In 2004, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, a well-known haunt for music lovers, played host to a band called The Killers who were hoping to make a splash across the pond. A little track called Mr Brightside ended up being the wave that carried them across the Atlantic and landing them firmly in the UK charts. Fifteen years later, The Killers’ guitarist, Dave Keuning, returns on March 26 to tour his solo album, Prisimism.
Even after playing on the world’s biggest stages, Keuning says he still treasures fond memories of Glasgow’s cult venue.
“I’m looking forward to coming back, it has been a long time since I’ve played there [King Tut’s] a lot of bands played there that worked their way up like Oasis. I’ve got nothing but great memories of that place and Scotland in general.”
Despite coming from the desert, his early influences included several British bands whose impact still resonates in his music today.
“I was pretty open-minded for the album, having a lot of fun on the keyboards and what came out was like 80’s New Order. I had total freedom to play whatever instrument I wanted.
“I was enjoying it because I did whatever felt fun to me.”
Keuning announced his hiatus from the band in 2017, before their Wonderful Wonderful tour and says he is reaping the benefits of having a break. However, he assures us that his new venture isn’t too far a departure from what fans know and love him for.
“There’s a bigger variety of songs than people expect but some of them are similar to the band, people who like The Killers won’t be disappointed.”
“It was a lot of fun to do my own album because I hadn’t had that much creative control in a long time, with The Killers I have a lot of ideas that don’t get used – this was a little different.
“I knew when I was working on a song it was going to be exactly what I wanted it to be. I think I learned a thing or two about song writing which was good for me, I’m definitely going to do more albums in the future.”
With nearly two decades of performing under his belt, the star still felt the nerves of singing solo for the first time.
“I was a little worried.
“The hardest thing for me was to sing but now I have so much material to put out. I had so much fun and doing it from home was easier for me to do. It was just something I had to step up and do, I could’ve worked with a different singer, but these were my songs and I wanted to do my best.”
Tickets for Keuning’s King Tut’s gig can be found here.
Header image: Dana Trippe.
