Commander Venus
Encyclopedia
Commander Venus was an American emo
band from Omaha, Nebraska
. Fronted by Conor Oberst
and Tim Kasher
, the band also included Todd Fink
and Matt Bowen
of The Faint
, Ben Armstrong of Head of Femur
and Robb Nansel
, executive producer
of the indie label Saddle Creek. Kasher subsequently went on to front the band Cursive
, and Oberst later became famous as the core member of the indie folk
collective Bright Eyes, and later the punk
band Desaparecidos
.
They recorded two albums, Do You Feel at Home? on Saddle Creek and The Uneventful Vacation
, on Grass Records, which became Wind-up Records
, that ultimately licensed the CD to Thick Records
.
(guitar
, vocals
) began playing with Tim Kasher
(bass
) and Matt Bowen (drums
) to form Commander Venus the summer before Oberst's freshman year at Creighton Prep. "I didn't know how to play with a band at all," he says. "I couldn't keep in time with the drums." Robb Nansel
, who runs Saddle Creek Records
, also joined the band on guitar.
In 1995, they released Do You Feel at Home? on their own label, Saddle Creek. They were later signed to Grass Records for whom they recorded The Uneventful Vacation
in July 1997
. The story of how the second album was recorded, and the band's dealings with Wind-up Records
management, is one of carefree excess. The Uneventful Vacation cost $15,000 to record, a staggering sum for an indie album.
"They bought us a van and sent us on these tours. They had all this money and didn't know how to run a record label. The new management all came from a major label and knew nothing about underground music. It was a zoo, they didn't know what was going on and didn't have the know-how to make something happen."
Despite the money thrown at the project, Oberst considers The Uneventful Vacation
— a loud, sometimes brash alt-rock
album that still manages to encompass Oberst's awkward but powerful personal music style — to be "somewhat of a failure musically. We wanted to do stuff we weren't prepared to do because I'm not a very good guitar player. That's always been my biggest problem."
The project also was rushed, having to be recorded during summer vacation. Despite all that, the record received college airplay, as well as positive critical nods, including a Scratch (magazine)
review that said, "If Commander Venus is any indication of what's to come from the second generation of indie rock
, then the future looks bright indeed." The hot rumor was that Commander Venus could be "the next big thing" out of Omaha. The rumor was wrong.
"First, Matt quit. He was frustrated; he didn't want to play drums. Then Tim had to make a decision, because Cursive was really picking up at the time and he was their main guy. We knew it would come to this point where we'd both be touring at the same time, so he bowed out."
The band continued for another nine months with Todd Baechle on bass and Ben Armstrong on drums. They toured the East Coast
, but Oberst began to feel penned in by the band. "It lost its luster and I got fed up with the big 'emo music' craze. We got tagged as an emo band right off the bat. A lot of cool bands were playing that style of music, then a huge number of bands started tagging along, and suddenly everyone was getting thrown in the emo category. These days, I think of emo as a negative term."
The song "I'm Sorry for Being Such a Crappy Friend" is often mislabeled on the internet as being by Commander Venus, Rilo Kiley or Bright Eyes. The song is actually by B'ehl from their 2000 album Bright Eyes.
Emo
Emo is a style of rock music and its associated subcultureEmo may also refer to:- Businesses :* Emo , an Irish oil company and filling station chain* Emo Speedway, a racetrack in Emo, Ontario...
band from Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. Fronted by Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
and Tim Kasher
Tim Kasher
Tim Kasher is a musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and The Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha based record label Saddle Creek Records. Prior to those bands, Kasher was in a band called Slowdown Virginia...
, the band also included Todd Fink
Todd Fink
Todd Fink from Omaha, Nebraska is the lead singer of the band The Faint. He attended Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska....
and Matt Bowen
Matt Bowen
Matthew Jeremy "Matt" Bowen is an Australian rugby league player. He has spent his whole professional career with the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League , playing in over 200 matches and holding the club's record for the player with the most NRL appearances. He appeared in the...
of The Faint
The Faint
The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Jacob Thiele, Dapose, Joel Petersen and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst...
