"The Killers"

0:06jb you uh you're gonna get on the golf course today today is not a golf course day today is a work day actually. Today's birthday so no golf for you Sean? Yeah no I'm going out. By the way I got new clubs. Oh nice. I just got them today. I just got the new. I got the same ones that you got. The beautiful Titleist irons. The Titleist. I should match it. Now you should get yourself into some G4 apparel and really you know make yourself complete. Okay. I mean I would but I wear the foot joy. I love the foot joy. You like the G4. Yes. And the Titleist clubs. The Titleist clubs. If you were ever to fly to a tournament How would you like to get there?

0:43By the way, I don't even know if we can use it in the cold open, but I just got a five-wood. Anyway, welcome to Smartless. Smart. Smart.

0:57Smart. Smart.

1:02Smart.

1:06Look, you got a whole setup in your green room. It's nice. I know. Believe me. it's pretty great wait a second I'm seeing two surprise guest windows yeah oh listener listener always knows before us two other idiots everybody knows except me and Sean right now everybody knows except for the two dummies that week I feel pretty dumb I feel pretty dumb today I don't why do you feel dumb I just don't feel like I'm gonna be great at listening or talking. Well, Jay, do you want a couple jokes to lighten you up? Here we go, Sean. My favorite is still what did the chicken say? What did the chicken... Oh, boy.

1:57No, what did the... Do you see, guys? It's not going to be good today. What did the chicken say? What? No, what does... See? I forget, too. What does poultry say to a bowl of lettuce? Or no, what does poultry call a bowl of lettuce? Right. What? Chicken Caesar salad. That's so good. That's a good one. I have two more. I have two more. So a skeleton walks into a bar and orders a bar. A skeleton walks into a bar and orders a beer and a mop. Yep. Okay. And the other one is, hey, Jason, have you heard about the new movie? Wait, wait, wait, wait. Can we do a punchline on the first one? About the skeleton?

2:37That is. There is already. He doesn't get it. What happened? A skeleton walks into a bar and orders a beer and a mop. Okay. Because when he drinks the beer, it goes, right? He doesn't have that. Yeah. That's not even funny, though. Okay. Well, that's different. All right. So here's the other one. Okay. Hey, Jason, have you heard about the new movie Constipation? No. It never came out. I don't like either one of them. I liked your... All right. What did... um wait i'm trying to figure this is this is horrible it's like people are joining us at rehearsal this is uh we clearly don't rehearse i apologize already to our you know what i was saying you know jason i was thinking about you the other day and it occurred to me like you know you see people have like fancy houses where they talk about like i went to this fancy place and you think about some billionaire and they have this fancy thing and i said yeah you know that's impressive and if you feel like less than because you see them just imagine that no matter where they went they had to take a shit yeah yeah they just took a shit there yeah yeah that's pretty much a beautiful mansion and it was just them in the smallest room in that house with the door closed looking for the fan and taking a shit yeah what's the name of that there's a book called that right everybody poops everybody poops yeah i'm in that book all right this is going on too long it's too insane i feel like regis and kathy lee let's go i know it's true but i would now Now, listen, I do want to get to our guests because you know how I get when I get really excited about a guest.

4:08And you know how I get when we get to talk about music with guests. I get very excited. Well, these fine gentlemen are no exception. I have been a massive fan of these guys since their debut record. and in fact their debut single, which, by the way, is a single that has remained in the UK, holds the record for the longest time on the UK charts, over 300, like seven years on the UK charts. It's a song we all know and love. And then since then, they've just released banger after banger, incredible album after incredible album. I've seen them in concert multiple times. They're incredibly gifted, gifted, gifted songwriters, performers, singers, drummers, everything extraordinaire.

