Dan Boeckner (; born 5 February 1978) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist and podcaster. He is best known as one of the frontmen of

Wolf Parade Wolf Parade is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 2003 in Montreal. The band released three full-length albums before taking a five-year hiatus in 2011. They announced their return in 2016, releasing a self-titled EP in May of that year, and ...

, which he helped found in 2003. Since 2013, he has also been a member of the Montreal-based band Operators. Boeckner began his career in the Victoria, Canada music scene, playing in multiple bands including Atlas Strategic. Since that time, he has been part of projects including Handsome Furs and Divine Fits with

Spoon A spoon (, ) is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a table setting, place setting, it ...

frontman Britt Daniel. In 2022, Boeckner joined

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

in a session capacity, touring and performing with the band in support of their sixth studio album, '' WE''. Making his live debut at the Toulouse Theatre in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Boeckner subsequently appeared in the video to the band's twenty-fourth single, "The Lightning I, II".

Overview

Boeckner grew up in Lake Cowichan, British Columbia and his first band was called Say Uncle. Immediately upon graduating high school, he moved to Victoria, BC. In Victoria he became a singer/guitarist for many small, independent outfits. One of these bands was named God Shaped Vacuum, and featured a pre- Frog Eyes Carey Mercer on drums. They released one album in their brief existence, entitled ''Apocalypse Now!'' In 2000, Boeckner co-founded notable British Columbian band Atlas Strategic with organist/vocalist John Pollard, and recorded their debut ''Rapture, Ye Minions!''. The album was released on a local label, Global Symphonic. The band toured and recorded a second album/EP, which they self-released upon their demise in 2002. Boeckner then moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, where he eventually met with Spencer Krug and helped form

. Boeckner contributes his guitar skills, while also splitting songwriting duties and the role of lead singer with band-mate Krug. The band is signed to Sub Pop Records. In November 2010, Wolf Parade announced that they were taking an "indefinite hiatus". Boeckner formed the Handsome Furs with his then fiancée Alexei Perry, in the winter of 2005. The duo signed to Sub Pop Records and released their debut album '' Plague Park'' in 2007. " Face Control" was released in 2009, while Handsome Furs' latest album Sound Kapital was released in 2011. On 17 May 2012 Handsome Furs announced the band was no more on their official website. Later, it was confirmed that the couple had broken up. In October 2005, Boeckner was a part of the satirical North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative (NAHPI) and contributed to the

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

benefit song " Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?". Boeckner also played on

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

' debut album '' Return to the Sea''. He played guitar on the opening track "Swans (Life After Death)" and he played in the "marching band" on the track "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone". After the breakup of Handsome Furs, Boeckner formed Divine Fits with Britt Daniel in 2011 while Daniel was on break from his band

. The band released one studio album, '' A Thing Called Divine Fits'', in 2012 to positive reviews and one live album, ''Live at Third Man Records'', in 2014. In May 2014, Boeckner debuted his new band, Operators, during Canadian Music Week in Toronto. In January 2016, the Operators announced that their debut album, "Blue Wave", would be released on 1 April 2016. In January 2016, Wolf Parade announced on their website that their hiatus was over, and that they would be returning to the stage with a series of live shows starting in May 2016. In May 2016, Wolf Parade released a self titled EP. Since 2021, Boeckner has co-hosted the podcast ''The Bottlemen'' with Riley Quinn. The podcast focuses primarily on Canadian politics from a left-wing perspective and is broadly a part of the so-called Dirtbag left, featuring frequent guest appearances from figures associated with that scene.

Discography

Solo studio albums

* ''Boeckner!'' (2024) Sub Pop Records

Atlas Strategic

* '' Rapture, Ye Minions!'' (2000) Global Symphonic * '' That's Familiar!'' (2002) Self-released

Wolf Parade

* '' Wolf Parade (4-song EP)'' (2003) Self-Released * '' Wolf Parade (6-song EP)'' (2004) Self-Released * '' Wolf Parade (EP)'' (2005)

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

* '' Apologies to the Queen Mary'' (2005)

* '' At Mount Zoomer'' (2008)

* ''

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

'' (2010)

* '' Wolf Parade (EP)'' (2016) Self-Released * '' Cry Cry Cry'' (2017)

* '' Thin Mind'' (2020)

Handsome Furs

* '' Plague Park'' (2007)

* '' Face Control'' (2009)

* '' Sound Kapital'' (2011)

Divine Fits

* '' A Thing Called Divine Fits'' (2012)

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

Operators

* ''EP 1'' (2014)

Last Gang Records Last Gang Records is a record label formed by Canadian music industry lawyer Chris Taylor and concert promoter Donald K. Tarlton in the fall of 2003 at the Pop Montreal Music Festival. Last Gang was nominated as Independent Record Label of th ...

* ''Blue Wave'' (2016)

* ''Radiant Dawn'' (2019)

Fortune Kit

* ''Ultimate Vibes Hair Dryer Peaceful Piano Chill Lo-Fi Transcendental Study Mindfulness Crazysexycool Wellness Sleepy John Vibes Vol 1 Sissy Graydon Carter'' (2019) Self-released * ''Glassed Planet'' (2020) Self-released