The Killers

The Killers are an alternative rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, who formed in 2002.

The band took their name from a New Order video titled "Crystal". It was featured on the bass drum of a fictional band in the video.

Band members

History

In 2001, Brandon Flowers was abandoned by the first band that he was in, a synth pop band known as Blush Response, after he declined to move with the rest of them to Los Angeles, California. After he quit, Flowers responded to an ad in the Las Vegas Weekly by future guitarist David Keuning, about forming a band which was inspired by bands such as Oasis, The Cure, New Order, and The Smiths. They met and immediately clicked, and set out to find a drummer and a bassist. Many auditions later, they found Mark Stoermer and Ronnie Vannucci to fill the posts.

Before they had become a band, all four of them had various jobs: Flowers was a bellhop, for a while, at the Gold Coast Hotel, even though he had dropped out of college; David Keuning, who was originally from Pella, Iowa but moved to Las Vegas in January of 2000, worked at a Banana Republic store—even though he dropped out of Kirkwood Community College and then the University of Iowa; Mark Stoermer worked as a medical courier delivering various medical supplies; Ronnie Vannucci was a student of classical percussion at UNLV and worked as a photographer at the Little Chapel of Flowers. Their band had a gig at a gay Las Vegas drag queen club.

UK magazine NME was an early champion of the band - reviewing early UK shows. The band became more well-known when they released their album Hot Fuss on June 7, 2004 in the United Kingdom (on London-based indie record label Lizard King Records) and June 15 in the United States on Island Records. They released their Japanese and French versions of the same album in late 2004. Their first single, "Somebody Told Me," was released on that same year. The band also had chart success with their singles "Mr. Brightside", which reached the Top 10 in the UK when released, and "All These Things That I've Done".

Much of The Killers' music is based on British influences and on the music of the 1980s. Brandon Flowers occasionally sings with a faux British accent.

On December 1 2004 they appeared as guests on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and on December 2 2004, they made a guest appearance on the FOX television series The O.C.. On January 5 2005 they were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. In the past, they have appeared as musical guests on: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pepsi Smash, The Late Show with David Letterman, and in Britain they have appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and Later with Jools Holland. Most recently, on April 14, 2005, they appeared on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On May 12, 2005, they performed throughout MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed.

Trivia

Brandon's family moved to a little town known as Nephi, Utah, when he was eight because his parents were tired of living in Las Vegas after forty years Brandon stated in the Spin magazine of October 2004. When he was sixteen, he had the chance to return to Las Vegas which he did and attended Chaparral High School.
Brandon Flowers used to be chubby, but he lost some weight over the years.
Dave Keuning's old stage name, which he no longer uses, was "Tavian Go".
Brandon Flowers is a Mormon and bisexual.
The Killers seem to have a penchant for attracting natural disasters. The band was shaken by an earthquake during the recording of their song “Believe Me Natalie” at Lizard King, which caused Vannucci to fall from his stool. They encountered fires in Simi Valley, California when they recorded their song “Change Your Mind” for the American version of their album Hot Fuss. And finally, the band thought they were going to die when their private jet hit an air pocket in December 2003 when flying from Texas to the U.K..
In the new Mr. Brightside video, the bass drum gives the made-up band's name as "The Genius Sex Poets." This is rumored to be a name they were thinking of using before they settled on The Killers.
"Somebody Told Me" is a popular choice for the music in anime music videos.
Brandon Flowers has some grudges against The Bravery's musical success. He claims the band only got signed because of the success of The Killers.
Liam Gallagher encourages competition between The Killers and The Bravery, as Oasis's own rivalry with Blur in 1995 sent both bands to the peaks of their careers.
Brandon Flowers disagrees with the look of the Smile Like You Mean It video, calling it too English-looking for American audiences.

Discography

File:The Killers - Hot Fuss.jpg

The Killer's debut album - Hot Fuss

Albums

Hot Fuss (June 7 2004 UK, June 15 2004 USA) #7 US, #1 UK

Singles

"Mr Brightside EP" (September 22 2003)
"Somebody Told Me" (March 15 2004) #51 US, #28 UK
"Mr. Brightside" (May 24 2004) #11 US, #10 UK; #1 CAN
"All These Things That I've Done" (August 30 2004) #18 UK; #26 CAN
"Somebody Told Me" (UK re-release, January 10 2005) #3 UK
"Smile Like You Mean It" (May 2 2005) #11 UK

Quotes

"We hope that people get excited about a real band again." – Brandon Flowers
“He was the only person to reply to my ad who wasn’t a complete freak... He came over with his keyboard and we started going through song ideas straight away. I had the verse to “Mr. Brightside” and he went away and wrote the chorus. That was the first song we wrote together and remains the only song that we’ve played at every single Killers' show.” – David Keuning commenting on Brandon Flowers
"I’ve always had this thing about it not really mattering where you’re from, because there’s always been this big cloud over America saying you have to live in LA or you have to live in New York to make it. I always knew it didn’t matter as long as you had the songs." – Brandon Flowers on musical success
"I think that the public hear their pop radio or whatever and they just get sick of bad music. They want to hear songs again." – Ronnie Vannucci
"We want to be important and to last." – Brandon Flowers
"Do you wanna catch the vibe that's keepin' me alive? Following these fat ass beats till I die!" – Alexander David Johnston

References

QVegas, background

External links