The Killers (2011)
Interview Background
Officially this was actually an interview with The Killers’ drummer Ronnie Vannucci to promote his Big Talk side-project, but talk inevitably covered Nevada’s finest rock band as well as his excellent eponymous release. Acts as diverse as Muse and Tegan & Sara have previously told me what a lovely guy Vannucci is, so it was no surprise this interview proved the musician to be an immensely likeable character – a guy as at home playing to 60,000 music fans as he is helping an old mate to move house. An unpublished section of our conversation has been included below the interview.
The following is an edited version of an interview first published in Rip It Up, July 2011.
Big Talk - Side Profile
by Scott McLennan
When The Killers took a lengthy break from touring last year, it didn’t take long for drummer Ronnie Vannucci to grow bored of sitting around the house. Finishing off the studies for his incomplete University Of Las Vegas degree in recital concentration failed to fill the void for Vannucci, a musician more recently accustomed to playing gigs for US President Barack Obama and collaborating with luminaries such as Lou Reed.
Vannucci found his answer with the purchase of a vintage 1966 Rickenbacker 335 Fireglo, with his new project Big Talk effortlessly coming together soon after.
“I just wanted to do something to basically pass the time!” Vannucci chuckles. “When The Killers are involved in songwriting it’s a very serious, methodical thing and this wasn’t that way at all. This was a good time type of thing with me and my friend Taylor [Milne] that just happened to become a record.”
Vannucci resisted turning to his star-studded list of contacts for Big Talk, preferring to record most of the album himself.
“I initially wanted to see if everybody was up for a collaboration, but I didn’t have a lot of time and it takes more time to get people together. Everyone is busy with their own schedules so I was just like, ‘Oh, fuck it!’. Any restrictions on this record were just my limitations as a musician. I really didn’t set out with a direction for any of these songs on the record. I didn’t have a muzzle or any restrictions on, so basically it was whatever came out.”
Infused with the spirit of AM radio classics by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and The Cars with a twist of Killers flash, the eponymous debut from Big Talk is a good-time album full of spirit - and spirits. The son of a bartender and cocktail waitress, it’s no surprise Vannucci’s penned an alcohol-drenched lament titled No Whiskey.
“Yeah, I’ve been around alcohol a long time, but I can quit anytime I want to,” Vannucci jokes. “Actually, I was about 25 before I had my first drink. It’s really weird, since I never had that teenage sneaking-out-of-the-house-to-get-drunk phase.”
Growing up in Las Vegas, Vannucci funded his musical aspirations by working as a wedding photographer. For glam and garish matrimonial spectacles, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better locale.
“I’ve seen it all man, I’ve seen it all. You always hear about it and see it in movies, but at one wedding there was this one jealous guy who was quite distraught. He was drunk and did not want that wedding to happen. He was in the back row and it broke out into this big emotional scene. He was crying and yelling and the whole thing was sad and hilarious at the same time. He was dressed up and I think he was invited, but he couldn’t contain it after some whiskey.”
Did you take some shots of him being manhandled out of the room?
“Of course I did – I’m a photographer!”
Before taking Big Talk on the road in September, Vannucci is back recording new demos with The Killers this month. Don’t expect frontman Brandon Flowers to be relegated to the drum kit now that his bandmate has proven his vocal skills.
“Brandon still needs a little work on the drums,” Vannucci admits, “but I need a lot of work on the vocal side of things too. I’m in no position to be flinging mud.”
Big Talk (Epitaph/Warner)
Unpublished Interview Material
How did your debut Big Talk performance on Jimmy Kimmel go?
"Oh fuck man, that was nerve-wracking but it was so much fun. That was only the fourth time we’ve ever played Replica – or any of the songs, as we played a few more after that – live, so it was quite a rush."
So did you have a few of those whiskies before you went on stage to calm the nerves?
"No, I went dry. Well, I did have one small shot with everyone before I went on but I had to keep my wits with me, you know."
