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Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes spent most of 2005 on the road, touring all over Mother Earth behind two stellar albums -- I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn -- both of which were released on January 25th. Along the way, Oberst jammed with the Mars Volta, wrote the year's best presidential-dis track, "When the President Talks to God," and played gigs with R.E.M. "I got to see several of their shows close-up, which was awesome," says Oberst. "A lot of great things happened this year." Next year will be far more low-key for Oberst. He recently purchased a house in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, and will write and record another album in his new home studio. Says Oberst, "We have no deadline."
How many times have you been around the world this year?
We're on our third U.S. tour. We've done two full European tours, and we've been to Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
Where was your best show in 2005?
That's a hard one. I really enjoyed the three nights we did at Town Hall [in New York]. Last night we played the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. There's a lot of history there, and I got to sing with Gillian Welch, which was cool. And we also did the Bridge School Benefit. That's a highlight for sure.
In the liner notes to your live album, Motion Sickness, there's talk of the band imbibing poisonous green liquids. Did you get fucked up on absinthe also?
Yeah. There's absinthe, and there's another kind of hallucinogenic liquor you can get in Spain. If it's there, you can't resist trying it. Instead of your normal bodily drunken feeling, it's more like a narcotic in your head. For me it's debilitating, but I can see why Van Gogh was way into it.
Also on the live album is a scathing indictment of Bush, titled "When the President Talks to God." How much anti-U.S. backlash have you witnessed on tour?
Thankfully nothing violent, but I've had some intense conversations. On one hand, I feel the need to express the things I think are wonderful about America, but on the other, I agree that what our government is doing is ridiculous. The thing that is hard to understand if you don't leave the country and talk to people is that around the world people are really angry. It's something that we as a country need to take seriously. We need to become more part of the world -- not on an economic level, but in the way people feel about each other. I try to explain to these people that more than half of America also feels confused and upset about what our government does. The administration can no longer hide behind the pseudomoral position they held for so long. Now it's obvious that they are greedy, selfish liars.
Have you ever had to resort to the phrase "I'm Canadian"?
Not if I'm dealing with civilized people. But if we're deep in Wales -- and there's gonna be a bar fight if you're an American -- we've been using that trick for a while.
Internet Savant: Bram Cohen