It turns out that even if you make a song as big as "Mr. Brightside," you still succumb to feelings of competition with your peers. Brandon Flowers is not shy about this; in 2020, he told NME that he was grateful for Ezra Koenig because Vampire Weekend's Father Of The Bride "helped to propel us into the right direction and realize that we couldn't just phone in the Killers' record." In a new interview with Anthony Mason, Flowers expanded on this topic.
Flowers is getting ready to release his third solo album, the countrified Thrasher. In the interview, he discussed the first feelings of competition he experienced in the Killers: "Well, the Strokes put out their first record around this time. And it really, really had an impact on me," he said. "At first it was really negative. I felt like life was really over. The bar went from here to here. And it's like, it's over. My life is over."
When Mason brought up his previous comments on Vampire Weekend, Flowers replied, "I'm always aware when Vampire Weekend are putting something out." When Mason mentioned that the two bands have different sounds, Flowers said about Koenig, "It's just like, how's he doing?" He clarified that that he "loves" Koenig and once played tennis with him in Australia. He also mentioned that he shares a producer, Ariel Rechtshaid, with him. Rechtshaid produced the last three Vampire Weekend records and is producing the Killers' next one.
It's too wholesome to call a rivalry; at Vampire Weekend's MSG show in 2024, Flowers appeared in a video message to request a cover of "Mr. Brightside." Watch related media below.
