Brandon Flowers: Sinatra and cigars were my passion

Brandon Flowers has always had a secret "older persona".

The Killers frontman spent a lot of his youth in Las Vegas, which is also where the band was founded.

For an interview with Billboard magazine, Brandon sat down to talk with legendary Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton and discuss all things Sin City. The pair met when The Killers asked him to appear in the video for track Battle Born, which was filmed in the party town.

"We always talk about how we bring a little bit of Vegas wherever we go. I grew up with people like Wayne on billboards," Brandon explained to the magazine.

"You go to the 7-Eleven and there's a line of slot machines with a Rat Pack picture. I didn't realise how much it was ingrained in me. When I was a kid, I listened to Depeche Mode and New Order, but when I went home I would put on Frank Sinatra's Main Event. And I played golf. I secretly had this older persona for myself of, like, driving an Eldorado, smoking cigars and listening to Sinatra."

Brandon, 33, has also recorded solo work, which includes 2010 album Flamingo. On it features track Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas, which shows his complex feelings towards life on the Strip.

"I have a love-hate relationship with this town. And it came out," he admitted.

"Usually I'm the ambassador for this place, but in this song I showed another side. I was sick of people handing out cards for hookers on the Strip, and had the idea to use that iconic sign and slogan and turn it on its head a little bit."