at a number of showcases but were ultimately not signed, the band however did catch the eye of Alex Gilbert, who was an A&R rep from the United Kingdom. Gilbert took a demo with him back to the UK and showed it to his friend Ben Durling, who worked at the newly formed Independent label Lizard King Records in London. Despite not yet meeting the band in person, Lizard King were quick to offer the band a deal based on the strength of the five song demo. The Killers signed with the British label in July 2003. 2003–2005: Hot Fuss On August 19, 2003, the song "Mr. Brightside" premiered on DJ Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show in the UK. The Killers traveled to London the following month to spend a week playing at influential live music venues across the city. On September 29, 2003, the song "Mr. Brightside" was released in the UK on a limited number of CDs and vinyl records. Critical reviews of both the song and the shows were positive: NME noted the band's retro sound, commenting "The Killers steal so smartly, and with such mind-boggling variety". As a result of the buzz generated in the UK, a number of major labels in the US began showing strong interest in the band and they were invited to play at the ASCAP CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. They eventually signed with the record label Island Def Jam. The band finished recording Hot Fuss in November 2003 with Jeff Saltzman. They decided to keep many of the previously recorded demos as they felt they had a spontaneity that re-recordings would not have. Shortly afterwards they returned to London having been invited to support British Sea Power on their UK tour, the band also worked with Alan Moulder at Eden Studios and Townhouse Studios mixing tracks for their upcoming album. They continued playing support slots during the first half of 2004 most notably touring both the US & UK with Stellastarr and opening for Morrissey on two occasions. The band filmed their first music video for the Spring 2004 release of "Somebody Told Me" which was to be the band's debut single in the US and second single in the UK. The band's first headline tour started in the UK in May 2004. During the spring and summer of 2004, the group played well-received sets at festivals