A life in art, a life of mimicry, and 20 years of Destroyer’s Rubies

Can you weave yourself into a tapestry that’s already finished?

Depending on how you were introduced, Dan Bejar was either the genius behind Destroyer, a cryptic child of Dylan and Hunky Dory era Bowie, or the shaggy dadaist playing foil to AC Newman’s bubbly pop in the New Pornographers. Halfway through the ‘00s, the Pornos had become indie darlings, beloved in their native Canada and sprawling into broader pop culture thanks to 2000’s breakout/debut Mass Romantic.

Bejar burned the candle at both ends.