty being on tour are two separate things. One is kind of the lifestyle around being in rock bars every night and traveling every night and sleeping in hotels. And the other is the act of playing music in front of people.”
In terms of creative process, the studio remains the center of his musical world: “I would say hands down I would probably feel way more comfortable messing around in a studio than messing around on a stage. I like both but I'm more comfortable with the recording process.”
Despite Bejar's high-profile collaborations and the success of The New Pornographers, Destroyer is his main band. In the past 12 years, Destroyer has released 10 albums. Displaying Bejar's penchant for penning symphonic indie rock, complete with world-weary vocals and glam-rock swagger.
Destroyer's latest disc, “Trouble in Dreams” (Merge Records), finds Bejar musing in the strummy mellow “Foam Hands” and shouting in the noisy, almost punkish song “The State.” The album is a collective effort between a cohesive group of musicians: keyboardist Ted Bois, guitarist Nicolas Bragg, bassist Tim Loewen and drummer Fisher Rose, along with the production team of John Collins and Dave Carswell.
“Destroyer has become more a band on the last couple of records,” said Bejar. “Especially if you come and see the show: It's not like James Taylor with a bunch of session musicians. We're all pretty loud and going for it. It's not like a platform for me to delicately sing the songs. So, yeah, I think of it as a rock band.”
