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The Killers are hard at work on the road playing shows in support of their new album Day & Age. During a recent stop in Toronto for an exclusive show at Massey Hall Dave and Mark from the band sat down with us to talk about the evolution of The Killers sound, the pressure of releasing new music, and Cindy Lauper. We call it The Ten, but for these guys it's The Fourteen... 

Y! Music: How would you say your sound has evolved from Hot Fuss until now with the new record?

Dave Keuning: Fairly naturally, I think really, I mean we like all the albums - I feel like they're all ‘us'. And you know our tastes, we all like different bands, different influences can pop up at different times, but I don't know what do you think? [turns to Mark]
 
Mark Stoermer: I think we never wanted to make the same album twice and we like to play around, and it just comes out like you said, naturally. We never plan to sound a certain way on a record, but it's changed, but I think we kind of always expected it to grow and change.
 
Y! Music:  How would you describe the sound of the new record?

Dave: It's The Killers 2008, [laughs] sorry that's the best way to put it.
 
Y! Music:  You chose Stuart Price to produce the new album, what was it about him or his previous work that attracted you to him?

Dave: He did a couple of remixes of us that were really good - "Mr. Brightside" and he also did one of "When We Were Young" and he had done thing like Les Rythmes Digitales and Zoot Woman, that we didn't know who he was back then, but that stuff is great, along with some of his other stuff he's produced. But really when we decided to use him on Sawdust just for a few songs, and that was a good test. And, we liked him a lot and he was really easy to work with. He's intelligent and fast, and you know he was just on the same page as us, I think, with everything musically, so it just seemed right to do a whole album with him next.

Y! Music:  Can you tell us about the songwriting and recording process on this record, how did that work?

Mark: It started off pretty much as it did for the second record with sound checks and some demos were being made on tour, maybe if we had a spare moment in a hotel room or in the back of the tour bus. And then we took a little bit of time off, and for the first time ever we started sending demos back and forth over the internet, through email, and each person would send it back with maybe their part on it, or change the idea a little bit. And that was a new thing for us, because usually we would always be together, but we were trying to take a little bit of time off for the first time ever. And, we basically went in and took those demos that we had, and had a bunch of them - 40, or 50 of them, who knows? And worked on those together, face-to-face for a month or so and then we went into the studio. And I think that the extra work early on helped speed up the process, cuz really most of the recording was done in a month, and that was a lot faster than the second record.
 
Y! Music:  Will that be a way you continue to work in the future? Getting some time off and sending ideas back and forth?

Dave: Possibly, it kind of wasn't our intention; our intentions were just to take some time off. But we still had song ideas that just came to us, you know, that doesn't stop. So rather than lose those, we at least made a demo out of it. And they just kind of started piling up, you know a few from everybody, and then we had a lot to pick from when we got into full writing mode with everybody in the room.
 
Y! Music:  With all the songs you had to chose from do you think there's one off the new Day & Age record that you're most proud of, worked the hardest on, or has the most meaning?

Dave: It might be different for all for all four of us, I mean I feel like we worked hard on all of them. I don't know, I like ‘Human' a lot, I like ‘Goodnight, Travel Well'
 
Mark: It's clichéd to say, but I think we're all definitely proud of the entire record. Two of my favourite songs are probably ‘Goodnight, Travel Well' and ‘I Can't Stay'
 
Y! Music:  How did you feel with this record coming out? Did you have to live up to the pressure of your previous albums?

Dave: I mean, I think we would feel pressure if we thought the album wasn't going well, but right away it seemed like it was going well, even more than in the past it seemed like we had a lot of great ideas. And there was even talk of a double album at one point that we might do cuz we were just so optimistic about all the material, and then we wised up and just put out one. But, I think we were all excited at the beginning. For the most part I think we all just try and be ourselves and agree on the best music, which basically means you know picking the best 10 songs and I don't think there was much pressure.
 
Y! Music: You guys have been nominated for, and won many awards over your career - is there anything that stands out?

Mark: Well for me, and maybe the other guys, I'm not sure I think it's the entire thing as a whole, there's no one thing. We just wake up and pinch ourselves everyday kind of thing, and the achievements or just being able to play around the world is a great thing. It's not about one moment.
 
Y! Music: There are a few YouTube videos of you guys circulating playing Cyndi Lauper's ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun' - is there any certain significance to the song or are you just a fan?
 
Dave: No significance, it's just a great song. You know, we like the song and it's a no-brainer if you play that song that people are going to sing along and have a good time, cuz everybody knows it, and I don't know if we'll play it again, but we might surprise people every now and then and play it live.
 
Y! Music: What are 3 things you think everyone should know about The Killers?

Dave: I don't have anything creative - I mean everybody knows we're from Vegas, we're not from England, even though we love England. I don't know, we don't want to give anything away, maybe that's it.
 
Y! Music: What types of shows do you prefer? Large stadium gigs, or smaller more intimate clubs?

Dave: I think, just me personally, I like them both for different reasons. I mean, we're doing Massey Hall here in Toronto and that's a little smaller, but it's so fun to go back and play those shows. Everybody has a pretty good seat, and we get to see the crowd, you know everybody is more bombastic if they get into a show like that. But I like the big ones too, I'm not going to complain. I mean it's awesome to walk out to all these people that are excited and it just feels great. For me I like them both, I can't really decide on what I'd prefer to play.
 
Mark: It's pretty much the same for me.
 
Y! Music: Do you prefer songwriting and being in the studio, or being on the road and touring?

Mark: They're both good - by the time you get sick of the studio you go back on the road and that kind of thing, and vice versa. Sometimes we may want to get back in the studio quicker if we've been on the road for maybe a year or nine months or something, and we still have maybe a couple more months to go. But most of the time, just when you're starting to get tired of one, the other one comes around.

You can buy Day & Age on iTunes now.