You bought yourself a vintage 1966 Rickenbacker 335 Fireglo for this album. Pete Townshend from The Who and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers all play Rickenbackers. Was there anyone in particular who inspired you to buy that particular guitar?
"Wow man, you know about my Rick? That’s crazy! I grew up listening to all of those bands and REM. They all had that distinct sound and I really like the sounds Peter Buck created and I just love REM a lot. Mike Campbell is probably my favourite guitarist for whatever reason; he’s such a great musician and I just melt when he plays. I don’t know if I was really thinking, ‘Oh, I want to be like Mike Campbell, I’ll get a Rick’, but my dad’s had a Rick around the house for years and I kind of learnt how to play on a Rickenbacker. It feels natural."
Does your photography background mean you take a special interest when you’re being photographed by someone special like Anton Corbijn?
"Oh yeah! Anton has inspired me a little bit. Most of my spare time is devoted to music, but maybe I’ll get the bug again."
The Replica video gets into some pervy robot sex. Is that what Ronnie Vannucci’s into these days?
"Yeah man, when you have it all you’ve gotta start getting into this weird shit. The song isn’t about robots, though. My little robot…
We went out and filmed that in the middle of nowhere in a place called Inyokern, California, which is fucking really in the middle of nowhere. You get the trailer parks out there…"
We mentioned The Heartbreakers and there’s a Tom Petty feel to some of the songs, which is cool. If you were to do your own 21st century take on a Tom Petty-and Stevie Nicks-style duet, which female singer would you choose as your companion?
"Well I don’t know if she’s 21st century, but I sure would like to do something someday with Dolly Parton. Yup, I reckon that would be funny - Ronnie & Dolly. Maybe someday I’ll get that lucky."
Now that you’ve released Big Talk, can we expect you to be pulling off a Don Henley at Killers gigs with a mic up there behind the drum kit?
"[sings The Heart Of The Matter] ‘I got the call today, I didn’t want to hear’ . Coincidentally, Mike Campbell wrote that song, so I guess we’ll end it there!"
Officially this was actually an interview with The Killers’ drummer Ronnie Vannucci to promote his Big Talk side-project, but talk inevitably covered Nevada’s finest rock band as well as his excellent eponymous release. Acts as diverse as Muse and Tegan & Sara have previously told me what a lovely guy Vannucci is, so it was no surprise this interview proved the musician to be an immensely likeable character – a guy as at home playing to 60,000 music fans as he is helping an old mate to move house. An unpublished section of our conversation has been included below the interview.
The following is an edited version of an interview first published in Rip It Up, July 2011.
Big Talk - Side Profile
by Scott McLennan
When The Killers took a lengthy break from touring last year, it didn’t take long for drummer Ronnie Vannucci to grow bored of sitting around the house. Finishing off the studies for his incomplete University Of Las Vegas degree in recital concentration failed to fill the void for Vannucci, a musician more recently accustomed to playing gigs for US President Barack Obama and collaborating with luminaries such as Lou Reed.
Vannucci found his answer with the purchase of a vintage 1966 Rickenbacker 335 Fireglo, with his new project Big Talk effortlessly coming together soon after.
“I just wanted to do something to basically pass the time!” Vannucci chuckles. “When The Killers are involved in songwriting it’s a very serious, methodical thing and this wasn’t that way at all. This was a good time type of thing with me and my friend Taylor [Milne] that just happened to become a record.”
Vannucci resisted turning to his star-studded list of contacts for Big Talk, preferring to record most of the album himself.
“I initially wanted to see if everybody was up for a collaboration, but I didn’t have a lot of time and it takes more time to get people together. Everyone is busy with their own schedules so I was just like, ‘Oh, fuck it!’. Any restrictions on this record were just my limitations as a musician. I really didn’t set out with a direction for any of these songs on the record. I didn’t have a muzzle or any restrictions on, so basically it was whatever came out.”
