Brandon Flowers often had to defend his home country of America because of President Bush.

The Las Vegas musician said people didn't like the fact he was from the States when George W. Bush became president in 2001, the year the band formed:

"Well, I feel the need sometimes to defend where I'm from. When we first came out as a band, Bush was president and there was a strong anti-American sentiment. I felt it as we were traveling the world, so it made me want to push back a little bit, because we have good people with big hearts. We've seen it shift and change since Obama became president but I was young and trying to understand it all."

And the "Mr Brightside" hitmaker said he still represents his native America but has fallen in love with Europe. "I have these two sides that are constantly fighting. There's that desire to represent where I'm from, that dusty American road pushing against the fantasy world and European music that I grew up with. Sometimes when they meet in one of our songs, like 'When You Were Young,' it's great," he continued.

The Killers have been playing live dates to showcase their "best of" album, Direct Hits, which features breakthrough tracks from 2004 debut, Hot Fuss, through to songs from their last record, Battle Born. Although other members of the band wanted to wait another 10 years before releasing a greatest hits album, Brandon says he's happy with it: "A lot of the first records I bought were greatest hits and they seemed very concise. This seemed like the right time to clean things up. I'm excited to put it away - I feel like a young 32-year-old, and I'm ready to look forward. But to do that, we've gotta look back."