4:58Guys, it's none other than Brandon Flowers and Ronnie Vannucci of the killers. The killers. The killers. Oh, I was just talking about them the other day. Oh, my God. Look at that. Good morning. How cool is this? Dude. Look at that. This is crazy. How great is this? Hi, guys. You guys look very much alive. Not killers at all. How's it going? How are you? You guys are very much on tour right now. Yeah, they're both in hotel rooms. Yeah. That's right. You just literally rolled out of bed. I mean, we've just disrupted your... You probably have a really good system in place, and we've ruined it. I definitely have a routine that is being disturbed right now.

5:41Where are you on the planet? We're in Austin. Austin Tech. Austin. Tennessee. That's a great state. JB, no, no, no, JB, JB. Boys, we're so excited to have you on this show. I mean, I've had the good fortune of meeting you guys and talking to you a few times, which was a thrill then and it's a thrill now. And I'm such a fan. And I think the first time I saw you guys was on a sketch show. Yeah. And I think it was 2006. Brandon, am I right about that? We played earlier than that. Oh, you played earlier? So I said the second time? Yeah, probably. If it was Sam's Town was our second record, we would have done, yeah.

6:18Wow, okay. so is the sound I guess that's wrong but I remember meeting you yeah and I think that was maybe after our third time wow was it really can I tell the story of what at the after party yeah please do so they always have an after party on the sketch show and and we and Will's there and he's got a he's got a hockey player with him and another fellow citizen of Canada Shani probably Brendan Shanahan yeah yeah And so I guess quintessentially what all Americans do, I say, my tour manager is from Toronto. I know you're from Toronto. Yeah, good figure. They all know each other. Yeah, so his buddy rolls his eyes and he's like, Americans think we all know each other.

7:04I go and I grab my tour manager and he's like, oh, what area of Toronto are you from? Oh, what street were you on? Farnham Avenue? Yes. They both lived on the same street. Wait, Brendan, I can't believe you remember Farnham Avenue. Well, our tour manager is still with us. But he doesn't still live on Farnham. He doesn't still live on Farnham. I think his parents might still live on Farnham. My sister still lives on Farnham. He still lives on Farnham. Wait, wait, his parents still live on Farnham? Still there. Yeah. No way. My buddy Paul lives on Farnham as well. And my sister does. The listener has probably pulled over their car because they're so fascinated right now.

7:46they don't want to miss a minute of it the gist is you all know each other I remember that moment too that was so crazy and what I'm going to propose now for you and Ronnie right now is maybe we do a special live like just a small event concert on the street in Farnham me introducing you guys and we just do it for the people of Farnham just think about it don't give me an answer now Ronnie can you keep it down so listen I have a running for you guys when you first performed on there, where were you in your careers? And was that a pinnacle of like, oh my God, I think I made it. And what did that feel like?

8:22I think it's been a steady incline of just like, sort of like, how did we get here? And we've just been sort of enjoying the ride. Ever since, I mean, the very first one, it just keeps, you know, something keeps happening. And we, you know, we keep busy. We know what an opportunity this is. But you guys came, but your first record though, I mean, you guys came out with a bang and it's kind of been, you've had the good, I'm not going to say good fortune because you're really talented and you guys make good music, but you've luckily kind of struck a chord with people every step of the way. And that's got to feel good because you got to feel like we're kind of in touch with what's going on in a way.

9:09Is that something that's real? Yeah. I mean, I think our goal is always there's this constant evolution and you watch. Not every step that we've taken has been right, but you can see us really trying to find what the core is and what we're going to represent. And you see this evolution within each album. And I think people have just, we've been lucky enough that we've been able to take people along with us or they've been going through that same experience. I always wonder about that with musicians because you have probably – well, you certainly have more autonomy than anyone in TV or movies in that there's a script that comes before the actor does their thing or the director does their thing.

9:54or with musicians, with groups, you can do whatever you want, make the album about whatever you want, make it sound, and you've got to hope that the audience that has been with you thus far, it will be appealing to them as well. So how much do you factor in what you think they want? How much do you let that affect your creative process? I'm sure some bands a little bit and then some not at all. Where do you guys sit on that? I think we have to like it first. Anything that comes out, you know, we have tons of cutting room floor stuff that for whatever reason just, you know, they're lost dogs or orphans, orphan songs or ideas.

