The Killers

The Killers
The Killers
	File:The Killers band photo.jpg
Background information
Years active	2002–present
Members	Brandon Flowers; Dave Keuning; Mark August Stoermer ; Ronnie Vannucci Jr.

The Killers is a 21st century synth rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, who formed in 2002. Lead singer and keyboardist Brandon Flowers was inspired to start the band in part after seeing Oasis perform at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in April 2002. They released their hit record Hot Fuss in 2004.

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. Brandon Flowers went on to take to the stage at the 2005 T in the Park festival and perform "Crystal" with New Order.

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. (The first bassist was Dave's room mate and the first drummer would later on sue The Killers, claiming that he wrote "Mr. Brightside".) After a few shows, they found Ronnie Vannucci and Mark Stoermer to fill the posts.

Before they had become a band, all four of them had various jobs. Flowers, who had dropped out of college, was a bellhop for a while at the Gold Coast Hotel. David Keuning, who was originally from Pella, Iowa and had dropped out of Kirkwood Community College and then the University of Iowa, and moved to Las Vegas in January of 2000, worked at a Banana Republic store; Mark Stoermer worked as a medical courier delivering various medical supplies and was a student of philosophy at UNLV; Ronnie Vannucci was a student of classical percussion at UNLV and worked as a photographer at the Little Chapel of Flowers. The band first started playing at a Las Vegas gay/transgender night club called "Tramps".

File:The Killers band photo (cowboys).jpg

Press photo of the band as they appeared in the video for "All These Things I've Done."

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". The main bulk of their mainstream success came when they scored a number 3 chart position with their re-release of "Somebody Told Me".

Much of The Killers' music is based on British influences and on the music of the 1980s, particularly New Wave music. Despite their appreciation for the wave of post-punk bands that sprung up during the 80's, the band members are also avowed fans of David Bowie, Queen and U2, and the influence of these bands can easily be felt in some of their songs. Brandon Flowers occasionally sings with a faux British accent.

Since going platinum, the band (and prinicipally Flowers) has managed to incite a few rivalries - most notably with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy (FOB), which, ironically, are all labelmates (Island Records). Flowers has said that such bands, especially The Bravery, are riding on the coattails of the success of The Killers.[1] Additionally, in an article of NME, Flowers claimed FOB was hogging the A&R man both bands share, setting off FOB's bassist Pete Wentz. However, after Wentz made a couple rants on his blog in September of 2005, he offered a virtual cease-fire.[2]

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 15, 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 Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On May 12 and October 10, 2005, they performed throughout MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed. They performed for an episode of Austin City Limits that aired on November 5, 2005.

The Killers performed at the 2005 Glastonbury Festival on the Pyramid Stage, on Friday Night, after they turned down the Sunday headline spot when Kylie Minogue cancelled after being diagnosed with breast cancer. They turned down the offer, stating that they didn't think they had enough songs to fill a headline slot. However, they still managed to deliver an excellent performance, and attracted one of the biggest crowds at the festival. On the 2nd of July, The Killers performed at Hyde Park's Live 8 concert. They also performed at the T in the Park festival in Balado, Scotland on July 9th, during which, following The Killers' own set, Brandon Flowers performed "Crystal" with New Order - "Crystal" being the music video the band took their name from. Soon, they are jetting off to Vienna with U2, in order to support them on the European leg of their current Vertigo Tour.

The Killers performed on the London stage of the Live 8 concert on July 2, 2005. They performed their song "All These Things That I've Done". To their surprise, Robbie Williams (who performed after them) incorporated the song's refrain "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" into his own performance.

The band's second album is widely expected to be released in early summer 2006.

Discography

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
Year	Title	US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	UK Singles Chart	AUS	Album
2004	"Somebody Told Me"	#51	#3	#3	#17	Hot Fuss
2004	"Mr. Brightside"	#10	#3	#10	#29	Hot Fuss
2005	"All These Things That I've Done"	#74	#10	#18	#42	Hot Fuss
2005	"Smile Like You Mean It"	-	#15	#11	#47	Hot Fuss

Hot Fuss US: #7 (3x Platinum) UK: #1

Controversy

Brandon Flowers, in an interview with several music magazines, claimed that the song "Where is she?" was based on Jodi Jones, a Scottish girl whose boyfriend, Luke Mitchell, was found guilty of her murder. Many, especially in Scotland, saw this as an insult to her memory, and the band gave a formal apology, telling the Sunday Herald: "I came across kind of badly. I'd hate to cause offence or further hurt because of it...There's no way on earth I could ever possibly pretend to know what it must actually feel like to suffer such a thing, and I wouldn't presume to appropriate any other individual's feelings for a song.". The Killers have also had feuds with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy, both fellow label-mates for Island Records.

Quotes

“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

"People today are coming together as a family because our brothers and sisters in Africa need our help. So let's change their worlds." Brandon Flowers - Live 8, London, 2 July 2005

References

Genre June 05, background
QVegas, background

External links