Infused with the spirit of AM radio classics by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and The Cars with a twist of Killers flash, the eponymous debut from Big Talk is a good-time album full of spirit - and spirits. The son of a bartender and cocktail waitress, it’s no surprise Vannucci’s penned an alcohol-drenched lament titled No Whiskey.
“Yeah, I’ve been around alcohol a long time, but I can quit anytime I want to,” Vannucci jokes. “Actually, I was about 25 before I had my first drink. It’s really weird, since I never had that teenage sneaking-out-of-the-house-to-get-drunk phase.”
Growing up in Las Vegas, Vannucci funded his musical aspirations by working as a wedding photographer. For glam and garish matrimonial spectacles, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better locale.
“I’ve seen it all man, I’ve seen it all. You always hear about it and see it in movies, but at one wedding there was this one jealous guy who was quite distraught. He was drunk and did not want that wedding to happen. He was in the back row and it broke out into this big emotional scene. He was crying and yelling and the whole thing was sad and hilarious at the same time. He was dressed up and I think he was invited, but he couldn’t contain it after some whiskey.”
Did you take some shots of him being manhandled out of the room?
“Of course I did – I’m a photographer!”
Before taking Big Talk on the road in September, Vannucci is back recording new demos with The Killers this month. Don’t expect frontman Brandon Flowers to be relegated to the drum kit now that his bandmate has proven his vocal skills.
“Brandon still needs a little work on the drums,” Vannucci admits, “but I need a lot of work on the vocal side of things too. I’m in no position to be flinging mud.”
Big Talk (Epitaph/Warner)
Unpublished Interview Material
How did your debut Big Talk performance on Jimmy Kimmel go?
"Oh fuck man, that was nerve-wracking but it was so much fun. That was only the fourth time we’ve ever played Replica – or any of the songs, as we played a few more after that – live, so it was quite a rush."
So did you have a few of those whiskies before you went on stage to calm the nerves?
"No, I went dry. Well, I did have one small shot with everyone before I went on but I had to keep my wits with me, you know."
You bought yourself a vintage 1966 Rickenbacker 335 Fireglo for this album. Pete Townshend from The Who and Mike Campbell from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers all play Rickenbackers. Was there anyone in particular who inspired you to buy that particular guitar?
"Wow man, you know about my Rick? That’s crazy! I grew up listening to all of those bands and REM. They all had that distinct sound and I really like the sounds Peter Buck created and I just love REM a lot. Mike Campbell is probably my favourite guitarist for whatever reason; he’s such a great musician and I just melt when he plays. I don’t know if I was really thinking, ‘Oh, I want to be like Mike Campbell, I’ll get a Rick’, but my dad’s had a Rick around the house for years and I kind of learnt how to play on a Rickenbacker. It feels natural."
Does your photography background mean you take a special interest when you’re being photographed by someone special like Anton Corbijn?
"Oh yeah! Anton has inspired me a little bit. Most of my spare time is devoted to music, but maybe I’ll get the bug again."
The Replica video gets into some pervy robot sex. Is that what Ronnie Vannucci’s into these days?
"Yeah man, when you have it all you’ve gotta start getting into this weird shit. The song isn’t about robots, though. My little robot…
We went out and filmed that in the middle of nowhere in a place called Inyokern, California, which is fucking really in the middle of nowhere. You get the trailer parks out there…"
We mentioned The Heartbreakers and there’s a Tom Petty feel to some of the songs, which is cool. If you were to do your own 21st century take on a Tom Petty-and Stevie Nicks-style duet, which female singer would you choose as your companion?
"Well I don’t know if she’s 21st century, but I sure would like to do something someday with Dolly Parton. Yup, I reckon that would be funny - Ronnie & Dolly. Maybe someday I’ll get that lucky."
Now that you’ve released Big Talk, can we expect you to be pulling off a Don Henley at Killers gigs with a mic up there behind the drum kit?
"[sings The Heart Of The Matter] ‘I got the call today, I didn’t want to hear’ . Coincidentally, Mike Campbell wrote that song, so I guess we’ll end it there!"
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