10:40But if it sounds good to you, no matter whether it's got a country vibe or an acid rock vibe or a jazz vibe, like, because you guys, I'm sure your musical taste will evolve over years. and you guys have to stay in sync with one another, but then also try to stay in sync with that other band member, which is the audience, yeah? Yeah, it's a balancing act. I think we used to just throw all sorts of songs on a single album and we've just sort of been lucky that they've had some sort of congruent line between all of them. Yeah. And now I think we're getting more into like the body of work sort of idea where it has a focus.

11:24And you've created a bank with your audience that even though it might sound a little bit different or a little bit more challenging to tap your toe to, don't worry about it. We got you and we've proved. I don't think you guys ever run the risk of having a song that you can't tap your toe to. I will say that much. That's nice. But you guys, but I was going to say, and JB, you're right that when you talk about they're like the other audience member is, I mean, the other member of the band is the audience. Like there's some story that I heard about you guys a long time ago, and maybe you can talk about this, that when you guys were maybe writing Hot Fuss, like or something that you wrote a record and you threw it out, is that true?

12:05Do you talk about it as much as you're comfortable talking about that? Is that a true story? That's our most recent endeavor. Oh, it was your most recent record? Your most recent record you tossed in the trash. Wait, you finished it and then just threw it out? We began down a road that was a more synth-heavy road. Okay. And we realized this, you know, I just personally didn't want to make this music anymore, and Ronnie didn't want to do it either. And so as opposed to the instrumental stuff? No, just didn't want to fully commit to a whole synth pop record. I would have bought that in a second.

12:51But what would be the opposite of that? You're talking to an idiot here. Okay, so the opposite would be maybe more a rock and roll record. Gotcha. But what is that process? So you're what? You're working on your fourth song, and you're in the studio, and you're rehearsing, and you look at each other and just go, the fuck are we doing, man? Yeah, and everybody else just breathes like, thank God you said it because I didn't want to say it. Oh, that's got to be horrible. it's a it's complex because we there's this place in our hearts for this music we were we were influenced by it but we're getting you know but we are getting older and we've also know what it feels like to write a great rock and roll song and so we thought we thought maybe that you could make a faster album maybe while you're on the road because you're dealing with computers more with synth music and keyboards yeah and then it just wasn't we weren't getting the gratification out of it that we would get when you're writing.

13:41Yeah, because you're right. I was in a synth pop band in college. Oh, boy. I played the keyboard. You'll have to see a picture. We do have Sean. Sean, by the way, play for these guys. If you can find it, play that song that you played us before. Oh, yeah. Well, there's three songs. Before we end today. Yeah, well, I'll have Bennett and Rob dig it up. There's actually three hit songs. You guys might want to put it on your synths. We'll rip those off, too. Yeah, you can rip those off now. You might take that back. I used to play the keyboards in this band called Sounds from the Stairs. Thanks. The keyboards.

