Nick's Artist of the Month (October)- The Killers

Nicky Talent

There have been alot of up and coming bands and artists starting to make their mark. Lloyd Banks, My Chemical Romance, Jet, Chris Brown. But probably the biggest of all of them is Nick's artist of the month. Straight from Reno, Nevada...........ladies and gentleman, The Killers.

The Killers is a rock band which formed in 2002. The band is comprised of Brandon Flowers , Dave Keuning , Mark Stoermer, and Ronnie Vannucci. The Killers released their debut album Hot Fuss in 2004. Their second album, Sam's Town, was released to critical acclaim in the UK on October 2 2006 and in the USA on October 3 2006.

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.

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, 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 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.

The Killers' second album, "Sam's Town", was released on October 2nd 2006 in the UK, and October 3rd 2006 in the USA under Lizard King again. Brandon Flowers quoted that Sam's Town will be the best album in the past twenty years. 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 next single, "Bones", is due to be released later this year.

In promotion of Sam's Town, the band returned as the musical guest for the thirty-first season premiere of Saturday Night Live on September 30, 2006. They performed "When You Were Young" and "Bones."

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.

Since going platinum, the band 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 their bassist Pete Wentz. However, after Wentz made a couple of rants on his blog in September of 2005, he offered a virtual cease-fire.

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 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.

Thanks to Wikipedia and Indie Lovers as a source

Suffy

yay when i get the energy im goign to go buy their new album...so it will be in my cd case in about a year

but good job nicky thx for the copy and paste job (not an insult im too lazy to go there myself lol)

Nicky Talent

I added portions in their myself buddy

Mr.E

Ya i gotta try and get out to buy Sam's Town this week now.

^Thx to NWOOO!-Joe 4 Sharapova and TOL 4 GSP

James Deuce

GFX Moderator

Suffy why dont you just DL the cd off of Limwire....saves 14 dollars

Suffy

bc i support the artists i love by giving them money buy buying their album