In Remembrance: Conor Oberst's Earlier Works Part One
Following a man who’s been involved with, and deserted so many different bands isn’t an easy job.
Every now and again there will be one musician who, while making substantial music, could never seem to find a lasting voice to present his/her music. For the next two weeks we’ll be looking at a Conor Oberst, a fitting, if not perfect example of this. Throughout his life, about half of which he has been an active musician, Conor has been involved with numerous projects and bands. While this in and of itself would seem like a good thing (and may be), Conor has lacked the solidarity and focus to pursue a single band or project for too long.
For most of the public, Conor Oberst is undoubtedly known for his role as the conductor and key musician in Bright Eyes. Since it is by far the longest lasting project, I guess that’s to be expected; however, it would be an injustice to stop there, which is why, this week, we’ll be focusing on Oberst’s musical contributions from his humble beginnings up to forming Bright Eyes. Be sure to check back next week for Pt. 2, where we’ll check out what he’s been up to since then.
Oberst came from a somewhat musical family; his father played some guitar and piano and his older brother Matthew, who would later go on to form Sorry About Dresden, both helped Conor learn guitar and would be largely supportive of his early creative endeavors. In 1993, at only 13 years old, Conor released his first album. Water, as the album was titled, was released on cassette through a record label that Conor and his other older brother, Justin, formed in 1993. This record label, then named Lumberjack Records, would later become Saddle Creek Records, which Conor would continue to be involved with indefinitely.
In late 1994, Oberst, along with several friends from Omaha, formed Commander Venus. Commander Venus, which featured Tim Kasher, Ben Armstrong, Todd Baechle, Matt Bowen and Robb Nansel would go on to spawn several other successful bands The Faint and Cursive.
Despite being only 15 years old at the time, Oberst was often considered the band’s front man. The group released their first album in 1995, titled, Do You Feel At Home? The debut was released on Saddle Creek Records and helped gain the band the attention needed to get a deal with Grass Records. In 1997, in the midst of other developing projects, Commander Venus released their second LP, The Uneventful Vacation. Later that year the band decided to call it quits. Reasons for the breakup range from loss of interest to involvement in other projects.
With an increase in fans’ interest in his entire discography, both albums released by Commander Venus and several of Oberst’s other earlier projects are becoming more commonplace on the Internet. However, these albums are still yet to be re-issued and acquiring an original physical copy of any of these albums is damn near impossible.
Sticking with his friends, Oberst along with Todd Fink and Matt Bowen formed Norman Bailer in 1995. That same year the band released their debut album, Sine Sierra. The album was released on Lumberjack Records just before the label became Saddle Creek. Conor quit the band shortly after the release of Sine Sierra; following his departure the band changed its name to The Faint. The Faint continue to make music today, although their sound is radically different that it was in those days.
Following his stint in Norman Bailer, Oberst teamed up with Todd Fink once again and created The Magnetas in 1996. The Magretas were very short-lived and only lasted long enough to appear on a compilation album in 1996 before breaking up.
The next project Conor became involved in Park Ave. Park Ave. formed in early 1996. The band was formed as a creative outlet in which it members, who had normally focused on indie and folk music to write more poppy music. The band had an existence similar to that of a side-project. Throughout their two and a half year existence they performed live less than 20 times and only released one album, When Jamie Went To London… We Broke Up, in 1999. The title of the album is actually quite telling; when then member Jamie Williams decided to move to the UK to work in art, the band decided to call it quits.
Be sure to check back next week for the remainder of this special edition of In Remembrance. In the meantime, Enjoy some of this rare recordings of some of Conor’s earliest musical undertakings.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Nov 09, 2009 @ 9:00 am
