小简介
“这首歌是写给我们无知的、狂傲的狗屁(asshole)总统”,Conor Oberst在纽约的演唱会上轻声说着,然后他唱起了这首讽刺布希总统的“When the President Talks to God”。几秒鐘的前奏之后,他停下手中的吉他说:我刚才忘了说“无能的”。
24岁的Conor Oberst是美国当红独立乐队Bright Eyes的灵魂人物,或者说他根本就是化身为Bright Eyes。2004年十一月,他有两首歌曲同时登上Billboard 排行榜前十名----这本来已经是不容易的事,更了不起的是,他在自己的独立厂牌发行,而非主流公司。今年一月他更大胆地同时发行两张专辑,一张是秉持他一贯的民谣风《I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning》,另一张《Digital Ash in a Digital Urn》则是电子摇滚取向。
他被Spin杂誌称为这个世代最好的歌词创作者,被媒体誉为是这个时代的狄伦。这虽然是媒体的过誉,但不可否认地,Conor Oberst再次证明了能代表每个时代的声音总有强烈的社会意识,一如六零的狄伦、七零的蓝儂、八零年的布鲁斯史普林斯丁、Bono…等。
Conor Oberst当然不是从小就很政治化。出生在中西部小镇Omaha的他,十几岁的青少年期就组团,写的自然是年轻人的生活。但是两千年布希当选总统之后,他发现为何这个理应代表他们的总统却和他的想法如此不同;他也开始关注他生活的这个小镇的日益衰败。於是外界的政治和社会问题不断逼迫着他思索这些更广大的世界。然后他搬到纽约的东村这个美国反叛文化的秘密基地,遂更加的激进化。2001年他们正好在九一一后录製新专辑《Desaparecidos》,原本他们担心这个时候不适合做一张反美的专辑。但是他认为,真正在此刻做出符合美国精神的作法就是:异议和前进。2003年三月,美国出兵攻打伊拉克,Conor Oberst也走上纽约街头参与反战游行。在专辑的一首歌中,他写下了当天的情景。歌曲十分抒缓,且带着些哀愁,但却藏不住歌手的巨大愤怒。今年他进一步在专辑发行后另外发表一首猛烈抨击布希政府的单曲〈When the president talks to God〉,并在Itune上提供免费下载。这首歌无疑已经是这个时代最出色的政治歌曲。Conor Oberst曾说,音乐就是他的信念和理想的表达。歌曲创作之外,他也敢於用行动来表达他的立场。2004年美国总统大选前,他加入了老大哥Bruce Springsteen和REM等人为民主党候选人凯瑞在各州助选的巡迴演唱「Vote for Change」。
可是在除了政治,Conor Oberst更令人敬佩的或许是他始终待在自己的独立厂牌Saddle Creek,而且他曾经公开宣称绝对不去美国当前最恶名昭彰的媒体鉅子Clear Channel所经营的场地表演---这个公司掌握了全美极大部分的电台和表演场地,而且以打压言论自由、音乐品味单一主流、政治立场极保守闻名。
作为一个坚持独立音乐,勇於批判政治,能写出美丽动听歌曲的创作者,Conor Oberst显然已经进入代表这个时代声音的候选人名单。
Conor Oberst is an American singer-songwriter born February 15, 1980 in Omaha, Nebraska. He began his recording career in 1993 at the age of 13 and has since produced an enormous amount of material; Rolling Stone has referred to him as “rock’s boy genius.” His current project is Bright Eyes, and he also serves as the frontman to Desaparecidos (a punk-oriented side project), his only non-Bright Eyes project still in print.
At fourteen years of age, Oberst became singer and guitarist of Commander Venus, an indie rock band. The former members of Commander Venus, Tim Kasher of Cursive, Robb Nansel (who now runs Saddle Creek), and Todd Fink of The Faint, would later go on to feature in many Saddle Creek recording groups. Conor was also a member of the band Park Ave, which he joined after terminating the difficult relationship he had with Megan Saienni, due to an affair with Maria Pantin.
Oberst is also guitarist and singer for the band Desaparecidos. The music and lyrics of Desaparecidos differ greatly from Bright Eyes, having more in common with punk rock than folk. The lyrics are generally social and political commentary on the state of affairs in America, the pitfalls of the suburban lifestyle, and America’s love of capitalism as opposed to the more introspective lyrics of Bright Eyes.