, Ben Armstrong of Head of Femur
Head of Femur (band)
Head of Femur is a Chicago band formed in November 2001 by Nebraska natives Mike Elsener, Ben Armstrong and Matt Focht. The band was initially conceived as a forum for the three to compose pop songs while awaiting the reformation of their previous band, Pablo's Triangle...
and Robb Nansel
Robb Nansel
Robb Nansel is an Omaha musician and co-founder of Saddle Creek Records . He is also credited as a member of Commander Venus and Bright Eyes.-Album Appearances:*Bright Eyes - Letting off the Happiness...
, executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of the indie label Saddle Creek. Kasher subsequently went on to front the band Cursive
Cursive (band)
Cursive is an American indie rock band from Omaha, Nebraska, on Saddle Creek Records.-History:The band was formed in 1995 by Tim Kasher, Matt Maginn, Steve Pedersen , and drummer Clint Schnase. In 1997, they released Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes. After a couple years of touring, the band...
, and Oberst later became famous as the core member of the indie folk
Indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s from singer/songwriters in the indie rock community showing heavy influences from folk music scenes of the 50s, 60s and early 70s, country music, and indie rock. A few early artists included Lou Barlow, Beck, Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith...
collective Bright Eyes, and later the punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Desaparecidos
Desaparecidos (band)
Desaparecidos was a short-lived American emo/post-hardcore band. It was a side project headed by singer/guitarist Conor Oberst, the frontman of the indie folk band Bright Eyes....
.
They recorded two albums, Do You Feel at Home? on Saddle Creek and The Uneventful Vacation
The Uneventful Vacation
The Uneventful Vacation is the second and final album released by American emo band Commander Venus in 1997. The album was recorded during the summer of the band's freshman year in high school...
, on Grass Records, which became Wind-up Records
Wind-Up Records
Wind-up Entertainment, Inc. is a record label based in New York City. It was formed in 1997 by Alan Meltzer, former owner of CD One Stop, following his 1996 purchase of Grass Records. Wind-up is currently the largest independently-owned record label in the world...
, that ultimately licensed the CD to Thick Records
Thick Records
THICK RECORDS is a Chicago based independent record label formed in 1994 by Detroit native Zak Einstein. Early label releases include influential albums from Chicago ska-punkers The Blue Meanies, Alton, IL’s Judge Nothing, and the Omaha based Commander Venus, whose members included Conor Oberst,...
.
History
Shortly after his two solo recordings, Conor OberstConor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
) began playing with Tim Kasher
Tim Kasher
Tim Kasher is a musician from Omaha, Nebraska, and is the frontman of indie rock groups Cursive and The Good Life, both of which are on the Omaha based record label Saddle Creek Records. Prior to those bands, Kasher was in a band called Slowdown Virginia...
(bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) and Matt Bowen (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
) to form Commander Venus the summer before Oberst's freshman year at Creighton Prep. "I didn't know how to play with a band at all," he says. "I couldn't keep in time with the drums." Robb Nansel
Robb Nansel
Robb Nansel is an Omaha musician and co-founder of Saddle Creek Records . He is also credited as a member of Commander Venus and Bright Eyes.-Album Appearances:*Bright Eyes - Letting off the Happiness...
, who runs Saddle Creek Records
Saddle Creek Records
Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Conor Oberst and Justin Oberst in 1993 . Conor soon turned over his role in the company to Robb Nansel...
, also joined the band on guitar.
In 1995, they released Do You Feel at Home? on their own label, Saddle Creek. They were later signed to Grass Records for whom they recorded The Uneventful Vacation
The Uneventful Vacation
The Uneventful Vacation is the second and final album released by American emo band Commander Venus in 1997. The album was recorded during the summer of the band's freshman year in high school...
in July 1997
1997 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
. The story of how the second album was recorded, and the band's dealings with Wind-up Records
Wind-Up Records
Wind-up Entertainment, Inc. is a record label based in New York City. It was formed in 1997 by Alan Meltzer, former owner of CD One Stop, following his 1996 purchase of Grass Records. Wind-up is currently the largest independently-owned record label in the world...
management, is one of carefree excess. The Uneventful Vacation cost $15,000 to record, a staggering sum for an indie album.
