Robby Takac collabs with Buffalo band Letter to Elise on Bills-inspired cover of Mr. Brightside

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Goo Goo Dolls bassist, GCR Audio owner and Music is Art founder Robby Takac joined Buffalo band Letter to Elise recently, to record a cover of The Killers’ hit “Mr. Brightside,” inspired by the song becoming a late-game anthem for Buffalo Bills this season. The song officially released Thursday.

It started out with a text

Letter to Elise frontman Elliott Hunt said the “Bills Mafia Mix” version of the song came together after Takac reached out while Hunt was on his way to work, then called him shortly thereafter.

“He called me and, in Robby Takac fashion, was very much like, ‘Hey, there’s this Mr. Brightside song, have you heard how Bills Mafia is kind of taking that over as their fourth quarter victory song?'” Hunt recalled. “I don’t think he knew how much of a Killers fan I was, but I humbly was just like, ‘Yea, it’s awesome.'”

Hunt said that Takac loves the song, but thought for Bills purposes, it would be better if performed by a Buffalo band, rather than a band from Las Vegas.

“We wanted to kind of get that Buffalo Rust Belt grit on it,” Hunt said. “He knew our band was just in the studio the week before recording our next release, which will be a 5-track EP. I think he asked the engineers around what it was sounding like, and we’re kind of going for a Killers-esque sound with this new release, so he thought of our band to be the backing band and feature on it.”

How did it end up like this?

Hunt said it was about a 48-hour turnaround from receiving the call from Takac to having a finished master of the song. The song features Takac singing the first verse and Hunt singing the second, with joint vocals on the chorus, and Letter to Elise keyboardist Chris Lillis providing backup vocals. It also features vocals from members of Bills Mafia on the chorus and outro, which was Hunt’s suggestion.

“I’ve been to the games where you hear the crowd singing it, and it’s awesome, so if we were able to capture that…” he said. “I’ve worked with Del Reid before, who is the head of Bills Mafia, so I shot him a text. We didn’t know what this was going to be, we thought if we could get like five people, that would be awesome. Within two minutes, he was like ‘I’ve got 20, do you need any more?'”

Hunt said that the staircase between GCR’s first and second floors was filled with people, which brought the energy in the room up immensely.

Coming out of their cage

Hunt added that Takac has supported him since Takac worked with Hunt’s dad, an audio engineer, and said it was a nice full-circle moment getting to record with him.

“It was just a cool thing to have him be in my corner since before I even knew how to play a guitar, or write songs, or even know I wanted to be in a band — to get to be able to get in the studio and see him work live was awesome,” he said. “He’s produced a couple of our band’s albums, and that’s a totally different hat that he wears, but actually seeing him behind the microphone and how he talks to the engineer and how efficiently he moves through the session was pretty amazing.”

Hunt said that while tracking the song, his Oura Ring registered his heart rate go from 55 to 98 because of all the eyes on him while singing, including music journalist Jeff Miers and radio host Nicholas Picholas. He described the experience as “nerve-wracking.”

Destiny is calling

“I really hope the city of Buffalo embraces it, I believe in superstitions, so if people want to stick with the original version this season, I totally understand,” Hunt said. “But it would be an awesome thing, a dream come true, if I could be at a Bills game and hear the band playing through those speakers — whether it’s your song that you wrote or not, it’s cool.”

Coincidentally, while speaking with WIVB, Hunt was in Las Vegas with his wife, preparing to go to one of The Killers’ hometown shows at Casears Palace.

“The fact that we’re even able to cover Mr. Brightside is awesome because The Killers is my favorite band,” he said. “As an original band, you never want to make cover music, but it’s awesome when you get to recreate what your biggest influence is.

Eager eyes

Hunt said that for Letter to Elise, he hopes the song can be a touchpoint for people who may not be aware of the band.

“It seems like the city’s supporting us, and [them] seeing that we’ve got Robby and The Goo Goo Dolls’ support behind us — now it’s time for our original music release and seeing if the city can take that and support us with our own music,” he said.

The upcoming EP has been recorded, featuring a re-release of Letter to Elise’s song “Day Drinking,” and was produced by Los Angeles music producer Lennon Leppert, who also mixed the “Mr. Brightside” cover.

Click here to find the song on your preferred streaming service.

Adam Duke is a digital contributor who joined WIVB in 2021. See more of his work here.

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