14:15Hey, did you ever play keytar, Sean? No, almost, though. I'd love to see it. Sean, I've seen you play. You play beautifully. Oh, that's very nice. It was so impressive because I saw the Netflix special, and I was so surprised. I did not know you had that in your pocket there. Oh, thanks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's incredible. Classically trained. He is. Yeah, Jason, I sat down and played for Jason Bateman. Sean, do you want to join our band? I knew where this was going that's what I'm telling you yeah I'll join your band whoa okay this is I can't believe you're getting in the killers before me you made news no I can't do anything but I'm still mad about it I'm gonna turn you guys into synth pop guys the last thing I do you were the missing link the record could have come out I would I know what you mean though about like playing like because I would play the keyboards and like try to really be into it like a drummer can really be into it naturally because right Ronnie because you're just like your body's moving anyway to the music but when you play keyboard you kind of have to watch exactly the keys you're playing so you can't really like move your body to rock out during the music you just have to kind of like stay stiff and play while the craziness is happening you know what i mean a lot of what a lot of neck pops yeah not neck pops right right so i would be i would be playing like crazy i'd be like jumping around dancing and then when it got to my solo i'd stop and really focus on the keyboard the keys i was playing and then as i was done i'd go back into playing back and you can't do you can't do the fuck you can't like bang like you just got fired like at the end of like all these things that i've done where you're like bang you can't do that on no synth so this move from synth back to to rock and roll now you're talking to the the old the grandpa and me too like i i listen i'm a big like radio head fan then they they kind of went to synth a while ago and i kind of went with it and i guess i'm still with it because they know better than me what good music is and so i get with it um but i i you like them despite what they're doing yeah i'm gonna despite what your ears tell you you're gonna just listen but i love those too but but i i but you know i listen to all this music that my kids listen to and it like no one is playing guitar anymore there's no drums anymore there's no and i know i sound like the old man on the lawn but um can it do you see it starting to go back to i mean i'm i get nostalgic about a band as young as you know the white stripes or you know the black keys or like these like rock and roll bands i'm not even going back to acdc or led zeppelin but like where's all where are the instruments we're talking to i i'm yeah i'm excited that you guys are going back to that well there's a we've only been around 20 years and in those from from when we started rock radio was a different a completely different animal and it's There are fewer and fewer stations, and they started to, just this homogenization started to happen where they started to incorporate, all of a sudden you started hearing beats and things that were influenced by maybe more hip-hop, and now it's just, it's almost unrecognizable as Rocket anymore.

17:21Well, yeah, and that's a good, and Ronnie, speak to a little bit, as a drummer, what's it like living in a world where so many beats are created on a computer, you know? Like I always say, here's the drummer in our band and he's standing by a MacBook. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I think there's a careful, maybe a classy balancing act. At least for me, I've seen people who are so good at their instrument, drums, that they actually sound like they've been manipulated on a computer. Yeah. It's interesting. you know all the all the different things you can manipulate in inside a computer and things but i don't think it'll ever replace the blood you know coursing through somebody's brain and body uh to produce a sound or a an expression and is that where is is that where you guys got to was that part of the decision when you just like when you're saying you were an indoo was it literally that you're like we're not feeling connected to the music partly you can't there's an amazing thing that happened that i that i now reflecting on our you know the magic moments that we've shared um is me i'm responding to the way that ronnie plays and part of it is how how loud it is and how it's powerful and it's physical so it forces me ronnie just say sorry yeah if we're in a room If we're in a room, I got to sing a certain way.

18:51I can't be timid. You're not going to hear me. And so there's something about those dynamics that have helped us become what we are. Can I tell you something, Brandon? The beat's bigger than you, and I get it. And now, a word from our sponsor.

19:10And now, back to the show. It's interesting you bring that up, Brandon, because the way you guys, first of all, your arrangements on all your studio albums are amazing, and I've seen you live as well. It's just amazing. But the mix, the way you guys do it, and it's a testament to your voice because I know that no matter what you do and playing with how you're hearing yourself, it's really tough because, yeah, Ronnie, you should be sorry. You're very loud. And all the instruments in your band, the rhythm section has, you know, you really feel it. I mean, you guys come out and really, and guitar and everything, and that's tough to get, to break through that, I bet.

19:52I mean, that's a skill to be able to, because you do sound very front and center, even though the band is also very full at the same time. The mix is, I want to compliment whoever mixes your records, but you do, it is tough to do. And again, so I saw you guys play at this concert that this guy had. And you played and there were about 200 people there. And Paul McCartney was in the crowd, maybe 200 people. And Brandon, you go, you said something like, hey, we want to sing Helter Skelter, but Sir Paul McCartney, I see you out there and would you do us the honor of coming and singing with us. and paul mccartney got up and sang helter skelter with these fucking guys and it was unbelievable and so i came backstage you remember after i came back you were in that little room and i said how are you feeling you were just buzzing you guys i go how are you feeling you're like i just sang helter skelter with paul mccartney man that's pretty cool do you remember i mean you obviously remember that yeah it was so wild man um we uh for it was even more surreal moments was before he came up, you're singing and you look over and he has his cell phone out and he's filming you and it's like singing along to smile like you mean it.

