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The last year has seen The Used<\/strong> transform and mature beyond expectations. With the release of their sixth album \u2019Imaginary Enemy\u2019<\/em>, the post-hardcore giants have made a jaw-dropping turn toward livid anarchic punk while steadfastly maintaining their familiar emotive sound. Their UK headline tour arrives on our shores sans lead guitarist Quinn Allman due to personal issues, replaced by Saosin\u2019s Justin Shekoski.<\/p>\n About to draw the curtains on a storming tour with Decade and Landscapes, Already Heard<\/strong> sat down with bassist Jepha Howard to discuss their indomitable 15-year career, advice for the past, future plans and the quest for spicy Indian food.<\/p>\n AH: As you\u2019ve obviously guessed, there\u2019s a huge Quinn-shaped hole here! How\u2019s it going without him then? <\/strong> AH: So speaking of line-ups, you\u2019re one of the few bands that keep their line-up, with the exception of Dan (Whitesides – drummer) obviously. What\u2019s the secret to keeping things together? <\/strong> AH: What\u2019s your downtime like? You\u2019ve got bored of the tourist-y things by now, surely? <\/strong> AH: It\u2019s clear to see you\u2019ve developed over the years. You see \u2018Revolution\u2019<\/i> and you see how much it\u2019s changed from \u2018It Could Be A Good Excuse\u2019<\/i> and \u2018A Box Full Of Sharp Objects\u2019<\/i>, but what\u2019s the biggest musical lesson you\u2019ve learned over the years? <\/strong> AH: On that subject, you\u2019ve got a good reference to \u2018Buried Myself Alive\u2019<\/i> in the lyrics to \u2018Cry\u2019<\/i>. With a catalogue that\u2019s as extensive as yours, what\u2019s your secret to keeping us all hooked? <\/strong> AH: What\u2019s the one song you know will never make a set list but you always want it to? <\/strong> AH: Which album would you like to revisit, to re-record or replay the tour? <\/strong> AH: So as we\u2019re moving onto \u2018Imaginary Enemy\u2019<\/i>, it\u2019s such a politically-charged record, there\u2019s punk anarchy right through those veins. Where did that anger come from, do you think? Was it always there? <\/strong> AH: We\u2019ve already mentioned that every album brings a new sound and a new realm. What\u2019s the next step then? <\/strong> AH: What advice to give to your 13-16 year old self? Would you tell him what\u2019s happened?<\/strong> AH: What advice would you give kids around that age that are looking up to you personally as a bass player?<\/strong> ‘Imaginary Enemy’<\/em> by The Used<\/strong> is out now on GAS Union<\/strong>\/Hopeless Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Used<\/strong> links:
JH: Oh yeah, I\u2019ve seen that, noticed a little bit. Quinn just didn\u2019t feel like coming. It\u2019s great, Justin (Shekoski) is one of the most incredible guitar players I\u2019ve ever seen in my life, he\u2019s one of the coolest people. We\u2019re really good friends with all of them (Saosin), one of their other guys usually tours with us as like an ear monitor guy, so it became like a family. So it was very easy having Justin come in, and he knew all the songs already, so it was perfect. <\/em><\/p>\n
JH: We\u2019re all friends, if you\u2019re not friends, it makes it a lot more difficult. That\u2019s what\u2019s amazing about Justin coming in, Justin\u2019s a very good friend of ours. Dan is one of my favourite people and same with Bert, we\u2019re friends. That\u2019s what we do, we hang out together. It\u2019s really nerdy but we\u2019ve got a big kick on board games lately, so we\u2019re all playing together. We’re not that band doesn’t hang out or see each other and only play the shows. We want to go on tour so we can hang out with each other. <\/em><\/p>\n
JH: I have a lot of friends, and of course I can\u2019t see them because they work a lot of the time, so I\u2019ve been trying to hang out with them when I can, other than that, I\u2019ve just been getting great Indian food. I eat a lot, I love spicy food, the spicier the better. I can\u2019t get it spicy enough. I\u2019ve been trying. I\u2019ve been asking them for spicy and they don\u2019t give me spicy. I wanna be in trouble. They still don\u2019t give me spicy, but it tastes good, so that\u2019s okay. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
JH: There\u2019s so many. It\u2019s really tough because there\u2019s so many bands, and there\u2019s so many bands that come and go. We\u2019re very lucky that we\u2019ve managed to stick around and stay relevant. And it\u2019s lucky that we\u2019re friends, like I said, at the same time. I think the biggest thing I\u2019ve learned is personalities, people. I was an only child growing up so I didn\u2019t have any friends. I didn\u2019t really understand people too well. That\u2019s not nice, that\u2019s not so music-related but it\u2019s personal for me in a sense, to where I\u2019ve really understood people and personalities and how to mesh with those personalities and make things work. Also the magic of music is amazing, writing songs. Everyone has their own special way to add something, each thing matters, each person matters in their own way for that song and that sound. <\/em><\/p>\n
