Coming of age
As The Killers' third album, Day & Age, is released, the band's ambitious frontman Brandon Flowers speaks to Eamon Sweeney about success, rivalry, religion and Lou Reed dating a transsexual
U2 initially intended to release their twelfth studio album last Friday. It has been suggested that part of the reason that it's been shelved for early 2009 is today's release of
The Killers' third album, Day & Age, or at least that's what frontman
Brandon Flowers likes to think.
Brandon Flowers told an associate that U2 manager
Paul McGuinness visited their dressing room after their show in Marlay Park last August while the album lead single Human was playing on the stereo. "I think he started sweating then," boasted Flowers.
Besides this unwavering self-belief, the fact that The Killers were playing their own music in the dressing room rather than a wind-down tape also speaks volumes, but it's not particularly surprising. On the release of Sam's Town in 2006, Flowers declared that their second album was "one of the best albums of the last 20 years".
The Killers are undoubtably a huge band, but unlike U2 or the
Beatles, few could name all four members except their staunchest fans. Not to be confused with the quarter-back for the
Kansas City Chiefs, a 27-year-old practising Mormon flamboyantly named Brandon Flowers is the band's enigma in chief. "
Bob Dylan said it best -- you can't be Jewish and be cool," he once said. "And you can't be a Mormon and be cool, but I'm trying my best."
A lover of 1980s legends like U2 and the
Pet Shop Boys -- the name The Killers is lifted from an imaginary band in a New Order video -- many of Brandon's icons have been lining up to pay tribute to the cocky wonder kid.
"When I see someone like Brandon Flowers who has the appetite, and possibly the talent and looks, to be a star, I find that enthralling," said Pet Shop Boy
Neil Tennant. "I'm worried though -- and I hope he's reading this -- that he's grown a beard. It means he's saying, 'I'm not pop. I mean more than that.'"
Incidentally, Brandon has since shaved off his facial hair.
Rufus Wainwright went as far as to write a song entitled
Tulsa about meeting the pin-up singer. "He is so sexy, yet so unhappy, and also somewhat sane and crazy at the same time," Wainwright said. "He sucks all the energy out of the room."
Today, Brandon Flowers thankfully isn't sucking all the energy out of a spacious suite in London's Browns Hotel. He's sprawled back on a sofa, nervously smiling, clutching a cushion to his chest and reflecting on his band's popularity.
"It's getting weirder with each album," he says. "We started out with a specific goal of shooting for the indie clubs. It's what we dreamed about in
Las Vegas, but it's branched out a lot since then. When Sam's Town came out, I began to notice a lot more men at the shows, which I found gratifying. We don't want a bunch of girls coming just to see our handsome bass player. We want everybody."
Such lofty catch-all ambition is central to The Killers' success. Day & Age is their most accomplished album to date, daring enough to surprise their detractors yet careful not to alienate their fanbase. "I can't shove it down people's throats, but you can be big and sophisticated and creative and big -- it's not a crazy thought," Brandon says.
Human is slick electro-pop, while Losing Touch and Joy Ride are reminiscent of art-rockers extraordinaire,
Roxy Music. Flowers similarly wants to fuse art and pop. "It's been done by U2 and
Talking Heads and I'll be damned if it ain't going to be done again by us," he states. "Just because we're played next to
Britney Spears doesn't mean that we're not real. The bigness is unavoidable."
Brandon maintains that haven't always played the pop card. "With Sam's Town, we went in intending to make a stripped down record of great songs and to let them breathe. We had the same intention with this album. I'll give Stuart (Price -- who also produced the last
Madonna album) credit for this album. We're going to have a tough time playing it live, because it's not full on all the time. I won't know what to do with my body."
As he twitches on the sofa, it's apparent Flowers doesn't quite know what to do with his body at this precise moment. His band mate and co-founding member and principal songwriter,
Dave Keunig, is the polar opposite to Flowers with his tousled long hair and laid back rock star drawl. "Not all of what we do is stadium rock," Keuning says. "We love stadium rock, but we have our other, tender, moments as well."
On the press release for Day & Age, Flowers comments on the writing of the soon-to-be omnipresent second single Spaceman. "I think about moments when we were coming up with When You Were Young or, in this case, Spaceman.
"If we decided in that moment, 'Let's go to the park', they might not have happened. It's scary. It almost makes me want to stop because I could be missing out on these wonderful songs. They're out there for the taking -- you've got to just grab them."
I tell Brandon that this quote reminds me of a
Shane McGowan remark. "
Christy Moore once said there are all these songs floating around the air all the time, melodies, phrases ... and you've got to pluck them down out of the air -- otherwise, they'll drift by and some other bastard like
Paul Simon will get 'em."
"Ha! Ha! Ha! I like his version much better than mine!" he cackles. "I agree with that. The songwriting process is always exciting. I want it. I don't want
Kings of Leon to get it. Even with this album coming out, I want it more and more."
Goodness, is there any limit to his ambition? "People think we assume that this was meant for us and we knew it was all going to happen," he replies. "We didn't, we know how lucky we are, but I don't think there is anything wrong with shooting for the stars. It seems that the sky's not the limit anymore."
Not surprisingly, Flowers' mouth and attitude has stirred up its fair share of trouble after saying that labelmates
The Bravery and
Fall Out Boy were riding on the coat tails of The Killers' success. He also claimed that
Thom Yorke was squandering his talent in not writing pop songs and accused
Green Day of anti-Americanism. Interestingly, as we talk about then impending election,
Dave Keuning remarks, "It's going to be exciting to have anyone else but Bush in there."
Flowers has since fully apologised for many of these barbs. "Those rivalries were half made and they were very exaggerated," says Keuning. "There is never going to be one winner and there is no way to score it. I always thought the
Oasis/Blur thing was silly. I like both. Recently,
Chris Martin has said a few things which were really nice because he's what I would call a friendly rival. He came backstage in
New York and we went backstage at his show in Vegas. We're also competing for that current band slot. We're not super-old or super-young. It's good that there's mutual respect there."
A turning point for many Killers critics was when
Lou Reed collaborated with them on the sublime single Tranquillize, undeniably a career standout. "He's a strong character," says Dave Keuning. "It's funny, I just read the other day how he dated a Mexican transsexual back in the 1970s, but no, I wasn't really thinking about stuff like that when we made the song! He's great with lyrics and it was one of his immediate comments that he had to have input in the lyrics. He said it almost the second he walked into the room. We're there saying, "Hi! My name is Dave, this is Brandon ... " Lou just says, "I want to write lyrics."
In a (ahem) day and age of dwindling album sales, The Killers sell, sell, sell. "We're really lucky," admits Flowers. "There is a lot of filler on other people's albums, but we make strong albums and I think this is our strongest one yet. I attribute this to the great albums you listen to. There are no weak songs on
Ziggy Stardust or Violator (
Depeche Mode). I call those working man's albums and that's what we want to create."
Not wanting to be a party-pooper, but what if their plentiful well of inspiration dries up? "I hope that someone will tell us when we're not good anymore," Brandon says as their publicist enters the room as we wrap up. "Hey, will you tell us if we suck?" Brandon asks. "I hope my wife will," he laughs.
- Eamon Sweeney
