NME: Can I ask you some personal questions?
BRANDON FLOWERS: (Pause) OK…
NME: It’s an election year in the U.S., so it seems appropriate to ask you about the time you said you were "sympathetic to George Bush."
BF: Yeah. I said that, but I don’t think that now. I’m in the middle with my beliefs, like everyone else.
NME: I think it’s quite rare to meet someone in a rock ‘n’ roll band who says their politics are "in the middle."
BF: Well, I acknowledge that I’m different to people in most bands. In what way? I don’t want to talk about it. I think that’s enough of a statement in itself.
NME: I leave that alone then…
BF: (Brandon is oblivious to NME’s statement) I think a lot of people in bands do it because they’re artists and they’re supposed to be on the left.
NME: I think the argument is that rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to be counter-culture and so it’s rare for people within it to have conservative views.
BF: Yeah, I understand it all, but I am who I am and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to work out who I am and I always come back to the middle. I know as a singer in a band I should veer towards the left, but I don’t.
NME: So which way will you vote in the election?
BF: I don’t know. It could go both ways.
NME: Really?
BF: Yes.
NME: How do you feel about Obama?
BF: (Pause) I don’t think people want to hear The Killers talk about this stuff…
NME: I do. In an election year and with you being American, I think this stuff is unavoidable.
BF: I’m excited about him…I don’t know. I think too many people jump on the train and I don’t want to be one of those people. I like his ideas. I like the idea of what he represents. In a lot of ways.
NME: How do you feel about McCain?
BF: (Long pause) Everyone has good and bad points about them.
*****
"Do you think it’s weird that I’m down the middle?" asks Brandon loudly in the direction of his PR. She looks dumbstruck. I’m baffled by his sudden outburst. Brandon repeats the question. "In my politics? Do you think it’s weird that I’m down the middle?"
Minutes later, in the kitchen, The Killers’ manager is wagging his finger at Brandon Flowers and forcibly reminding him—and anyone else within earshot—that "you don’t ever talk about politics."
