The Used

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I also wanted to know how the fans’ reaction had been to ‘Artwork’, to which Dan enthusiastically told me that so far it’s been really great and that everywhere they go, everyone knows all the words to all the songs.

“It’s been a great response. More importantly, we love the album, so it’s just an extra bonus when other people get into it” Dan added.

I then inquired about the actual album cover and where the inspiration behind the title ‘Artwork’ came from. Quinn explained that the idea originally spawned from one of Bert’s ideas: “The title kind of came out of several ideas. Bert had drawn it onto a folder and we visually just started talking about it… Like, Artwork: that just seems like a cool title. It’s got a duality to it, art and work. It just stuck.”

Dan finished Quinn’s train of thought on the idea of duality by explaining that they liked the irony that it held and how there are artists out there today who have such a lack of art and work in their material. This album was the complete opposite for The Used.

“A lot of people rely on other people rather than doing it the way they want to do it. This album was 100% ours. It’s our artwork ” Dan went on proudly about the final product.

As mentioned a little earlier in the band’s history, ‘Artwork’ was also the first record that the band worked on with a different producer. When I questioned the guys about the major differences between working with John Feldmann and Matt Squire, both told me that the biggest difference was that Feldmann was a very hands-on producer and Squire was more lenient.

“In the past, with John Feldmann, he was really hands on. He has a clear vision and he executes things really fast. He’ll say “that’s a good idea” or “that’s not a good idea” Quinn said about their past work with him.

He then went on with the comparison with Matt: “Well, he had to sort of translate our ideas a little more. We were pretty picky about what we wanted it to be… But he gave us time.”

Dan added that everyone was very open to each other’s ideas throughout the process which was something very important for the project to run as smoothly as it did. All in all, the guys had only good things to say about both producers and the creation they had done together.

We then moved on by talking about their inspiration in songwriting. I asked the two musicians what the process of creating a song together was like, to which Quinn responded: “The music is a collaborative thing. It’ll either just spark from an idea, like a guitar idea, or me and Dan and Jeph jam… And we just give it to Bert and he puts some kind of melody… And along the way it transforms itself into a song”.

He continued by telling me that they always try to collaborate on their music so that it’s not necessarily from just one person, but that if ideas start to pile up too much, they cut it down to a jam session between Quinn, Dan and Jeph to sort things out. Quinn also clarified to me that although they do try as much as possible to have everyone help out all the time, back when they went into the studio to record ‘In Love and Death’, it was mostly him and Bert, because they’d started recording with only five to ten ideas, most of which they ended up throwing out anyway.

“I think for that process it was a lot more of me bringing an idea into the studio and working on the idea with Bert. It was a little less collaborative musically but now everybody is really into their parts. We all genuinely like playing together and adding our own little piece to it” he said about the albums’ recordings.

As for the lyrics of their songs, Bert tends to do that himself. When I asked them where they thought his inspiration came from, Quinn said that it was probably something Bert would be better at answering, but he gave it a try anyway: “He’s a crazy writer. He’s quite a poet. I think that a lot of it maybe comes from the literature that he reads, the movies that he watches and his relationships, the reflection of his life and his decisions and his inner struggles or his struggles”.

Ten years together and still going strong is something that these four band members can be incredibly proud of. So where does The Used see themselves in another decade? According to Quinn, doing what they do best: making albums and playing shows.

“I see us on the same path that we’re on. We’re evolving and we’re going through different things with life, you know as you get older, your priorities and stuff. But making music is something that we all see as in the end being fun and being what we do instead of a chore. So I think that we’ll get more into just what we want to do and having fun with it, or continue to”.

If you’d like to learn more about the band you can check them out at the following websites:
www.myspace.com/theused
www.twitter.com/wearetheused
www.theused.net
And don’t forget to get their newest album ‘Artwork’, in stores now!

To view the full transcript to this interview, click HERE.

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