"They bought us a van and sent us on these tours. They had all this money and didn't know how to run a record label. The new management all came from a major label and knew nothing about underground music. It was a zoo, they didn't know what was going on and didn't have the know-how to make something happen."
Despite the money thrown at the project, Oberst considers The Uneventful Vacation
The Uneventful Vacation
The Uneventful Vacation is the second and final album released by American emo band Commander Venus in 1997. The album was recorded during the summer of the band's freshman year in high school...
— a loud, sometimes brash alt-rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
album that still manages to encompass Oberst's awkward but powerful personal music style — to be "somewhat of a failure musically. We wanted to do stuff we weren't prepared to do because I'm not a very good guitar player. That's always been my biggest problem."
The project also was rushed, having to be recorded during summer vacation. Despite all that, the record received college airplay, as well as positive critical nods, including a Scratch (magazine)
Scratch (magazine)
Scratch was a magazine about the art of creating hip-hop. It featured articles regarding producers, musicians and DJs that make beats for rap records, and details the secret methods, stories, partnerships, philosophies and equipment behind the music...
review that said, "If Commander Venus is any indication of what's to come from the second generation of indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, then the future looks bright indeed." The hot rumor was that Commander Venus could be "the next big thing" out of Omaha. The rumor was wrong.
"First, Matt quit. He was frustrated; he didn't want to play drums. Then Tim had to make a decision, because Cursive was really picking up at the time and he was their main guy. We knew it would come to this point where we'd both be touring at the same time, so he bowed out."
The band continued for another nine months with Todd Baechle on bass and Ben Armstrong on drums. They toured the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, but Oberst began to feel penned in by the band. "It lost its luster and I got fed up with the big 'emo music' craze. We got tagged as an emo band right off the bat. A lot of cool bands were playing that style of music, then a huge number of bands started tagging along, and suddenly everyone was getting thrown in the emo category. These days, I think of emo as a negative term."
The song "I'm Sorry for Being Such a Crappy Friend" is often mislabeled on the internet as being by Commander Venus, Rilo Kiley or Bright Eyes. The song is actually by B'ehl from their 2000 album Bright Eyes.
Albums
- Do You Feel at Home?Do You Feel at Home? (album)Do You Feel at Home? is the first album released by the American emo band Commander Venus.-Track listing:#"Peppermints"#"Showcase Showdown"#"My Other Car Is A Spaceship"#"Judy Blume"#"Radio Announcer"#"It Is Fun To Grow Ornamental Peppers"...
(19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
; CD & LP on Saddle Creek) - The Uneventful VacationThe Uneventful VacationThe Uneventful Vacation is the second and final album released by American emo band Commander Venus in 1997. The album was recorded during the summer of the band's freshman year in high school...
(19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
; CD THICK Records, LP on Saddle Creek)
Singles
- Music Me All Over (19971997 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1997.-January:*January 9 – David Bowie performs his 50th Birthday Bash concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA with guests Frank Black, The Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, Robert Smith of The Cure, Lou Reed, and Billy...
; 7" split with Lux-O-Values, Norman BailerThe FaintThe Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Jacob Thiele, Dapose, Joel Petersen and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst...
& Weld on Saddle Creek) - Some Songs (19961996 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1996.-January:* January – At the trial of two American teenagers, Nicholaus McDonald and Brian Bassett, for the murder of Bassett's parents and young brother, defense lawyers attempt to lay the blame for the murders on the fact...
; 7" split with Drip on Saddle Creek & Ghostmeat Records)
Compilations
- Apollo's Salvage (19951995 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
; CD on Ghostmeat Records; features the song "Pay Per View") - Saddle Creek Records, A Sampler (19981998 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
; CD on Saddle Creek; featured the songs "Bent on Broken Nerves" & "Waiting for Enoch Arden")
External links
- Commander Venus at Ghostmeat Records
- Thick Records
- Wind Up Records
- Saddle Creek Records