The Killers - Spaceman

The Lady Killer: An Interview with the Killers' Brandon Flowers

The Killers are the latest in a series of bands determined to rescue synths and faux British accents from the dustbins of 1984. The Las Vegas quartet's excellent debut, Hot Fuss, which features the hit single "Somebody Told Me," sounds as if Joy Division borrowed Duran Duran's Wayfarers and recorded an album beneath pulsating neon lights on the roof of the Palms Casino Hotel. We caught up with lead singer/songwriter/keyboardist Brandon Flowers, 23, to discuss his childhood dalliance with rayon, his past as a chubby bellboy, and why Vegas isn't a cultural wasteland.

You grew up in Utah and then moved to Las Vegas. Why did your family relocate?
Actually, I was born in Las Vegas. My parents moved to Utah when I was eight because after 40 years in Vegas, they were tired of it. We ended up in Nephi, a really small town in Utah.

How did you get into music, living in a place so remote?

The Killers - Human

The Killers interview

The Killers
The Killers have made a huge splash in the UK and are at this moment are starting to burn up the US radio charts with their single "Somebody Told Me". Their new album "Hot Fuss" hits North American stores on June 15th.  This interview was originally supposed to be part of our Inside Track series, where the band walks the reader through each track on the album and gives us the inside story of each song, but some signals got crossed and that portion of the interview wasn’t completed. However, we still had a plenty to talk to Mark Stoermer from The Killers about and Brandon Flowers wraps things up.  So with that out of the way, antiMUSIC is very pleased to present you with a Q&A with The Killers. 
antiMUSIC: The first obvious question is where did your name come from?: 
Mark Stoermer: We were watching this video "Crystal" by New Order and the video had this band who looked all hot in it, pretending to be New Order but they were known as The Killers.  We saw that name on the drummer's kick drum head and lifted it.
antiMUSIC: How did the band form? 

the killers - Mr.Brightside

The Killers

Biography

The Killers are a rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, formed in 2001 and consist ofBrandon Flowers (vocals, keyboards), Dave Keuning (guitar, backing vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums, percussion). The band’s three albums to date have sold in excess of 15 million copies worldwide combined. The band got its name from the fictional band “The Killers” in the video for New Order’s “Crystal”. The band was on hiatus, but returned to the studio to record their 4th studio album in early 2011.

Initially, The Killers played at large clubs in Las Vegas. With the band’s line-up stable 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 representative passed on the band, he took the demo back with him, showing it to a friend who worked at UK (London-based) indie label Lizard King Records (now Marrakesh Records). The Killers then signed in the summer of 2002 to a British label.