The Used

The Used

The Used is a rock band from Orem, Utah.

Band biography

1994-2001: The early years

The Used officially formed in January of 2001, but the members had played in previous bands since the early 1990's which helped lead to the formation of The Used. Under the name Strange Itch in 1994, the band consisted of Branden Steineckert on drums, Jeph Howard with the vocals, Joel Pack on bass, and Matt Brown on guitar. They put out one self titled album in 1998 and lasted under that name until Quinn Allman took over guitar and Ashton Johnson took over the bass in 1999. At this point they changed their name to Dumb Luck [1]. In 2000, an EP called The Naked Truth was released. Dumb Luck was short-lived and not long after the release, there was another line up change as Howard moved to bass, but the band had no singer. Tryouts for singers were held in Branden's bedroom, but they weren't satisfied with anyone they heard until Quinn remembered Bert McCracken from school and called him to see if he was interested in trying out. Bert met up with the other members and liked the music they wrote, he wrote the lyrics to the songs they had and everything seemed to click perfectly. So Bert took over the vocals, and the band was renamed 'Used.' [2] Although it may seem like these early bands were The Used under a different name, Jeph stated in an interview that the bands were so bad that they weren't real bands and didn't have anything to do with The Used. He did say, however, that if it weren't for them, The Used would have never formed because they learned so much about music and each other playing in those bands [3] [4]. Used wrote songs together and made a demo cd now known as by fans as Demos from the Basement. The drummer Branden Steineckert sent their songs to producer John Feldmann from the pop punk group Goldfinger, after he heard "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" he asked them to send more songs, finding that he was growing to love their music and knew the band had something that no other band had. He met up with them and played their songs for other people to help get them signed. However the first few people he played the music for didn't get it and it left a discouraging feeling because John knew this band was like no other and they could change what's going on in music. Eventually, more people got hold of the demo and a few record companies were eager to sign them, and they decided to sign with Reprise Records in 2001.

2002-2003: Debut album and Maybe Memories

In 2002, it was discovered that a Boston band had already trademarked the name "Used," so they decided to add "The" to their name, thus becoming The Used. Their self-titled debut album was released on June 25, 2002. The album received mixed reviews and featured four singles: "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", "The Taste of Ink", "Buried Myself Alive", and "Blue and Yellow". The album has since gone platinum. [5] The Used would go on to play Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and Projekt Revolution, as well as Box Car Racer's first and only tour. This would bring them much fanfare and popularity. They also got recongized when Bert McCraken dated Kelly Osbourne [6], Bert is often asked about their relationship but he does not like to talk about it and has said he is sick of hearing questions about it, it is becoming more forgotten about as time goes on. In July 2003, The Used released a compilation CD/DVD combo package titled Maybe Memories. The CD featured live, rare, previously unreleased, and demo material. The DVD featured the history of the band, member bios, and part of a live concert. This release has gone platinum.[7] [8].

2004-2006: In Love and Death, the hiatus, and a new drummer

Tragedy would strike The Used in 2004 when lead singer Bert McCracken's ex-girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child died of a drug overdose. At around the same time his dog died after being hit by a truck. Their second studio album was thus named In Love and Death, a reference to the tragedies Bert was dealing with at the time. The song "Hard to Say" was released about Bert's deceased girlfriend although he written the song years earlier, it fit the moment and Bert felt it was the right time to release it. The album received mixed reviews and spawned three singles: "Take It Away", "All That I've Got", and "I Caught Fire" before being re-released in 2005. The fourth single "Under Pressure" (a David Bowie and Queen cover song performed with My Chemical Romance) was featured on the 2005 re-release. The album went multi-platinum [9]. After finishing up touring for the album, The Used took about 7 months off to hang out and catch up with friends and family in their hometown before starting to work on their next album. Throughout the summer of 2006 rumors spread amongst fans on message boards that Branden was no longer a band member. It caused much confusion and worries to many fans wondering if this was true or not. Then on September 12, 2006 it was announced that Branden was no longer the drummer of The Used. The Used expressed that they owed him a great deal of gratitude for all his hard work over the years. All the same, they wished him the best for his future endeavors. The Used themselves have tried to announce this has a mutual departure however Branden has posted blogs on his myspace that said he was kicked out of the band [10]. In late 2006, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides of New Transit Direction replaced Steineckert. Branden has since joined Rancid to replace former drummer Brett Reed.

2007-present: Berth and Lies for the Liars

On February 6, 2007, The Used released Berth, which is a live CD/DVD package. This was originally planned for release in 2006, but production problems delayed it about a year after an employee disappeared with a large roll of the footage. Its main feature was a full live concert shot on the 2005 Taste of Chaos tour in Canada. The DVD also featured what the band has been up to since they released In Love and Death. It continued from where Maybe Memories left off and gave a preview of their forthcoming album Lies For The Liars. Berth has since gone gold [11]. The Used's third album, Lies For The Liars was released May 22, 2007 and has sold 241,090+ copies as of mid September 2007. There are currently 3 singles released: "The Bird and the Worm", "Liar Liar (Burn in Hell)", and "Pretty Handsome Awkward". Although Dan Whitesides is the new drummer, Dean Butterworth of Good Charlotte recorded the drums for the album. This album was the longest recording session for any The Used album as it took them over six months to record. Lies for the Liars received mixed reviews and has about 9 b-sides.

Future plans

The Used will start to write and record their fourth studio album in January-March 2008, after which they will do a full tour of the USA and Canada that will start in late March. They have been announced as headlining band for the inaugural "Get a Life Tour", scheduled for the spring [12] Recently, they have mentioned that they have big news regarding unreleased music that they will announce in the near future.[13]

Band members

Current members

• Bert McCracken - Lead Vocals, Piano (2001-present)
• Quinn Allman - Guitar, Backup Vocals (2001-present)
• Jeph Howard - Bass, Backup Vocals (2001-present)
• Dan Whitesides - Drums (2007-present)

Former members

• Greg Bester - Touring Guitar - Played with the band on tour in early 2000s. (2001-2002)
• Branden Steineckert - Drums, Backup Vocals - Kicked out of the band in September 2006. [14] (2001-2006)
• Dean Butterworth - Temporary Drums - Recorded the drums on Lies for the Liars. (2006-2007)

Discography

Main article: The Used discography

Album certification list

• The Used = Platinum [15][16]
• Maybe Memories = Platinum [17]
• In Love and Death = Multi-platinum [18]
• Berth = Gold [19]

External links

• Official Website
• The Used at MySpace
• The Used's YouTube channel