21:07And I was just like, what is happening? It was one of the most wildest things. The other thing that with bands needing to tour a lot more now as a way in which to monetize what you guys do since album sales changed a long time ago and now touring is a huge, huge part of what you guys do, So I would imagine that switching back to a more instrumental thing as opposed to a synthesized thing makes playing stuff live easier, more exciting for the audience, since you're not just hitting a button for the drum sounds. You actually need a drummer and drum kit out there. Yes, it just makes for a better experience if the music is not synthesized, right?

21:49Oh, yeah. I mean, even songs that don't have a lot of synthy bits, we've sort of tailored for live. We sort of have this dichotomy between being a live band and doing things in the studio. And oftentimes we just sort of have tunnel vision where we forget about the live aspect sometimes and we just go with this experience of recording and then we're like, okay, well, how do we dial this in for a live experience? And that could be, you know, it's not just sounds, but it's like, it's tempo too. You know, we'll, oftentimes we'll speed stuff up or, or sometimes we'll slow stuff down. We slowed it. Do you ever speed stuff up just to get out there, get out of there sooner?

22:39No. Because I just did this show on Broadway where I played the Rhapsody and I was like, I'm fucking tired. And I would just, I would play it twice as fast. I like that. You guys miss Sean. He was on Broadway this year. He won a Tony, by the way. Hold for applause. God. And we'll add the applause. His was spelt T-O-N-I-E, though. Yeah, it was different. Oh, yeah, no, no, it wasn't what you think of the Tony Awards. The lineup. But he played, and he played every night to end the show on piano, and he's, like we talked about, an accomplished pianist. And he had to do it every goddamn night. And, yeah, Sean, you said that some nights you would just jam through it.

23:20And the cast would be like, was that like, because it's usually like eight, nine minutes. They're like, was that four minutes? I was like, yeah, I'm tired. I want to go home. Yeah, what do you do when you get out there in front of thousands and thousands and thousands of people and you're just not feeling it? Yeah. I mean, do you just kind of wait until you do because you got other bandmates that can maybe carry the water for a song or two? It's rare. I don't know about Ronnie, but it's rare that I'm not excited, that the juices don't just start flowing in the butterfly. I still get the butterflies before.

23:52and so it's almost up to the audience. There will be moments where you come out and you think you're just so ready and they aren't meeting your expectations. And that's when it can be, those are the times it's a struggle, but I never feel like, oh, another gig. I never feel like that. Right. Don't you, because every audience takes on a collective kind of energy and sometimes, like you're saying, it's a less than energy. and don't you just get really pissed off at them and want to take it out on them and you can't? I'm going to say they don't. I'm going to answer. I bet they don't. No, yeah, we don't.

24:30We can't take it out on them. We've got to be professional. All right. When's the last time you guys, do you guys see a lot of live music yourself? Do you guys go to concerts and kind of experience what it's like as an audience too and kind of let that inform your performances? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and especially on tour, if we're touring with somebody, it's always helpful to get out there and just, you know, it helps get the blood moving a little bit. Oh, we're going to be doing that in an hour. Are you ready? In an hour? Yeah, well, yeah. No, I mean, you know, watching somebody before you play or something.

25:06Who are you guys touring with right now? Like who in the last year? I don't want to put you on the spot. It's okay. Yeah, no, we did a ton of shows with Johnny Marr. Oh, yeah. Oh my God, I love Johnny Marv. Love Johnny Marv, the Smiths, JB. Get your hand off your pearls, Will. One of the top three guitarists. One of the top three guitarists of all time. One of the top three guitarists of all time. Oh, yeah. Do you like the Smiths? I love the Smiths. Yeah, no, you know what we did? We did one or two Smiths songs we would do every night with them. Yes. No way. What songs? I just saw a video of you guys.