JH: I think it\u2019s Bert\u2019s voice. Bert\u2019s voice is something that it\u2019s really easy to be okay with, it\u2019s very comfortable. The first record was getting to know his voice, and from there on, it\u2019s like you\u2019re comfortable with that voice and you really understand it, and what Bert says is real. He\u2019s singing real things, everything he\u2019s singing about is something that\u2019s happened or something that\u2019s happening. So it gets you in that heart area, you\u2019re connecting with that person and feelings at the same time. <\/em><\/p>\n
JH: That\u2019s really tough because there\u2019s so many songs. I\u2019m going be honest with you, to play a show, we only get somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour and a half. We have 6 records, so that\u2019s 6 hours, so trying to put 6 hours of music in an hour and a half is really difficult. Everyone wants to hear certain songs, we have to play \u2018Taste Of Ink\u2019, we have to play \u2018Box Full\u2026\u2019, we have to play \u2018All That I\u2019ve Got\u2019. Those are the songs that if we don\u2019t play them, people get really angry about. At the same time, I understand, so it\u2019s still fun for us to play them, but there are certain songs like \u2018Let It Bleed\u2019 that I\u2019d love to play, but we never play it. Well no, we played it a long time ago. Another song I like is \u2018Give Me Love\u2019, which was one of my favourites but we don\u2019t play that one, we used to but now we don\u2019t have the time. There\u2019s a song called \u2018Pain\u2019 that we put on a B-side but now there\u2019s just no time. That wasn\u2019t supposed to make it on the record, it was a long story why it didn\u2019t make it on the record, but it made it onto that B-side. It was definitely one I fought for to be on the record. I fought for a lot of things, don\u2019t we all I guess? <\/em><\/p>\n
JH: I would like to re-record all of the records, maybe not the newest one, the newest one I don\u2019t want to touch, I\u2019m pretty happy (with it). There\u2019s a couple of things I\u2019d like to change bass-wise but everything other than that record. I would start re-recording it. I would probably write it different than I did, but that\u2019s coming from a bass point of view. Sometimes you can\u2019t touch it, sometimes they feel like they are as good as they are and it\u2019s probably better not to look back and revisit them. It sucks because sometimes when you\u2019re writing, you\u2019re not really playing those songs live. Even in \u2018Cry\u2019 and \u2018Revolution\u2019 the two new ones, I have different bass lines for that than I recorded with, and I like the bass lines live more than the recorded bass lines.<\/em><\/p>\n
JH: Yeah it was always there, we all talked about what\u2019s going on in the world. Bert\u2019s very into, not politics, but the world and everybody does their part for what they think they can do. Some of it\u2019s like what are you going to do against corporations and companies? All these people want money to change the world and do that, but you don\u2019t need money, you need people. That\u2019s really what\u2019s going change the world. This record, to me at least, is about helping to get more people on the side to realise what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s probably bad here but it\u2019s really bad in America, nobody has any idea what\u2019s going on there, it\u2019s all just money, it\u2019s corporations. I did leave for a bit, I went to Panama. I would still live there again, it\u2019s like little America there, they still use American money. Who knows? I\u2019d love to move to Europe, I\u2019d love to move to Japan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
JH: We\u2019re going to do another record for sure, probably the end of this year. We\u2019ve got a lot to do. We\u2019re going to do a special tour that involves the first and second records. I\u2019m not sure how that\u2019s going work and what\u2019s going to happen, it\u2019s just in talk. I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll come over here too, but so far it\u2019s just talk about America.<\/em><\/p>\n
JH: It\u2019s tough, if I went back and said something, would it change it and ruin it? It\u2019s like that whole time paradox thing, by changing the past, you change your future. I don\u2019t know, there\u2019s a lot of things I\u2019d like to completely do different music-wise, but you get so confident that you don\u2019t do anything.<\/em><\/p>\n
JH: That\u2019s tough – the best advice I would say is do it, do it like your heart says. Don\u2019t try to join a band to sound like someone else. I think the best thing you can do as a musician is just be yourself, that sounds so cheesy but it\u2019s so true in the same sense. You aren\u2019t going to sound like anybody else because you\u2019re doing it your way. Whatever influences you have, whatever you like, your loves, I think that\u2019s the most important thing. I wish I could go back and tell myself that, but I don\u2019t want to step on the bug.<\/em><\/p>\n
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