Name: Dave Keuning
Birthdate: March 28,1976
City: Pella, IA
Instruments: Guitar
Dave Keuning is originally from Pella, Iowa and is the most recent Las Vegas resident among the band. He graduated from Pella Community High School.
As a teenager, Keuning blasted Aerosmith and AC/DC and became a big U2 fan. He loved
the albums, The Unforgettable Fire and Achtung Baby. He picked up the guitar and joined the Pella Community High School jazz band in Iowa. He also played guitar for a Christian rock band
called "Pickle" from 1993-1997. Dave attended Kirkwood Community College and the University of Iowa, but eventually dropped out.
One of the main reasons Dave moved to Las Vegas in 2000 is because living in the Midwest made him feel like he was the last one to hear new and exciting
bands. Dave got a job at a shoe store, but was laid off after 9/11. He used the time off to write music, calling it a "blessing in disguise".
Eventually he found work at a Banana Republic store in The Venetian Hotel Casino on the
Vegas strip, where he was taking advantage of his employee discount.
Dave was looking to join a band by placing an ad in the weekly newspapers by presenting himself as a guitarist with the stage name, "Tavian Go".
He wanted to start or join a band that was influenced by The Beatles, Beck, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, and U2. Dave had to take out The Cure as a
listed influence because of the strange, heavily gothic people who kept replying. He says, "I like The Cure, but I don't eat bats."
The ads ran for several months without response and Dave was beginning to lose hope. Just before he
gave up hope on finding like-minded musicians, Keuning received a
call from his future bandmate Brandon Flowers. Keuning had already written a couple verses to the
future hit Mr. Brightside as the two composed this song and a few others after meeting each other for the first time. The two later recruited musical
student Ronnie Vannucci Jr. and medical courier Mark Stoermer as the permanent Killers was finally formed.
