The Used is a rock band from Orem, Utah.

Band Biography

The Early Years (Early 1990's-2002)

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 and Bert McCracken 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 drummer Steineckert sent their songs to producer John Feldmann from the pop punk group Goldfinger. After he heard "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" he called them in for a demo. In June 2001, the band finished their demo, and signed with Reprise Records. 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.

The Used and Maybe Memories (2002-2003)

Their self-titled debut album was released on June 25, 2002. The album recieved mixed reviews and featured four singles: "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", "The Taste of Ink", "Buried Myself Alive", and "Blue and Yellow" and 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. In July 2003, The Used released a compilation CD/DVD combo package titled Maybe Memories. The CD featured live, 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.[6] [7].

In Love and Death and Berth (2004-2007)

Tragedy would strike The Used in 2004 when lead singer Bert McCraken's girlfriend who was pregnant with his child overdosed on drugs and died, at the same time his dog was hit by a car and died. 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 recieved mixed reviews and spawned three singles: "Take It Away", "All That I've Got", "I Caught Fire" before being re-released in 2005. The fourth single, "Under Pressure" was featured on the 2005 re-release. "Under Pressure" is a David Bowie and Queen cover song performed with My Chemical Romance. The album went multi-platinum. [8] On September 12, 2006 it was announced that Branden Steineckert 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 endeavours. Later that year, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides of New Transit Direction replaced Steineckert. Branden has since joined Rancid to replace former drummer Brett Reed. In the early part of 2007, The Used released Berth, which is a live CD/DVD package. It was originally planned for release in 2006, but production problems delayed it about a year, after a worker stole some 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 [9].

Lies for the Liars and Future Plans (2007-Present)

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. Although Dan Whitesides is the new drummer, Dean Butterworth of Good Charlotte recorded the drums for the album. Lies for the Liars recieved mixed reviews and the band has often been critized for using the lyrics "Liar, liar, pnats on fire" in the song Liar Liar (Burn in Hell). The band wants to release an EP with a DVD containing a short film and a 30-page book consisting of pictures of Chadam but its release is not definite as of yet. [10] The Used also have a huge tour planned for January/February 2008 across North America. On December 1, 2007 an interview in South Florida confirmed The Used would start to work on a new album when they finish up with their tour dates in the middle of the December. [11]

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 the summer 2006.[12]. (2001-2006)
• Dean Butterworth - Temporary Drums - Recorded the drums for Lies for the Liars. (2006-2007)

Discography

Certifications

• The Used = Platinum [13].
• Maybe Memories = Platinum [14] [15].
• In Love and Death = Multi-Platinum [16].
• Berth = Gold [17]

External Links

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