About Me
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The Killers are a rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada. The band was formed in 2002. It is made up of Brandon Flowers (vocals, bass, synthesizer), Dave Keuning (guitar, vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass, vocals), and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums, percussion). The Killers released their debut album Hot Fuss in 2004. Their second album, Sam's Town, was released to mixed reviews in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2006 and in North America on October 3, 2006.
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Before they became a band, all four had various jobs. Flowers, who had dropped out of college, was a bellhop for a while at the Gold Coast Hotel in Las Vegas. David Keuning, who was originally from Pella, Iowa, dropped out of Kirkwood Community College, then the University of Iowa, and finally moved to Las Vegas in January of 2000. He worked there at a Banana Republic store. Mark Stoermer worked as a medical courier, delivering various medical supplies while studying philosophy at UNLV. Ronnie Vannucci was a student of classical percussion at UNLV and worked as a photographer at the Little Chapel of the Flowers and as a pedicab driver at the Desert Passage mall inside the Aladdin Hotel.
In 2001, 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. Shortly thereafter, Flowers attended an Oasis concert, and realized that he wanted to make the transition from a keyboard band, and began searching for a guitarist. He responded to an ad that Keuning had placed in the paper that listed, among other things, Oasis as an influence. The two hit it off immediately, and began rehearsing. They were joined by a bassist (Keuning's roommate) and a drummer.
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Both bassist and drummer quickly moved on to other things, and the drummer would later sue the band, claiming that he wrote "Mr. Brightside". After their departure, Vannucci and Stoermer (who were both in other bands at the time) were approached by Flowers and Keuning with an offer to join "The Killers", a name which comes from Ernest Hemingway's book "The Killers". It was featured on the bass drum of a fictional band in the song's video.
After watching a few of their early shows, Vannucci acknowledged that the group was very green and would need a lot of work to become a polished act. Additionally, their fanbase was scarce and they hadn't yet worked out their image. However, Vannucci would eventually join the band.
Stoermer was the last to join. He filled the remaining post at least partly because he and Flowers had quickly become friends. They played their first gig as the new band at a club in Vegas called The Junkyard. After Vannucci sold his house, and the band found themselves without a garage to rehearse in, it was around this time that they took to sneaking into UNLV's music rooms to practice, where Vannucci was attending college.
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With the band's lineup complete, and their repertoire of songs expanding, the band began to attract attention from talent bookers, local agents, major label scouts — and a UK representative for Warner Bros. Though the Warner Bros rep passed on the band, he took the demo back with him, showing it to his friend and owner of a UK indie label. The Killers would sign by the end of the summer, and moved to England.
They released their album Hot Fuss on June 7, 2004 in the United Kingdom (on London-based indie record label Lizard King Records, now re-named Marrakesh Records) and June 15 in the United States on Island Records. UK magazine NME was an early champion of the band - reviewing early UK shows. 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 three chart position with their re-release of "Somebody Told Me".
The Killers' second album, "Sam's Town", was released on October 2nd 2006 in the UK, and October 3rd 2006 in the USA under Island Universal. Brandon Flowers quoted that Sam's Town will ""be the best album in the past twenty years", though the album has received a mixed response from critics and fans. The first single from Sam's Town "When You Were Young" debuted on radio stations in late July 2006. In late August 2006, it was offered as a downloadable track before the album's debut. The single then entered the chart on downloads alone at #5 and the following week on its official release went to #2 in the UK. It was unable to knock the Scissor Sisters off of the top spot. Their new single, "Bones", is the latest video from the band.
In promotion of Sam's Town, the band returned as the musical guest for the 32nd season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 30, 2006. They performed "When You Were Young" and "Bones." The album sold over 700,000 copies worldwide in the first week of release, with a No. 2 debut on the United World chart.
Much of The Killers' music is based on British influences and on the music of the 1980s, particularly New Wave music. Flowers has also said in interviews that the larger than life sound of many of the band's songs is due to the influence of living in Las Vegas, a city where everything is about flash and who can top whom. 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, Morrissey, Queen, and Saves The Day, and the influence of these bands can easily be felt in some of their songs. Flowers occasionally sings with a faux British accent.
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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., playing at The Bait Shop (which is a fictional all ages club). 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, The Late Show with David Letterman, and in Britain they have appeared on Top of the Pops, 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 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 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, Flowers performed "Crystal" with New Order — "Crystal" being the music video from which the band took their name. Soon, they were 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. Coldplay and U2 followed suit, and at their separate concerts played in Las Vegas, with The Killers in the crowd, they incorporated that famous line into their songs. Coldplay sang it into "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" and U2 sang it with "Beautiful Day."
After seeing footage for director Richard Kelly's upcoming film Southland Tales, the band agreed to allow Kelly to use "All These Things I've Done" for the movie's soundtrack. The song was also used in the final scene and closing credits of the 2005 movie, The Matador as well as the opening scene of the pilot episode of the CBS show, "Jericho".
The Killers have signed on to play the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand in 2007, playing 6 dates from January 19 to Februrary 4. They are billed alongside Tool, Muse, My Chemical Romance, and Jet.
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Since going platinum, the band (and principally Flowers) has managed to incite a few rivalries - most notably with The Bravery and Fall Out Boy, who 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. 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 Fall Out Boy was hogging the A&R man both bands share, setting off Fall Out Boy'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. The attempts at starting feuds with Fall Out Boy occurred shortly before the release of Sam's Town, which leads many to believe that it was just a publicity stunt on Flowers' side.
Also in NME, Keuning went on record as saying "They're (Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco) only influenced by each other. Each other, and Blink 182. How can that be a good thing?"
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 offense 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."
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.
Flowers has recently gone on record claiming that Green Day's politically driven concept album American Idiot displays "calculated Anti-Americanism." He explained that he has problems with the album content itself and also the fact that the band's recent live DVD, Bullet in a Bible, was filmed overseas. Stating that he feels Green Day's DVD is a bit of a stunt, he went on to say that he feels The Killers' most recent release, Sam's Town, is a much more accurate representation of American culture.
He has also publicly expressed his disdain for Christina Aguilera's critically acclaimed single, "Hurt."
