Fun Fest Interviews: Destroyer

We move along with our Fun Fest interviews today with the great Dan Bejar and his musical project known as Destroyer.  We’ve been following Dan for quite some time with his work in and out of Destroyer so we were excited that we could get some email questions in with him.  Follow the jump to read the full interview.

ATH: Your lyrics are live in the land of the abstract. Is there a particular style of writing, or perhaps an author whom you draw on for inspiration?

DB: I don’t think of my lyrics as abstract.  They exist in society.  I don’t write about people turning into bugs.  I know what each line is trying to do.  There are a few songs I’ve written that are against narrative (you know, like The Boss) or pyschology.  And this seems to create confusion, mostly amongst americans.

ATH: Is your subject matter personal, or is it more from the standpoint of an on-looker or passerby?  What is the best subject for songwriting?

DB: My songs are almost always just examples of what I’m thinking at any given time.  Though i like the idea of a passerby.

ATH: You have several projects aside from Destroyer, such as New Pornographers. Do you feel that this hinders your creativity, as  in, do you feel it stretches you thin? Or do you feel that it encourages a variety of different influences which continue to push you?

DB: I write different kinds of songs, and they usually have to be recorded in the specific environment i throw them into, otherwise they just… won’t… work…

ATH: You released the Bay of Pigs EP this year. Is this just a short stop-over for fans to hold them over, or should we be expecting a proper Destroyer album in the near future?

DB: Bay of Pigs is the most important thing I’ve ever done and I was therefore over-excited to have people hear it.  Too bad.

ATH:  On the last New Pornographers record, it seemed a great deal of  the work came from AC Newman (Carl). Is this due to the growth of the careers of the members, such as yourself and Neko, or was this merely a coincidence in the recording process?

DB: I had 4 songs on Mass romantic, 3 songs on Electric Version, 3 songs on Twin Cinema and 3 songs on Challengers.  So there is a pattern. Though I can safely say that I was way more hands-on with Challengers than I had been with any other Pornographers album, except for Mass Romantic of course, so i’m not sure what Carl’s been telling you but it’s lies.  Also, the growth of my career and the growth of Neko’s is not really something that should be discussed in the same sentence.  Or paragraph.  She’s famous.

ATH: Where are you living nowadays?  Still Vancouver?  Would you ever consider moving to Austin?  Why or why not?

DB: Vancouver, still, it’s true.  I really like Austin, as does almost everyone I know.  My decision whether or not to move there will be based on my experience this weekend.

ATH: We had a contest creating fictional supergroups a few weeks back, if you were to create one of your favorite musicians, who would be in it, and what would they play?

DB: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, uh…

ATH: Can you write us a haiku about playing festivals?

DB: definitely not

Thanks again for making the time for the interview Dan.  We will find you at Fun Fest and we will force you into writing us a haiku!