Contemplation of the World: Interview with Destroyer
 "I know nothing more noble than the contemplation of the world" (Gustave Flaubert) As I watched poetic rockers Destroyer perform in Victoria, British Columbia in late November, this quote rattled around inside my head. I had just finished reading Gustave Flaubert's nineteenth century masterpiece Sentimental Education, quite proud to get through this frequently frustrating but rewarding account of an emotionally tumultuous period in a young man's life in Paris during the mid-1800s. In many ways, I realized, Destroyer is the Flaubert of my musical palette, both in its literary and lyrical craft but also in its subject matter. Destroyer's singer and songwriter Dan Bejar, like Flaubert, is a master craftsman of language who achieves a brilliant melding of rock and poetry, something that has consistently eluded rock music. Sentimental Education stood out from its contemporaries in its stark portrayal of the realities of daily life, in contrast to the overly dramatic novels of the period, and was an early proponent of what we would later call modernism. Its sharp criticism of bourgeois excess and presentation of the ‘moral history’ of the period, among others reasons, has led some to label it the best French novel of the nineteenth century. Similarly, Dan Bejar’s music is separate from its dour indierock contemporaries, and equally biting in both its delivery and lyrical content. Just as Bejar’s lyrics have the bounce and meter of a well-written pop song, they also bear a nasty set of teeth. Sentimental Education is an arduous journey through the mind of a morally questionable and confused character. Destroyer songs travel through the history of rock music, picking out its shining examples and leaving the rest to rot in pile of mediocrity. In the tradition of Lord Byron, who sacrificed his life in order to liberate Greece in the 1820s, Destroyer is here to free us from us from the shackles of dull music. Destroyer had just released This Night when I contacted Dan Bejar for an on-line interview.
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fakejazz: In many Destroyer songs, the vocal melodies/lyrics seem aloof or separate from the instrumentation (at least to these ears), could you describe your songwriting process?
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Dan Bejar: It makes sense that you hear that. The lyrics and vocal melody usually come quick and complete, and any chordal structure will come way later. Then, especially in the case of This Night, it's anyone's guess what kind of instrumentation gets draped over it all. The new record is more the sound of the band waging war on the songs, which I think is pretty cool. The "before" and "after" was pretty drastic.
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Destroyer is one of the most literary rock bands in the indie world. Who are some of your literary influences?
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Anne Carson, Tennessee Williams, Paul Celan, Chris Lopez, etc...
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How did your approach to This Night differ from past recordings?
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We didn't really know the songs, and we decided to keep it that way. The band was brand new going into the studio, and I think it shows, for better or for worse. So there were no pre-conceived notions of how the songs should sound, aside from loose, echoey, sad, beautiful snippets of a lost Side Three somewhere.
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Explain the choice of the night as a running theme through the new record?
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It just popped up in a lot of songs and song titles, so I decided not to question it, and then I egged it on. It's a double album, and we wanted it to have that existing-half-in-dreams feeling, and I was thinking of long things you have to pass through, like night or a forest... There was a line in The Thin Red Line that I liked a lot...I actually can't remember it exact, but something like "Must you, too, pass through this night?" It seemed like a good question though I still can't quite figure out why it stood out so much for me. The songs on This Night are just the sound of me still not figuring it out, which is fine.
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Destroyer songs often make mention of place. What is your favorite city and why?
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I haven't been to a lot of places, I'll tell you now. But San Sebastian might be my favorite. A combination of beauty and Basqueness, which is pretty winning. Seville in spring, when the heat doesn't kill you.
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How do locations influence Destroyer songs?
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This Night is the first record where none of the songs were written while living in Vancouver, and I think the difference is tangible. Vancouver effects my writing the way anything you wrestle with might effect what you do.
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Where do you think Destroyer fits into the North American music scene?
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In the far corner, face to the wall.
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How did the tour go?
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It was alright. Better than I expected, though touring for a month still strikes me as lunacy.
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Future plans for Destroyer?
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Go to Europe in the spring. Figure out what a sixth record should sound like. Live.
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