Personal Life
Mark Stoermer was born in Texas to an Australian father and an American mother, they moved to Las Vegas when Stoermer was three years old. His father was a big band style musician. Stoermer graduated from Chaparral High School in 1995, where he played trumpet in the Jazz ensemble. His early musical influences included Hip-hop bands such as Public Enemy and N.W.A. and later rock bands such as Nirvana, The Beatles, The Who and Pink Floyd. Stoermer began playing lead guitar for a number of local bands including Habit Rouge and The Negative Ponies. It was while playing with The Negative Ponies that he met Dave Keuning and Brandon Flowers who were performing as an early incarnation of The Killers. He was a fan of the band's unique sound and was often present at the band's gigs. In September 2002 he was offered the opportunity to become the band's permanent bass player, he accepted and completed the band's line up along with Ronnie Vannucci Jr.. Before The Killers got signed, Stoermer worked as a medical courier. Stoermer also studied Philosophy at UNLV and took music classes while in the marching band there.
Mark was featured on the cover of Bass Guitar Magazine in June 2009 and has been interviewed by other major bass guitar publications including Bass Player Magazine.
Mark has been dubbed 'The Gentle Giant' by bandmates and fans due to his quiet but kind nature and the fact that he stands at over 6 foot 5 inches tall.
Stoermer has co-written many Killers songs including "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine", "Smile Like You Mean It", "Somebody Told Me", "Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll", "On Top", "When You Were Young", "Bones", "Read My Mind", "Bling (Confession of a King)", "Human", "Spaceman" and "A Dustland Fairytale".
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