Great undertakings
When Camilla Pia met THE KILLERS, she found a band living up to their own hype.
s some old codger once lamented. 'the grass is always greener on
the other side‘. and for the frontman of the Killers this statement
couldn’t be more true. From a young age. Brandon Flowers (his real name. rather magnificently). ignored the l.as Vegas acts that surrounded him and looked to hands across the pond for inspiration. And like many musicians of his generation. it all started with a certain member of the Smiths. 'l was always fascinated with Morrissey.‘ he explains. ‘I remember my brother had a tape of him playing live in Dallas when l was about ten and I used to watch it over and over. I wasn’t a huge fan of music yet: it was just the way he performed and came out with this sexy. intelligent pop. it was absolutely amazing.‘
The seed sown. Flowers (pictured. second from right) set out to form a band and by the end of 2002. had found three other like-minded individuals who shared his love of British music and right away they stuck out like a sore thumb on their local scene. Not that it mattered; the Killers (who took their name from a New Order video). had bigger scores to settle. ‘In Las Vegas. it‘s all bands who are into Limp Bi/kit and things like that. and they care more about their haircuts and their clothes. but for us it was always the songs. I didn‘t care about local music. I wanted to beat bigger people.~
Taking the influences of Bowie. (‘ocker and Lennon. to name just a few.
Counting Crows They’ve remixed
drafted them in to Sade’s ‘By Your ,. - work their magic on Side’. All Saints' Ludabfis,- their murdering of ‘Black Coflee’ also Nelly, Snoop Dogg,
Joni Mitchell‘s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’.
got a makeover from them.
Nas, Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes, NORE, Fam Lay, Jay Z and Ol' Dirty Bastard.
18 THE LIST 7-"; Jim 8 .Jul 700-".
the band wrote their debut LP llor Fuss in 120 degree temperatures in the garage that became their rehearsal room. fitting all the writing and practicing as much as they could in between day jobs as bellhops and medical couriers. They must have done something right as the album recently entered the L'K charts at number six and makes for a dark and utterly infectious collection of songs fuelled by thrashy guitars. shadowy vocals. punchy basslines. keyboards and the occasional gospel choir.
‘Basically. we want it everywhere. we want everybody to hear us.’ he adds. and so far it’s all going absolutely to plan. The quartet have recently completed a sell-out tour of the L'K and promise to bring their seemingly intense live shows and compelling storytelling to the stage at T in the Park. This will surely add more than a touch of drama to the weekend as their songs are based on tales of murder. jealousy. androgyny and stalking. lyrics being an aspect of songwriting that is extremely important to Flowers.
'There are a lot of idiots out there. ljust can’t believe some of the words they write. it‘s ridiculous. Are these people afraid? Why do they just go for the easy option'.” Somehow you can‘t imagine the Killers ever doing the same.
The Killers play the NME Stage, Sun 1 1 Jul.
They got together with Reebok and Japanese designer Nigo and set up a clothing line called Ice Cream.
They love Steely Dan so much that they wrote the McDonald’s jingle ‘l’m Lovin’ It’ as a tribute to them.