Interview: Dan Bejar (Destroyer)

Few artists’ creations are as rewarding to engage with as Dan Bejar’s. With his rock band Destroyer, the Vancouver native has delivered one memorable album after another — many through Durham-based Merge Records — and that streak continued this March with the release of the disco-tinged Labyrinthitis.

Prior to returning to The Grey Eagle for a Wednesday, May 4, headlining show, Bejar spoke with Asheville Stages — and longtime Destroyer fan Brian Ivey — about dance music, cinematic influences, and moving beyond concepts of traditional songwriting.

Edwin Arnaudin: You’ve played The Orange Peel with The New Pornographers, but seem to have found a home at The Grey Eagle with Destroyer. What about the Eagle makes it a better fit for the band?

Dan Bejar: Possibly a better question to poise to the 200 people who generally come out to see Destroyer in Asheville. Venues are kind of like clothes that way. Also, I like The Grey Eagle way better.

EA: While visiting Asheville, are there things you make a point of doing or places you strive to visit each time, or do you get much time to explore around the show?

DB: I remember good food there. A good record store. A fancy synthesizer store. A good place to walk around!

EA: What new skills and/or interests have you developed during the COVID-19 pandemic that might not have arisen or been as pronounced without a global health crisis?

DB: My screenwriting skills. And I became interested in current events for the first time, ever.

EA: What were some of the primary obstacles that the pandemic presented during the making of Labyrinthitis, and how did you and your bandmates overcome them?

DB: Well, Have We Met was made in a very similar way to Labyrinthitis. But just with more band members mailing stuff in. Not sure if we overcame the obstacles so much as steered into them. I mean, at no point does the record sound like a group of people playing music in a room. In fact, it abandons even the possibility of there being a room in which to exist.

Brian Ivey: You've described your writing on Labyrinthitis as "disorienting anti-songs," which departed significantly from their original disco/club music concept. Do you view the production on this record in terms of deconstructing those genres in unfamiliar ways?

DB: No, we definitely didn't deconstruct disco or techno music. I'm much more of a traditionalist when it comes to genre-work. Deconstruction on the production level doesn't interest me. It's everywhere this century. I'm more into tearing apart songs at the root level of abandoning melody, chords — words themselves. That's where the real high stakes are.

EA: Would you still like to eventually make a straight dance record or is that dependent on certain circumstances, mood, inspirations, etc. aligning at the right time?

DB: I would love to, yes. But I think it's too late for me now. I see myself moving beyond "songs" altogether. Or them moving beyond me. One or the other.

BI: What distinct challenges are you and your bandmates experiencing while interpreting these songs for a live setting and how do they compare with bringing previous Destroyer records to the stage?

DB: Have We Met also had some tricky moments. So did Kaputt, for that matter. We're no strangers to taking these kind of production pieces and turning them into rock ‘n roll live music. We also have a pattern of throwing out what we don't like.

EA: How has it felt being back on stage after the forced pandemic hiatus? Are there aspects of touring and performing that hit differently now?

DB: Well, there is a certain forced isolation that will always feel strange, as far as trying to not get sick, cancel shows, live in some TraveLodge off the side of the highway for a week, lose thousands of dollars... Getting used to more "no-shows."

BI: There’s a thread of surrealism that runs through your recent records. In the "Tintoretto, It’s For You" video, I see echoes of, perhaps, Buñuel, Fellini, and maybe even Charlie Kauffman's Synecdoche, New York. Do you consciously have cinematic influences in your songwriting?

DB: I think it's probably what seeps in most. Collage seems most related to how film works, and I think that's where Destroyer lives. Bi Gan is a young filmmaker I think about a lot. I love Toby Damnit. And Belle du Jour. La Flor by Mariano Llinás. Zama. The Assassin. [Mad Max:] Fury Road.

EA: Speaking of touring and cinema, what’s your take on the Have We Met tour documentary? Did it give you any new insights into being on the road? And are you planning on having this current tour filmed?

DB: The Have We Met doc was made almost covertly. We were subjects of that film, but only kind of. I don't think it was too concerned with documenting life on the road, and definitely not interested in the live music experience. I think we will only be in another movie if it's more like a play, with a script and sets. The current tour ain't for documenting.

BI: Lastly, what plans are in the works to revisit your Swan Lake project with Carey Mercer and Spencer Krug?

DB: Zero plans.

IF YOU GO

Who: Destroyer with Rosali
When: Wednesday, May 4, 8 p.m. ***CANCELED***
Where: The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., thegreyeagle.com
Tickets: $22

(Photos by Nicolas Bragg)