25:41Shut the fuck up, Sean. What songs did you guys do of the Smiths? We did This Charming Man with him is how we first. I love it. And then we did Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want. It's the greatest song ever. Listen to this one. How deep do you go with the Smiths? I go very. We did What She Said. Oh, my God. Yes, I know what she said. You almost put two hands on your pearls just then. Like fully punk rock Smith, what she said. We did Stop Me, if you think you've heard this one before. Oh, stop me. Oh, stop me. You know what's wild? They broke up before they toured that. That's on the last album.

26:19Is that, hang on, is that not louder than Bombs? No, Stop Me is on Strange Ways. On Strange Ways, here we come, yeah. So we're up there and we're about to play it and he tells me, I've never played this with a singer. No way. So I was like, this is so amazing. That's weird. Yeah, you're up there singing Stop Me with him and it's the first time he's done it because it was meant to be with Morrissey. That's crazy. Were they a big, who were your big influences? I've always wanted to know because you guys have. Definitely the Smiths. Yeah. That's so cool. I can hear it now that you say that. I guess I can hear some of it.

26:58We were just, last night we were singing some early Depeche Mode. Uh-oh, here they come. Get me started. Yeah. So Brandon and I sort of, we melt. We like that band. Yeah. They're incredible. They're incredible. What other bands? I want to hear what other bands they liked. It was New Order and the Smiths and the Cars. Guys, I mean, it's like we're family. You guys can stay here. Sean, go change. You're saying everything I love. Were you guys influenced at all by any sort of like 90s indie bands too? Yeah. Ronnie, I'm a little bit younger. and so when that stuff was happening, I was just, a lot of it was a little bit heavy for me so my brother was older than me and he had passed on this other stuff to me but I think Ronnie was definitely, Echo and the Bunnymen, Susie and the Banshees.

27:58Well, that's earlier but yes, for sure. It was the 90s, isn't it? But Ronnie, were you like, I'm like a pavement built to spill guy. Sure, yeah. All those guys, Dinosaur Jr., Sebadeau. Oh my God. You know, all those guys. Oasis came around for me. Oasis. Yeah. Did it take a minute? Did Oasis take a minute for you, Brendan? Or were you right into it? It took me a minute, and then I sort of became obsessed. I was considered an Oasis tattoo when I was 18. Did you really? Did you really? I'm so thankful I didn't do that. Instead, you went with soft sell, I heard, right? Just on the small of your back.

28:37I had the same thing with Oasis, where I was like, at first at Oasis, I was like, I don't and then became obsessed with them too. They were so rad. Sorry, Jason, I cut you off 50 times because I'm geeking out. No, it's Sean. Go ahead, Sean. Oh, I have a thousand questions, if I may. Yeah, go ahead. First of all, we're talking about live shows. I always ask whenever musicians come on, what's your best, worst live show experience story? Like the thing that went wrong the most. Well, there is the opposite situation where there were two things that really happened And we did a stadium run last year in the UK, and we were in Manchester.

29:19And two things happened. Another girl made a sign to wanting to play drums on one of our songs, and we brought her up. And when I was back there, I was like, you know the song? Just kind of watch me because I jump on guitar for a second. and she told us that she wanted to do something brave because her best friend, she's like 16 years old maybe, her best friend's going through cancer and that's a brave thing for her to go through and she said she wanted to do something brave. So I learned this song. I said, get on up there and she was excellent. That's great. I mean, she totally knocked it out of the park.

30:00And it was one of the best gigs maybe of the year. It was like this huge, you know, soccer stadium. Wow. How long ago? This was last year, last spring. Is that one of those? But the other thing that happened was, and Brandon stopped the show, he sees this guy crowd surfing from the front of house, which is where the sound board, the mixing board, our sound guy lives. He's like 80 years old. As he gets closer, you see that there's this old fella just riding the wave. And he – What the fuck? They dropped him. They dropped him. He drops. Brandon stops the show. This is real. On his head. Brandon stops the show because it looks like you just saw feet and then you didn't see the guy anymore.