The Used - Quinn Allman Interview
Taste Of Chaos Tour 2007 And New Album 'Lies For The Liars'
Apr 4, 2007
- Genre: indie alternative rock / ghetto rock
- Bert McCracken (vocals) / Quinn Allman (guitar) / Jeph Howard (bass) / Dan Whitesides (drums)
- Sounds like: true love meeting at a rock concert
- Home: Orem, Utah
- The Used
Something New, Something Used
Headlining this year's Taste Of Chaos tour, as well as a new album called Lies For The Liars due for release at the end of May, we caught up with guitarist Quinn Allman on the tour'sToronto stopover, to discuss the tour so far, the new album, and The Used's international plans.
Quinn Allman Interview
Suite: Headliners for the 2007 Taste of Chaos tour – how does that feel?
Quinn: It's been great, really good. It's great to get back into touring again, 'cause we've been gone for about 14 months. We've recorded a new album, and we've kinda gone through some changes in our line-up; we got a new drummer, and that's made a world of difference as to how we get along. We feel much better, we're more confident in what we're doing when we get up there.
Suite: Do you feel under more pressure headlining this kind of tour?
Quinn: No… I mean… going on after Thirty Seconds To Mars is not hard… (smiles). No, we're trying hard, everybody's trying hard just to put on the best show they can, so it makes for an awesome night, hopefully.
Suite: You mentioned that you've been away for the last 14 months, and that part of that time has been getting the new album ready. There was quite a change musically from your debut The Used to the follow-up, In Love And Death. Is there the same kind of change in this one?
Quinn: It's not really like the other two at all. I wouldn't say it's hugely different; it's probably more mature. The dynamics of the sound are wider, it's more tonal, and every song has its own theme. It just seems more of a timeless record than the other two. The songs on this one really speak for themselves; there're no moments where they're trying too hard to lift themselves – it smells like true love… (laughs).
Suite: The videos that you've brought out for your singles are quite unique in their look (the promo for All That I've Got has been described as 'A Clockwork Orange meets The Never Ending Story'). Where do you get the ideas for those from?
Quinn: Our videos usually come from talking with the director and getting a view of what they might want to do, then have ourselves kicking in our ideas on where we want to take it. I think with All That I've Got, that came about more from where the song was and what it was representing at that particular time, as opposed to the other videos we've done. I think for the most part our videos just kinda happen, and we're lucky the way they turn out – they seem to get the focus from the particular song, I think. Maybe not lyrically per se, but just the feelings that are conveyed by the song.
Suite: You played Europe with the last Taste of Chaos tour. How did you find the crowds over there?
Quinn: They're really cool. Like you say, we've done Taste of Chaos over in Europe before, as well as our own headline shows and festivals, and the crowds really take us to their hearts. It's pretty awesome.
Suite: There're only a few dates left on this tour. Are you guys going back out on the road after Taste of Chaos finishes?
Quinn: Well, the new album comes out May 27th, so after this tour finishes, we go home for about a week, then it's off with Taste of Chaos again through Europe. Our actual CD release is going to be in Australia, then once we do Australia and Japan, we're back into Europe again. Then we've got twelve Warped Tour shows, then a whole load of college-themed stuff, and we also have a headline tour with just us and two other bands in the summer. That's going to be international again, as well as North America. Nothing's set in stone at the minute, we're still planning it out, but we've definitely got big plans. It should be amazing.
