Eagerly anticipating the "Get a Life Tour," which rolls into Worcester on April 11, the Daily caught up with The Used guitarist Quinn Allman to talk about drummers, influences and group harmony.
Question: What was behind the decision to headline the "Get a Life Tour," which is focused mainly on the college crowd?
Quinn Allman: The idea really came from Bert [McCracken, lead singer]. We were going to do a college tour by ourselves anyway, and that's when our manager and booking agents came together and really did everything behind our back and said, 'Well, if you guys are going to do a tour' ... mind you, Bert had already brought out the "Get a Life" idea, so they went ahead and copyrighted that name, "Get a Life." So they own the tour, and we're obligated to play it, so we kinda got f--ked. But it was mostly Bert's idea.
Q: How has working with [new drummer] Dan [Whitesides] changed the songwriting process, playing live, any of that?
QA: It's changed dynamically. To compare Dan to Branden [Steineckert, former drummer] is one way to look at it, but as far as the way we interact ... we're all on the same page and have the same drive for the band. Whereas before, we were just a bunch of kids from Utah, now we're all the same. But now I can just sit and make noise, and Dan sits and makes noise, and it sounds amazing.
Q: Have you started the songwriting process for the next album already?
QA: Yeah, we've got something like 25 songs down, but only about 10 of them have vocals. We'll write out about 15 or so and pick the ten we like the most and put vocals to them, but now we've got over 25 and 10 with vocals, and our plan is to record the next album in June.
Q: And I can only assume you're working with [producer] John Feldmann again?
QA: Actually, we're not. That's part of the reason we started on this album so early: We just wanted to do something new, without John.
Q: You just released "The Shallow Believer EP," which is made up mostly of B-sides from "Lies for the Liars." Are there any tracks on there you think should have made the album?
QA: "Dark Days" I think should have made it for sure onto the album. I thought that "Slit Your Own Throat" for sure should have made it. I thought "Sun Comes Up" and "Sick Hearts" should have made it as well. I thought the original album should have been fifteen songs, you know?
Q: Even though it's still early, is there any particular direction you see the new album going?
QA: It's going towards, or what we describe it as, is "gross pop." Because everything that we've ever done has had a pop side, we've always had pop melodies, but maybe the music was heavier, but even when it was heavy the arrangements have been pop arrangements. And we're all fans of pop music, and I'm not talking about Missy Keys, Puff Daddy and Fall Out Boy and stuff like that, but more like The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Lionel Ritchie ... we want to take that universal idea of pop and make it our own and make it sound decrepit and gross, but still the catchiest thing you've ever heard.
Q: Which albums released recently have had you excited?
QA: The new Raconteurs comes out today, which I like. I don't love them, but I like them. I like The Bled's latest album, that's pretty brilliant, I think. I've been getting into a lot of electro-type stuff lately. I really like MSTRKRFT [pronounced master-craft].
Q: Does any of that stuff influence your writing at all, or is that something you're just into right now?
QA: As far as the production and the sonics of it go, yeah.
Q: Now that you guys have cemented a place as a staple of the modern rock scene, has anything changed about your existence as a band, your outlook on life?
QA: Oh yeah, totally. It restores some confidence; it restores some faith in what you always wanted to do. I always wanted to play music. I sat in my room with my little four-track and my guitar, and I would come up with a little something, and we'd turn it into a song. And after we started doing that, I thought, "Wow, this is really what I'm good at and what I like to do." We've been lucky, and we've passed that feeling of luck, and we've seen it's our drive and our passion that made it work. Especially with Dan, we really feel that drive and that force. I have no hang-ups to say he's the best drummer I've ever seen or heard, and in terms of people in my life, I've never met someone I care about more than Dan, as much as I care about Bert and as much as I care about Jeff. So those kinds of things really hold it together.
