Elie: Congratulations on your new album, “Artwork”. How would you sum it up?
Dan: Thank you. I would say that real and honest would be a good way to sum it up.

Elie: There are so many amazing tracks on the album, are there are you favor?
Dan: I love them all, but “Watered Down” is one of my favorites lyrically and “The Best Of Me” is one of my favorites to play live.

Elie: You guys went for “Blood On My Hands” as the first release from the album, why that choice?
Dan: We all thought that coming out of the gates with a heavy jam would be a good idea. It was just a natural decision that we all just agreed on.

Elie: This time, you guys worked with producer Matt Squire instead of John Feldman. Why the change and what’s the verdict?
Dan: We just felt like we needed a change. Matt and John are both great producers but Matt is really laid back. We came in to this album about 85% done and 100% confident. We heard Matt was really chill, so we just went for it and it turned out exactly the way we wanted it to.

Elie: Would you call this album, the best yet for “The Used”?
Dan: Yeah I would. We were all prepared to make this album and we made it on our terms with no pressure from anyone. I think this album is a mixture of all the ones before it.

Elie: What does the record mean to you?
Dan: It means everything to me and it is the best thing I've ever been apart of. We had a lot of fun making this album and that in itself means a lot to me.

Elie: You start the tour in October, are you looking forward to it?
Dan: I've been thinking about this tour since I heard about it and I can't stop thinking about it. We are all excited about it. It's been a while since we did a proper headlining tour in the states and Canada.

Elie: What can the fans expect from the tour?
Dan: They can expect a really kick ass set of old songs we haven't played in years as well as brand new ones they've never heard live. We're doing some cool things with projection and we've put together a bitchin lighting set up too. I don't want to give it all away, so I'll just say that it's gonna kick ass and you don't want to miss it.

Elie: What’s the craziest thing ever happen on stage?
Dan: It's hard to say what the absolute craziest thing is, but one of them might have been when this kid threw his prosthetic leg on stage… that was kind of crazy. We found the kid after and signed it for him, he was pumped.

Elie: Let’s go back in time, how did you guys get together?
Dan: About 8 or so years ago everyone was playing in local bands around the Utah county area and decided to team up and form one badass band and that's what happened.

Elie: When did you guys get the break you needed?
Dan: Quinn gave John Feldman a demo and he really liked it, so about six months after that he brought the band out to L.A. to record the first album. He really helped the band out a lot with management, label and he was just there and still is there as a great friend.

Elie: For bands looking to make it, what kind of advice would you give them?
Dan: Be original and practice. Too many bands look really pretty but suck ass.

Elie: So what’s next for The Used?
Dan: Lots of touring, we're doin’ about 70 shows in the U.S. and Canada from October through the end of December, then Japan, Europe, Australia. Basically we're doing a world tour and we'll be hitting all the places we've hit before and a lot of new places. We'll be doing a lot of writing on tour, so hopefully after this record cycle we'll jump right back in to the studio.

Elie: Good luck with it and is there anything else you’d like to add?
Dan: Come see us soon.