If youve heard of The Used, chances are its because of MTVs The Osbournes. Recent episodes of the show have featured daughter Kelly hanging with her new boyfriend, Bert McCracken, lead singer of The Used.
Despite the exposure, the band has tried to play its singers new status down. We try to not talk about it, says Jeph Howard, The Useds bassist. We try to get it away from us as much as possible because we dont want to be known for that. Howard is quick to qualify his response, though. Kellys one of the sweetest girls Ive met in a long time, like, amazing, he says. But it means nothing to our band. Like Ive got a girlfriend. It means nothing to our music and to our band. We try to keep them apart.
The Used also attracted media attention recently when McCracken verbally attacked another band, the young grunge rockers The Vines. I just think their music is really awful, contrived and dishonest, he told Rolling Stone. Its bad for rock n roll. The diplomatic Howard tries to put out this fire. Oh, thats over, he assures me. The Vines are cool people. Theyre good guys. That was just a big misunderstanding.
Whether Howard is covering his friends tracks or not, his placating makes perfect sense. At a time when MTV has announced that it will be playing even fewer videos than before, a rising band cannot afford any sort of misstep. Especially a band from Utah. Nobody out of Utah gets signed, Howard says. We dont know who to talk to really. Things will happen, and well be like, What do we do?
Though based only 45 minutes outside of Salt Lake City, Howard was not raised Mormon. But two of his bandmates, McCracken and drummer Branden Steineckert, were brought up according to the teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. The other two guys had really, really religious families and really religious backgrounds and they had a lot of problems growing up with that, Howard reveals. Me, I just ignored it and kept to myself. I was an only child so I pretty much stayed at home and did my own thing and grew up with video games.
While Howard was preoccupied with Super Mario and Zelda, McCracken was battling addiction to toxic substances. Bert was really bad into drugs. He was into heroin, even, for a while, Howard says. Actually, when we first got him into the band, we were taking him to AA meetings and drug meetings after practice. It was pretty funny. I dabbled a little bit myself, but it wasnt like big-time. It wasnt my thing. And none of the other guys really did.
Instead, the band members found respite in their music. All I really care about is just playing bass and playing music, Howard says. Its good to know that I can do that every day.
Formed less than two years ago, The Used wears its feelings on its collective sleeve. On the bands self-titled debut, howls of pain mix with tears of joy to make a rock record unabashed in its heartfelt earnestness. Bert writes all the lyrics. So its pretty emotional to him, Howard says. But we all have our own meanings to the songs, as well, and our own emotional input that we put into the songs.
In a post-9/11 age filled with threats of war and increasing economic woes, The Useds emotionally naked music connects with an audience vulnerable and uncertain about its own future. Howard explains: You know how you hear a song on the radio, and the songwriter intended it to mean something about, say, his family, but you get out of it some guy you remember from high school? Its that kind of thing, he says. Whatever it means to you and whatever it means to us is what it really means. Does that make sense?
Record companies immediately got it, easily recognizing The Useds commercial potential. After interest from a good 10 labels, the band signed with Reprise. Howard is ecstatic about their working relationship so far. Our label loves us, and every person that works there is amazing, he says. The way you picture labels, you imagine these corporate guys in suits that dont know anything about music, but thats not the case at all. These are amazing, genuine people, Howard effuses. I can name something good about each person. Im so glad we signed to this label. Like, Im not even trying to kiss their ass right now. |
