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 synth/indie 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 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 That 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". Such success spawned feuds with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy, both fellow label-mates for Island Records (see Controversy below).

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 80s, 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.

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, 2005 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 canceled 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. They also performed at the T in the Park festival in Balado, Scotland on July 9, 2005, 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.[1]

The band's second album is widely expected to be released in late 2006, with the recording set to commence on February 15, 2006 at The Palms Hotel/Casino in their native Las Vegas. Flood and Alan Moulder will produce the yet-to-be-named album.

After seeing footage for director Richard Kelly's upcoming film Southland Tales, the band agreed to allow Kelly to use one of their songs for the movie's soundtrack.

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 RIAA Certification: 3x Platinum UK: #1

Awards

Grammys

Best Rock Album (2005) for "Hot Fuss" - nominated
Best Rock Song (2005) for "Somebody Told Me" - nominated
Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (2005) for "Somebody Told Me" - nominated
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (2006) for "Mr. Brightside" - nominated
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (2006) for "All These Things That I've Done" - nominated

Note: The remix of the song "Mr Brightside" was also nominated for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical (2006) (remixed by Jacques Lu Cont)

American Music Award

Breakthrough, Favorite New Artist (2005) - nominated

Billboard Music Awards

Group of the Year (2005) - nominated
Digital song of the year for "Mr. Brightside" (2005) - nominated
Modern rock artist of the year (2005) - nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

Best Group Video (2005) for "Mr. Brightside" - nominated
Best Rock Video (2005) for "Mr. Brightside" - nominated
Best New Artist (2005) - WON

Note: Laura Fox was also nominated in 2005 for Best Art Direction for the video "Mr. Brightside."

Miscellaneous

NME Magazine's Best International Band (2005) - WON
Technical Excellence & Creativity Awards nominated for Record Production/Single or Track for the track "Mr. Brightside" (2005)
World Music Awards, World's Best Selling New Group, (2005) - WON

Controversy

Since going platinum, the band (and principally Flowers) has managed to incite a few rivalries - most notably with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy (FOB), which, ironically, are both labelmates (Island Records). Flowers has said that these bands, especially The Bravery, are riding on the coattails of the success of The Killers.[2] However, it has been speculated that it was a publicity stunt to create momentum for The Bravery's self-titled debut album. 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 of rants on his blog in September of 2005, he offered a virtual cease-fire.[3]

Brandon Flowers, in interviews 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 Flowers (speaking for 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." [4]

In February, 2006 The Killers' former manager, Braden Merrick, filed a lawsuit alleging breach of contract when he was fired in May of 2005. Merrick's contract was to have run through 2007 and the two sides had been negotiating a settlement before the lawsuit was filed. [5]

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, The Cincinnati Post wire service

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, Manchester Online interview

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, Unverified

We want to be important and to last.
— Brandon Flowers, USA Today, 12 July 2004

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, Unverified

Trivia

'The Killers' in the New Order video 'Crystal' were a male / female, vocal / instrumental group.

Crystal was directed by Sophie Muller, who then later on directed the Mr. Brightside American music video.

References

Genre June 05, background
QVegas, background

External links