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I am not a hipster and I am not trying to be. I believe there is nothing wrong with writing good songs, and I think that is what has been lost in all of this. People are either trying to be too cool or they are worried about just selling records. -Brandon Flowers on today's music scene |
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Photo: ©Anton Corbijn
"I think that music is just as significant to people as it was in the past but I just don't think it is as good as it was," Flowers continues. "I think it is cheap and whorish - not in the way that people sell it but how they express it. They had the [Surpremes] in the past and now we have [Fergie]. There was a pureness to the music back then that we don't have now. Take Gwen Stefani, for example. I like this song 'Sweet Escape,' which reminds me of an old '50s girl group kind of song. But, she says, 'I'm acting like a skank' in it. That is exactly what I am talking about. Is there nothing better you can use for that lyric? I don't even know what that means exactly. Little kids are hearing this stuff and it just makes me wonder what is happening. We seem to be getting more morally terrible."
What Flowers was expressing struck me as uncommon and, even more, unexpected. Here are The Killers, a pop band in every sense of the word. They're mainstays on MTV and VH1, adored by millions, but in the center of this industry induced chaos they've managed to keep their credibility. In the midst of legions of loyal fans, Flowers retains his personal ideology.
The Killers |
"You know, man, I went to all the cafes with all the 'Indie People' and the people that say they would be happy playing at the café for the rest of their lives," Flowers says. "Those people tend to be the most arrogant and mean people in the world, and I don't like those people. I have never been shy to say this. I am not a hipster and I am not trying to be. I believe there is nothing wrong with writing good songs, and I think that is what has been lost in all of this. People are either trying to be too cool or they are worried about just selling records."
"As an example, you are either Creed or you are Bright Eyes," Flowers explains. "We have lost the people who are in the middle - artists that wanted to make statements, have their credibility AND played to 30,000 every night. That gap still hasn't been fully filled. I think we are one of the bands that can do it but there is no place for it. There is no middle."
The Killers |
Flowers' comments are eerily reminiscent of a conversation I had with another pop darling back in August of 2006. Toiling in the same indie hipster world as Flowers and The Killers, Jack White (The White Stripes, Raconteurs) had this to say: "As far as America goes, my whole trip lately has been to get as far away from hipster culture as I can. I don't want to be cool to those kids."
So how does a band like The Killers, The White Stripes or any of the other popular acts who actually have something to say balance fame with substance? It's actually pretty simple - write good songs and bring them to the people. You don't have to change your name or cut your hair or endorse Miller Light to be a musician that reaches the masses. On the flip side, the simple fact is that it's okay to have your music heard by millions. Flowers is proof that you can exist in a big way in this industry while still holding tight to your artistic ethics.
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