The Killers guitarist Dave Keuning reacted to drummer Ronnie Vanucci Jr. saying he hadn’t been ‘productive’ in the band for ‘years’ prior to his hiatus in a new interview.
Rolling Stone asked, “I spoke to Ronnie about a year ago. He said, ‘I don’t want to spill too much dirty laundry, but it’s been years since he’s been really a productive part of this band.'”
Keuning responded, “I remember hearing something about that and I was annoyed. But Ronnie and I get along pretty well. I don’t want to ruin that. [Laughs] But…[sighs] … we were a band in the beginning. And why did we become a band in the first place? Because we all agreed on everything. We all got along great. We all wanted to make the same kind of music.
And then as time goes on, everybody wants to make something different. People’s personal lives change. It wasn’t by choice that I wasn’t involved. I tried to contribute. [Sigh] I want to answer this very carefully: It’s kind of a perfect storm. I don’t have creative control. I can’t just walk in and say, “This song is going to make the record.” But also, I had so much drama going on in my personal life that it was hard for me to devote my creative brain to it 100%.
I think the break has actually done me a lot of good. Maybe that’s what I needed. I’ve felt really creative the past five years. But when my idea doesn’t get used over and over and over again, I’m kind of left with only a few choices: I can fight about it or use it in a solo project that not nearly as many people will know about, but at least it gives me a finished sense of satisfaction. And I’m happy that some of these songs are seeing the light of day instead of never being finished.” Keuning is recording on the new Killers album, and is likely to tour with the band for the first time in 4 years when the record is released. Keuning did not appear on 2020’s Imploding the Mirage.
