Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst on "short-sighted" pop stars not joining Arizona boycott

by Ciaran Thompson

March 29, 2011

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Earlier this year, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst—a musician known for his political outspokenness, currently a member of The Sound Strike—responded to an Arizona-based promoter who was asking artists to reconsider boycotting the state because of SB 1070.

In the letter, Oberst outlines the reasons why a boycott is necessary in hopes of getting the Arizona State Legislature and Governor “to repeal their unconstitutional, immoral and hateful law,” which was passed last year and aims to criminalize undocumented immigrants.

Spearheaded by Rage Against The Machine’s Zach de la Rocha, the Sound Strike call to arms has been accepted by several famous musicians like Kanye West, Trent Reznor, M.I.A., Billy Bragg, and Massive Attack, but there are still several high profile hold-outs.

“I think that they’re short-sighted in the way they’re looking at it,” Oberst told AUX regarding those who refuse to boycott the state. “Everyone involved is aware that the act of one band not playing in Arizona, or even all of the bands as a musical component of the boycott, is not going to shut down the state government.”

“That’s always the big argument I hear against doing it. But what it does do is it serves as a messaging tool to promote the larger boycott, which is how it started. A big source of income for the state is conventions and since the boycott started, they’ve lost hundreds of millions of dollars in canceled conventions.”

After the law was put into action last April, pop singer Lady Gaga refused to join The Sound Strike and at her performance in Phoenix the following August, she asked those protesting, “You really think that us dumb fucking pop stars are going to collapse the economy of Arizona?”

“It’s a real shame for someone like Lady Gaga,” Oberst continued. “When she does a concert there, she’s providing so much money for the state of Arizona, so it’s really irresponsible for her to think of it in those terms. She’s obviously intelligent and informed enough to engage in certain political positions.”

According to a report released in November, the state has lost $141 million since the law was passed by Gov. Jan Brewer. Oberst believes this drastic monetary loss is crucial for overturning the law and ending the boycott.

“The only way to get through to the people crafting these kind of laws is to truly hit them in the only place they feel pain, which is their pocket book,” he said. “There’s no way to argue with them reasonably, there’s no way to argue in terms of what’s right and wrong because they’re beyond that.”

“The people who are most affected have little to no voice politically,” he added. “A lot of them can’t vote, a lot of them are terrorized into avoiding any kind of public forum for fear of being imprisoned or deported. What needs to happen is people that do have voice need to come to their aid and say ‘this is not right.’ This is a civil rights issue, a human rights issue, a human dignity issue and desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Tags: Music, News, Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, lady gaga

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