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The Killers

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File:The Killers Band.jpg

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

Some of their best known songs include:

  • "Andy You're a Star"
  • "All These Things That I've Done"
  • "Somebody Told me"
  • "Mr. Brightside"
  • "Smile Like You Mean It"

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. Ironically, 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. Many auditions later, 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 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 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.

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. 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 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On May 12, 2005, they performed throughout MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed.

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. They turned down the offer, stating that they didn't think they were popular enough. 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 - "Cystal" 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.

Trivia

  • Brandon's family moved to Nephi, Utah when he was eight because his parents were tired of living in Las Vegas after forty years, Brandon stated in the October 2004 issue of Spin magazine . 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".
  • 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 a downdraft 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, saying that it doesn't have any relation to the song
  • Brandon Flowers performed "Crystal" at the 2005 T in the Park festival in Scotland with New Order (as well as The Killers' own set on the Main Stage - New Order were headliners of the BBC Radio 1 NME Stage). The choice of track performed may have been influenced by the fact "Crystal" is the music video from which The Killers took their name.

Discography

File:The Killers - Hot Fuss.jpg
The Killer's debut album - Hot Fuss

Albums

Singles

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
  • "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

See Also

References

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