The Used, by Josh Fuchs & Krishta Abruzzini

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For a band, the best form of advertising is having your singer on a reality TV show (and dating the daughter of Ozzy Osbourne doesn't hurt either). Just ask The Used. After singer Bert McCracken was featured on an episode of MTV's "The Osbourne's", the once unknown band exploded with popularity. Sold-out shows, an album rising through the charts, and legions of screaming fans now surround Utah's genre-bending band.

A mix between heavy rock and pop-punk, The Used has fans of every age and background. Their live shows are like watching drunken dogs chasing their tails (it may not sound like it, but it's a compliment). Being so diverse and so energetic on stage (Bert is infamous for "going until he vomits"); I foresee great things from this band in the future. Thanks MTV (and Kelly too).

Right before the Portland show on their latest tour, I caught up with bassist Jeph Howard for a little Q & A

POMN: Hey Jeph, I've got some questions for you.

JEPH: All right, sounds good. Where do we start?

POMN: Right here. Has being on tour, and being around the other guys in the band, made any of you less tolerant of one another? Any fights?

JEPH: No, not really. Sure, there's tension. There's always tension, always the little rifts and such. But really, honestly, we love each other. We're like brothers. Brothers and sisters fight, we fight. We've had our fights, but we love each other. That makes sense, right?

POMN: Oh, yeah.

JEPH: Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? And what kills us makes us dead.

POMN: Is this how you envisioned "the big time?"

JEPH: No, I had no idea. We didn't know anybody "inside". We didn't have a fuckin' clue. There's a lot less music involved, I think, which sucks. All I really give a fuck about is playing. All I want to do is play bass. Play bass and write. Then comes all this other stuff I have to worry about now. It's odd, different.

POMN: What is your writing process?

JEPH: [At this point, Jeph begins a diagram to explain the writing process. It is on the back of a show schedule, above his handwritten logo for the band] It starts off; someone comes to practice with like a riff or something, an idea [See fig.1]. Then all four of us will sit down and just start jamming musically [See fig. 2]. We have such different interests because we're all pretty much really different people. It's odd, really. All our interests just kind of come together [See fig. 3]. It just comes out.

POMN: And that's the Used [See fig. 4].

JEPH: That's the Used. Bert writes pretty much all the lyrics, but the music's a joint effort.

POMN: What's the craziest thing a fan has done to get the band's attention?

JEPH: There's a lot. [Pauses, apparently in reflection of one of those "things"]

POMN: Yeah?

JEPH: Yup. [Pauses, apparently trying to remember if there actually was any "thing"]

POMN: Like what?

JEPH: Well, just a second ago a bunch of drunken 18 year-oldswell they say they're 18, but I doubt it. I really doubt it, man. They were freaking out saying they'd fuck me, blah, blah, blah. They'd do anything to get into the show. I was like, "No, I'm sorry." You know, I feel bad. They could've gotten in if they weren't drunk! It's just that they were drunk and tried to get in the front door, and the guy stopped them, they were so obnoxious. Some crazy stuff. Some crazy stuff happened to Bert the day before yesterday.

POMN: Yeah? [This was a preemptive 'yeah' so we could avoid one of those pauses]

JEPH: Yeah! This girl jumped on stage, stopped in front of him, and pulled her tits out, and walked off. We were all shocked. It was a crazy day, everyone was going crazy, and then she did that then walks off stage. Really random. I was in shock.

POMN: Crazy stuff! Does it make it all worth it?

JEPH: Nah, I've got a girlfriend.

POMN: How easy is it to maintain that relationship while you're out on the road?

JEPH: It's rough. It's cool 'cuz she's the coolest girl I've ever met, so that part's easy. But I tour constantly, and I'm always gone, so that makes it hard. It's alright.

POMN: How long have you band members known each other?

JEPH: I've known Branden since I was 18 and I'm 24 now. That's what, six years? I've been in bands with him for six years. We've known Quinn since he was 17, and he's 21 now, so I've known him for four years. We've known Bert since he was 19, he played in other bands that we played with.

POMN: Was it the same music format back then?

JEPH: Nah, we had shitty, shitty bands back then. Really bad. But we learned, we evolved. We're stronger.

POMN: What were you like in school?

JEPH: I'm an only child, but I was pretty shy and quiet.

POMN: Did you get good grades?

JEPH: Um, when I was really young, I got good grades 'cuz I cheated. As I got older I found better ways to cheat, but I lost interest and just didn't care. I stopped going. But I still graduated; I had, like, a 'C' average. Half the band graduated, and the other half didn't.

POMN: How long have you played bass?

JEPH: Off and on since I was 17. Start, quit, start, quit.

POMN: Did you think you'd be doing this back then?

