Bright Eyes (the name orginating from a film watched by the lead singer) is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Omaha, Nebraska. Its members consist of Conor Oberst and an ever-revolving cast of backing musicians.
Conor Oberst (born February 1980) was drawn to music at a very early age, partly thanks to his older brother's penchant for bands like The Cure. He has cited their greatest hits album, Staring at the Sea as the first album he ever bought, as well as one of his most favorite. "It must have been third grade...I bought the cassette at a local record store chain called Homer's in Omaha. I just loved the sound of { Robert Smith's} voice. It just sounded good." Oberst began playing guitar at age 10 and writing songs not long after. Bill Hoover (now of The Town House Band) heard his songs and offered him a slot during an upcoming show at Kilgore's (later renamed The Shelterbelt Theater). The young musician accepted, later saying that he "had to write enough songs to play a whole set, and that was how I got started."
Using his father's fourtrack cassette recorder and an acoustic guitar, Conor recorded an album titled Water. It was released in 1994 on Lumberjack Records, the label that later became Saddle Creek. Water was followed 1995's Here's to Special Treatment and 1996's Soundtrack to My Movie, both being cassette only releases from the Sing Eunuchs! label. Kill The Monster Before it Eats the Baby, a split 7" vinyl with Bill Hoover, was also released around this time. Although he was very pleased with his output at the that time these recordings were made, he has since passed them off as "laughable."
Oberst formed the rock band Commander Venus in 1994 with Tim Kasher, Todd Baechle and Robb Nansel. Kasher later went on to form Cursive, Beachle became the bass player for The Faint and Nansel was the co-founder of Saddle Creek Records. Comparisons to The Pixies and Sunny Day Real Estate were oft made. They recorded two albums: Do You Feel at Home? ( 1995) and The Uneventful Vacation. The latter is considered by many to be a seminal work in the emo genre. Kasher left the group as they were about to go in to the studio to record their second album, and was replaced by Ben Armstrong. In 1998, just as the band was beginning to receive some attention, Commander Venus broke up. One can assume that the split was ammicable, due to that fact that they have all worked together on various projects since.
