The Killers

Photo credit:  whatsupnyc

Since the Killers PR machine has now dwindled. It's safe to re-post this interview I had with Mark and a super-exclusive Moz cover I managed to get a hold of. Long-time readers should remember this....

Here's parts of an interview I did with Mark Stoermer (bass player) of The Killers at Coachella, Sunday May 2 2004 (a little out-dated, I'm sorry).  These questions weren't printed in the magazine, so I'm pretty sure it's safe to post it here. 
 
(Chris Clark) How does it feel to be playing at this year’s Coachella? 
 
(Mark Stoermer) Surreal a little bit. I’ve never been to Coachella… always wanted to go, but couldn’t afford the tickets and how my first time being here I’m actually playing so it’s a little weird. It’s an honour too. We’re lucky to be playing here before our album even comes out.
 
(CC) So who are really excited to see? 
 
Radiohead because I’ve never saw them, still I’d rather see them in a smaller place if I could… the Flaming Lips, I’ll probably go see Belle and Sebastian. The Cure of course.
 
(CC) There’s a rumour that Morrissey actually sought you guys out to perform with him 
 
We don’t actually know the whole story. We’ve heard it third hand. I think what happened was the original opener cancelled and then the manager of Morrissey suggested us  and then he thought that was  a good idea and supposedly already knew us and had an EP.
 
(CC) What was that like when you found out that he knew who you were? 
 
It was cool, but like I said I don’t know if I still totally believe it, but he seemed to like us because he thanked us a bunch on stage. That was big enough, just being able to perform.
 
(CC) Has he been an influence to your music? 
  
I think we all loved the Smiths and Morrissey solo but especially Brandon, that’s one of his number one influences probably, so that was really huge for him. 
  
(CC) Why did you guys sign with a European label first instead of an American one? 
 
It wasn’t that we sought it out or planned it to be that way. We had our demo and had a manager and were looking for a label and the only people that were interested was that label. The demo got over to the UK and we heard that this label Lizard King was interested and no one else really was at that time and as soon as we put out the EP on Lizard King and were getting radio play then the American labels started getting interested- they wanted us to prove ourselves a little bit. The American labels tend to take less risk it seems like and we were fortunate enough to have a label like Lizard King that would take a risk on us and kind of got the ball rolling, but it wasn’t anything intentional or trying to follow the footsteps of another band. It was just the only one that we had.
 
(CC) Has anyone mistaken you for a UK band because of that? 
 
Sometimes. People in the UK think we’re from there or at least the first couple of times we went people thought we were from Liverpool or something and in America a couple of times it happens. People will say, “oh… you’re American?” Partly because of our music and partly because our first deal was out there. 
 
(CC) Can you tell us about the new cd coming out “Hot Fuss”? 
 
One thing about it was that it started off as a bunch of demos- the demos that eventually got us a record deal- we made about four or five songs that way in Berkley California then when we got a record deal the label like the ones that we already had and were happy with them all we did was remix some of those songs and then went back into the studio in California in November. So it was recorded separately, half in March 2003 and then in November 2003, all done on our own. We basically produced the album, basically complete creative control and basically just handed in the album. They liked the first songs we had, then we finished it up and no problem. No one was like “we think you need to be with this producer because you need a little help” there was no rejection of any song. I think that’s one thing that was cool about it. I think there is a wide range. There is a cohesiveness and sound that is the killers, but from song to song there’s a lot of variety.
 
(CC) Are you disappointed that it wasn’t released in time for the festival? 
 
I don’t know if I’m disappointed, I kind of wish it came out earlier. Like I said it was done in November and some of these songs were done in March last year, but I understand why it shouldn’t because we have never done a US tour and it’s the smarter idea to do a little build up before we ever release an album.
 
(CC) What can we expect in 2004? 
 
An album, tours… we have a video that will be coming out, it’s already released in the UK-“Somebody told me”- and the second single may be Mr. Brighside, but we’re doing a lot of European festivals, touring in Germany and France and hopefully we’ll build up to our own headlining tour in the US by the fall or end of the year. That’s the goal, we want to be able to play on our own and do a North American tour.





The Killers - Why Don't You Find Out (Morrissey Cover).mp3