Las Vegas-based technopop sensation The Killers are touring in support of their third hit CD, “Day & Age,” and you’d think that with their success, they’d be making the typical demands most bands make on the road. But in a recent interview, the band’s lead singer, Brandon Flowers, a devout Mormon with a wife and young son, said they are more determined than ever not to let fame and fortune go to their heads.

In his gentle American accent Brandon, 27, continues: “I don’t mind when it’s said about me on stage. I look at it like it’s a veil that I put on. I can’t explain why I am so different. But off-stage, it’s not me but I think people say these things about me because it’s what they want me to be.

“We keep it very real. We don’t even have bodyguards, we don’t have hair people or stylists. We are very home-made and I think that’s why our fans are so attached to us. I think they recognise that.”

The Las Vegas band — Brandon, Dave Keuning (guitar), Ronnie Vannucci (drums) and Mark Stoermer (bass) — release album number three, Day & Age, at the end of the month. It’s preceded by Human, their new single which Chris Martin recently told SFTW is “the most perfect pop song of all year.”

Day & Age looks like being the band’s launch pad into the stratosphere.

Already No2 on the iTunes chart on pre-sales alone, it looks set to be their biggest album to date. Brandon describes the collection as their “most mature”. He says: “I feel a lot older. I’ve had to do a lot of growing up recently, especially when I had my son.”

Brandon, a practising Mormon, is talking about his toddler son Ammon (named after a prophet in the Book of Mormon).

His wife Tana and Ammon often travel with the band but today they are back home in Las Vegas.

A song on Day & Age, the Caribbean-tinged I Can’t Stay, addresses the pain of leaving his wife and son to tour.

The last time we met, Brandon spoke of his struggles with his Mormon faith and being in a band. Today he reveals that becoming a father has removed some of those problems: “It’s much easier to deal with my worries now, yeah. My son has changed things. But I am trying to figure out exactly what the right thing is to do with his upbringing, it obviously being so different to mine.”

As well as becoming a father since The Killers’ last album, Brandon has faced the anguish of his mother being diagnosed with a brain tumour. The album’s seven-minute finale, Goodnight, Travel Well, pays tribute to her and also to Dave’s mum, who died recently.

Brandon says: “My mum is doing fine. She is still having treatment — chemotherapy and radiotherapy — and it’s been hard. It’s been crazy times recently but music is what I do. It definitely helps.” Another song on Day & Age, the grandiose A Dustland Fairytale, tells the story of how his parents, who are still together today, were teenage sweethearts.

[From The Sun]

After seeing the way these guys dress on stage, I can’t say I’m shocked that they don’t have a stylist. But I still like their music. There was a lot of hype back when The Killers first arrived on the scene- many thought they were another pretty boy band that wouldn’t last. But their new CD is highly anticipated and they do seem to grow musically and lyrically with each new release. Maybe they are the real deal – if so, I wish them all luck in staying that way.

Here are the Killers doing “Human” at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards:

The Killers are shown at the MTV Europe Music Awards on 11/6/08 and at the GQ Men of the Year Awards on 9/2/08. Credit: WENN