Rock Band The Killers Embrace Pop On New Album

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NEW YORK (Billboard) – Chameleonic Killers frontman Brandon Flowers seems to sport a new look for every album his band releases.

He was a dandy for 2004's "Hot Fuss" and an urban cowboy on 2006's "Sam's Town." For "Day & Age," due November 24 from Island Def Jam, he's remade himself as a new waver. The looks makes sense, since "Day and Age" was produced by Madonna collaborator Stuart Price and sometimes sounds like it was beamed straight out of an '80s disco. But Flowers stopped dancing long enough to answer some questions.

1. MANY POPULAR ROCK BANDS LIVE VERY PUBLIC LIVES ONLINE,

YET YOU AND THE KILLERS ARE MUCH MORE PRIVATE. DO YOU FEEL ANY

PRESSURE TO START A WEB SITE AND TELL EVERYONE WHAT YOU ATE FOR

BREAKFAST?

I'm not very good at talking to fans. I don't think we try to be mysterious on purpose, but most of this blogging and twittering doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I grew up before everyone had a computer and a Web site. It's not that we don't care about our fans, but we don't see the need to communicate with them in that way. Hell, we're so old-school we don't even pay someone to blog for us.

2. HOW MUCH INPUT DO YOU AND THE REST OF THE BAND HAVE WHEN

IT COMES TO MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT MARKETING THE NEW ALBUM?

We're very involved in the process. We had very specific ideas in mind for the "Human" video and we actively sought out different treatments. We get along with the label and in the past we've split the cost of the videos or they've paid for it outright. We've proven to them that we're usually right and they give us the space and breathing room to do what we need.

3. THE "HUMAN" VIDEO WAS SHOT IN THE DESERT CLOSE TO YOUR

HOMETOWN, LAS VEGAS. WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO SHOOT THE

VIDEO THERE? DO YOU STILL FEEL CLOSE TO VEGAS?

We all love the Southwest. We've made the mistake of doing photo shoots in Manhattan and it hasn't worked out. I still feel like I'm connected to Vegas, although I wouldn't say I'm part of the scene. When we were starting out, there was no scene -- we would just go out and play with anyone.

4. NIKE RECENTLY RAN AN AD FEATURING THE FIRST ALBUM'S "ALL

THESE THINGS THAT I'VE DONE." HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LICENSING?

I was really inspired by the Nike commercial, because I felt like that song didn't get its due in America and it was great to see it get some attention. In terms of other licensing deals, we have a monthly approval meeting where we go through all the proposals we get and vote on what we think would be best. We've never taken a hard and fast position to say we're never going to work with certain people or a certain company.

5. THE NEW ALBUM IS A DEPARTURE FROM THE LAST ONE -- IT'S

MUCH MORE POP. WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THAT CHANGE AND HOW DO YOU

THINK YOUR FANS WILL RESPOND?

We don't think about demographics when we're recording -- we want to please ourselves. We figure that if we like it, there are bound to be other people that like it too. In terms of putting the album together, we go with the best songs, but we also want to make sure the album has a certain flavor overall. We did have more rock songs that didn't make it onto the record, and I do think what made it on does have rock moments. In terms of our fans, I'd like to think they're smart and open-minded and don't want us to keep reinventing the wheel. If you've been a fan for a long time, you're prepared for change.

6. THE KILLERS HAD A METEORIC RISE IN THE TOURING WORLD

AFTER THE DEBUT ALBUM. HOW WILL YOU TOUR THIS TIME?

I think we keep getting better live and we want to go as far as this will take us. I want to play bigger arenas this time around, for sure