The Used Talks 25 Years of Making Emo History

The Used promised to savor every moment on its breakout single, “The Taste of Ink.”

Bursting out of Orem, Utah, behind a critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 2002, the band didn’t expect to lead the emergent emo movement. But it’s become the subgenre’s standard-bearer for the past 25 years.

Founding bassist Jeph Howard, who is originally from Colorado Springs, still can’t fully wrap his head around the Used’s meteoric rise and subsequent chart-topping career. “It’s still weird for me,” he says. “We’re just a bunch of dudes that got together and figured something out. It created a sound. Guess it was just the right time and right place for something like that to exist.”

From the jump, the Used, which formed in 2000 from the remnants of several failed projects, somehow captured both the rage of unfettered post-hardcore and the vulnerability of early emo wave, a more spoken-word hardcore subset. It’s hard to imagine now, but back then, it didn’t necessarily make sense to anyone but the musicians themselves.

“There was a moment in time when we were still writing the demo [Demos from the Basement]. We played a comedy club, and it was so weird, the music we were playing, because it didn’t really fit any of the genres of the bands that were playing,” Howard recalls. “It didn’t really fit any genre we had ever heard of, so we were just coming up with it as we went.”

The group didn’t embrace the “emo” tag back then, but certainly took note when the music started resonating with younger audiences. They were onto something, but weren’t sure what just yet.

“Playing the first couple shows, I noticed we were getting fans to show up and they were excited to see us before we were going on. We were starting to build this fanbase,” Howard shares. “I could see it in their eyes how excited they were. I’m talking, like, ten people, but there’s such excitement behind it, and it kept growing slowly.”

And after releasing that first album, featuring vocalist Bert McCracken’s signature confessional lyrics, the group caught fire. The Used could seemingly do no wrong, as the debut, sophomore effort In Love and Death (2004) and 2007 release Lies for the Liars were massive successes. The Used and In Love and Death are certified platinum, while Lies for the Liars has since received gold status.

Now, the Used – which currently includes McCracken, Howard, longtime drummer Dan Whitesides and guitarist Joey Bradford – is celebrating the hat-trick of hit albums by playing each in full during three-night runs for its current anniversary tour. The Denver dates are Tuesday, April 29 (self-titled), Wednesday, April 30 (In Love and Death), and Friday, May 2 (Lies for the Liars), at the Ogden Theatre. Local acts Bury Mia, Trash and A Place For Owls are opening each night, respectively.

Howard considers the first album his most nostalgic but recognizes the lasting impact of those early 2000s records. He can pinpoint the exact moment when he and his bandmates knew they had made it. Naturally, it was at an early Warped Tour. The exact date and location escapes Howard. He narrows it down to 2002 or 2003 on one of the side stages, but he’ll never forget what happened that day.

“It was packed. You couldn’t get any more people to that tiny stage. As soon as we went up there, people knew all the words. It was the first time it clicked that we were onto something, like we’re doing something,” he explains.

“The power ended up going out during ‘The Taste of Ink,’ and the crowd carried the song. They sang the whole song through. Back then, that first time happening, it was like such a shock that we had a crowd helping us get through a song when there was no power.”

Of course, that’s a regular occurrence whenever the Used plays now. And with ten studio albums to date, it serves as an ongoing testament to how the band continues to capture hearts in a noose.

“When a record gets released, it takes on a life of its own to where people who listen to it and love it, fall in love with it for their own reasons,” Howard concludes. “Then you take that and have it go 25 years later, it takes on even more. It’s a living thing now, in its own way. People are taking and getting stuff from it that I can’t even imagine.”

The Used with Bury Mia, Trash and A Place For Owls, 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 29; Wednesday, April 30; and Friday, May 2, Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax. Tickets are $125-$225.