The Fuckin' Used

The Used (originally called "Strange Itch" and then "Dumb Luck" without Bert in the band) are from Orem, Utah and were formed officially in 2001. They received their name because friends of the band said they felt "used" as the members became more involved in the band and less in friendships. The band consists of Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard, Dan Whitesides and Bert McCracken. Bert was the final member to be chosen for the band as vocalist and the first song he wrote lyrics for and recorded a demo with was "Maybe Memories". They are put in the genres screamo/post-hardcore. The band was formed by Branden Steineckert (ex-drummer), Jeph and Quinn, but Branden left the band (In late 2006, due to personal conflicts with band members supposedly. He went to play drums for "Rancid" instead). The band wrote more songs and fans entitled this CD as "demos from the basement". This was sent to producer John Feldmann from the pop punk group Goldfinger and he immediately thought The Used were spectacular after hearing "A Box Full of Sharp Objects". John believed there was nothing quite like The Used out there and so he tried hard to get them signed and was turned down frustratingly, many times. The band eventually signed to Reprise records in 2001. In 2002 they released their self-titled album and it had many hits and awesome songs. It became a gold record. Then in 2003, they released a CD/DVD combo called "Maybe Memories" and it went platinum. The Used started to get more mainstream attention at this point because it was around this time lead singer, Bert, was dating Kelly Osbourne. In 2004, Bert's ex-girlfriend who also happened to be pregnant with his child died of a drug overdose. This gave the name of their next album "In Love and Death" which was a reference to the tragedy Bert experienced. The song "Hard to Say" on the album is a reference to Bert's ex-girlfriend. Even though he wrote it previously he felt it was appropriate to release it then. The album was re-released with the Queen cover "Under Pressure" featuring My Chemical Romance and the album also went gold. In 2007, the CD/DVD "Berth" was released and also went gold. The Used were on fire considering their career so far and were touring hard and picking up more and more fans as they went on. Their 3rd album, "Lies for the Liars" was released in mid-2007. The Used were meant to play Warped Tour to promote the album that Summer but Bert had to go into surgery to remove a node from his vocals cords. After recovering The Used played "Reading and Leeds Festival" and then went onto tour the States. The band had also made an album of B-sides entitled "Shallow Believer" and they were going to release it with "Lies for the Liars" as a double album but instead released it as an EP in February 2008. It charted #13 on Itunes top 100 albums. The Used have since been working on a 4th album to be released early 2009 and during 2008 played shows in various places as obscure as Indonesia and South Korea. This 4th album is the first to be done with a new producer (Good Charlotte's....I hate them by the way, instead of their usual John). This is said to be because they want to make a new sound on this album. Bert went on to say that the new album will be "10 times noisier and messier than ever". He said the record is about "coming to grips with how much you hate yourself and knowing that you can never really hate yourself to the fullest extent, so you're free to hate yourself as much as you want to". Another DVD is also to be released shortly after the new album. Now to finish, a little extra info on The Used's Bert!. So Bert's real name is Robert Edward McCracken. Bert was born into a Mormon family and was a happy child. He played trumpet in a local band called "I'm With Stupid" at the age of 12. By 15 he started to deviate from his family and friends "straight-edge" beliefs. He slowly became addicted to drugs, especially crystal meth. He then dropped out of high school and by 16 was kicked out of his house. He became homeless for a while until he made enough money to move into a flat with his now ex (and sadly dead) girlfriend Kate. The relationship fell apart and he fell even harder into substance abuse and decided in late 2000 to return to his parents home. He then joined the band "The Used" (who originally wanted to be called just "Used" but the name was already taken by a Boston band). During the "In Love and Death" era, drinking, drugs and touring all caught up with Bert and on May 27th 2003, he collapsed during his performance of "On My Own". He was rushed to hospital and his symptoms showed that he had acute pancreatitis (probably due to his severe alcoholism). Bert was a huge fan of My Chemical Romance, even using their name in the song "Take it Away". He went as far as to get a tattoo of the band and he performed backing vocals for MCR's "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison". They also performed Queen's "Under Pressure" together, dedicated to dying friend Sarah Meyler. MCR and The Used's Bert fell out in 2005 although the other band members are all still rumoured to remain contact. Reasons for the break up is unknown. Another rumour is that Bert went to Gerard Way's (lead singer of MCR) wedding. Finally, Bert went onto make "Lies for the Liars" with the Used, and the album was referencing the "fake people" of LA where he was living at the time with his fiancee, Alison. Bert is the youngest member of the band but the oldest brother in his family. The Used have various symbols such as a heart that seems as if it is being choked on previous album art work as well as a character named "Chadam" on their most recent album which was a character created by Alex Pardee. Chadam has grown so popular he has his own myspace (click this to go), comics and movie trailer so far! The Used are an excellent band and I have been lucky enough to see them live more than once. They create immense energy and Bert is a sensational front man. One brilliant memory was seeing Bert perform with Killswitch Engage's lead singer and doing some sick screaming! I hope you all get a chance to see them live! peace x
Recommended: "Taste of Ink", "Box Full of Sharp Objects", "Blue and Yellow", "Take It Away", "I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes)", "The Bird and The Worm", "Pretty Handsome Awkward". This is just a few brilliant songs, The Used kick so much ass. Hardly have a shit song! Enjoy :D