JEPH: I've wanted to do this since I was, like, three. It's been my goal in life. Problem was, I was really shy as a kid, which I still regret and I'll never forgive myself. I'm all about forgive and forget, except for this. I should have started everything when I was younger, you know?

POMN: Yeah.

JEPH: I didn't have any chances, though. I didn't know if anyone was into it like me.

POMN: How'd you guys start out? How did you get yourselves up there?

JEPH: It was a pain in the ass. No one from Utah has gotten signed except the Osmonds. John Feldman from Goldfinger actually helped us. We kind of knew him; we were kind of friends with him, just from meeting at shows. We kept giving him our demos, and he thought they sucked, because they were horrible. And then we started the Used. We had a bunch of people try out singing for us. It was like, fuck, we're screwed. We'll be looking for a singer for the rest of our lives. Then we called Bert over, he came over and listened to the tunes and said, "All right!" Then he started screaming, and we knew he could sing because we'd seen him before. But he could scream, and we knew it. He was the best. The day after that he came over with some lyrics. Then we started writing. At first it was a pain in the ass. Bert and Branden are totally different people. We're all so different, but at the same time, all the same. It was rough at first, but it's all worked out.

POMN: How many piercings do you have?

JEPH: I just got my cheek pierced. Some guy came up to me and asked me if I wanted anything, for free! It was just random. Why not? Right now I have about 15 piercings, but I've taken a lot out.

POMN: What's the most difficult thing you've had to overcome as a group or personally?

JEPH: There's been a lot of personal stuff. Bert was really big into drugs. Right as he joined the band, we'd take him to Narcotics Anonymous meetings. We'd have practice and then take him to NA. But he's doing really well, now. As far as I know, at least. I've had problems, too, but we've all had our problems, right?

POMN: Right. Okay, Jeph, what is your best road story?

JEPH: Damn! There's one of these I wanted to remember in case someone asked me that question, but I forgot it. It was pretty good, too.

POMN: How about a mediocre road story?

JEPH: Well, Bert kissed a couple of guys on purpose. It was rad. Not like made out with them, but he kissed them because it was like, what the fuck? One of the guys was David Draiman of Disturbed. I'm not going to say anything bad. That was just that, but I won't say anything bad. He also kissed this guy that said, "Fuck the Used!" It was fuckin' funny.

POMN: That's classic.

JEPH: The guy was pissed off.

POMN: What are your plans for the summer?

JEPH: Warped Tour, and Europe. We're actually going to Europe in, like, two days.

POMN: First time in Europe?

JEPH: When we recorded our album, we traveled there and wrote some songs. We tracked some vocals and stuff like that.

POMN: When can we expect a new CD?

JEPH: Well, I'm so excited because I love writing so much, I can't wait. Can't wait; it's been so long since we've written anything. We're shooting for the end of this year, but if not then, the beginning of next. We'll be busy right up until then. Warped Tour, hopefully Ozzfest.

POMN: Speaking of Ozzy, what effect do you think Bert's dating Kelly has done for the Used?

JEPH: It couldn't have hurt. It probably helped some.

POMN: Maybe [sarcasm]. Do you ever write while you're on the road?

JEPH: We really can't. We wrote a KROQ song [Alone This Holiday] on the road, a holiday song. We wrote it in an hour. It was cool 'cuz we've never wroten [sic. Pronounced row-ten] like that before.

POMN: Making new words tonight!

JEPH: No way! Wroten is a Utah wordI wish!

POMN: Is there a show that sticks out as the best show?

JEPH: All of 'em. One sticks out, though. Right in the middle of Warped Tour in Georgia, we were playing, like, third stage, and for the first time, people had packed in front of the stage to see us! We were like, "Wow! There's people for us!" We were stoked. We started our first song, and all of a sudden, all the power went out, except for the drums, you couldn't hear us. The crowd was singing the song! They kept the song going until almost the end, and then the power came back on and we finished. It was cool 'cuz they knew the words.

POMN: Worst show?

JEPH: That's tough, because I love all of our shows. I'd have to say half the Ozzfest shows. They were good shows, but I always had equipment problems. I'd just lose my sound. We couldn't figure it out. Before we went on, we'd check my amp on the side of the stage, but it would always "bzzzt!" [He actually made the noise] cut out once we got up there. Wow! That was horrible, but nobody actually noticed, so that's okay. I noticed, though. It pissed me off.

POMN: Biggest influence?

JEPH: Anyone that has style and is their own person. There's a lot of good people out there.

POMN: Okay, I need an action shot of you against the '70s porno wall

JEPH: The orange porno wall?

POMN: Yup.

JEPH: What do you want me to do?

POMN: Jump around or something! Be exciting!

JEPH: Good?

POMN: Yeah, Jeph. Thank you for your time, and play a good show tonight!

JEPH: Thanks, man!

Visit The Used Official Website: http://www.theused.net/