‘All my songs are memories, to some degree, and to play a song that’s 20, 25 years old, it’s just an older memory,’ reflects a contemplative Conor Oberst, squinting into the camera from the back garden of his home in Omaha, Nebraska, on a sunny May afternoon. ‘They’re all memories, wishes, bad dreams or good dreams,’ he adds, sounding typically poetic as he describes the daunting task of whittling Bright Eyes’ vast discography down to a 90-minute setlist. Oberst’s penchant for waxing lyrical about the art of live performance has been refined throughout a storied career that started at an impressively early age, helping him to cement music industry veteran status before he could reach middle age. ‘I’ve been doing this since I was 13, 14 years old, playing shows, and now I’m 45. I’m bad at math,’ he laughs, ‘but I know that’s a lot of shows.’

Oberst is hitting the road with Bright Eyes bandmates Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott this month on a four-week Euro tour, with a stop at Glasgow’s Barrowlands pencilled in. Though the band’s recent North American run got off to a rocky start after Oberst was sidelined with an oesophagus issue late last year, a recent string of successful live dates has left the frontman feeling optimistic about the upcoming summer gigs. ‘Sometimes I’ll get worn down, you know. Touring can be exhausting and sort of challenging physically and mentally sometimes,’ he admits. ‘But at the end of the day, playing the music and having that immediate visceral connection with people in the room, I think, is one of the last true venues where people can experience music that’s unfiltered, and I think that that’s really special.’ Having played live for nearly 30 years now, the Bright Eyes boys are enjoying the novelty of watching the emo kids who queued up to see them in the 90s and the 2000s return, often with children of their own. ‘It’s really great because there’s still teenagers there in their black nail polish and stuff. And then there’s a 65-year-old mom there with her 30-whatever-year-old daughter.’ 

Though many of their core fans remain, the political backdrop against which Bright Eyes are performing has shifted drastically since the mid-90s. On the day of our interview, President Trump announced plans to impose a 100% tariff on films made abroad, and Oberst is immediately impassioned by the mention of the figure he has spent over a decade publicly criticising. ‘Yeah, that’s the problem,’ he cries, ‘Americans are watching too many foreign films!’ 

Following Trump’s re-election, Bright Eyes set up the Poison Oak Project charity with the aim of cultivating a more ‘just and affirming world’ for LGBTQ+ people in America. ‘They celebrate cruelty,’ says Oberst of his country’s 47th administration. ‘They go after a trans person or an undocumented immigrant . . . it’s just making someone’s life a living hell for no reason.’ Bleak it may be, though compliance is not the answer, Oberst argues. ‘I think we as a society, as Americans especially, but all around the world, we have to stand up and say that’s not acceptable, and we have to use every resource available to us to form a collective resistance.’

Though the political tide may be rising across the globe, Bright Eyes should receive a warm welcome from a like-minded crowd in Glasgow, on a stop that Oberst is always sure to highlight on his calendar. ‘I’m really not trying to blow smoke here,’ he smiles, ‘but for a long time, I’ve always thought that the Scots were some of the nicest people ever. I’m friends with the Belle and Sebastian people and Arab Strap and Mogwai, all that kind of school… I love Scotland, I love Glasgow.’

Bright Eyes are touring the UK until Wednesday 25 June.