UTG INTERVIEW: Bert McCracken (The Used) @ SXSW

March 27th, 2014

Matthew Leimkuehler

When sitting down with Bert McCracken, frontman of The Used, it doesn’t take but mere seconds to absorb the aroma of positive energy the singer gives off. It fills the room and swells as the alternative scene legend speaks passionately about topics that influence his demeanor. He gives off the essence of truly wanting to engage in conversation of passion and wit, two factors difficult to come by in a scene full of monotonous conversation and mundane responses. Bert is balanced and calm, with a subtle flare in his voice as he reveals his feelings about the American social climate, his move to Australia, and the band’s new LP, Imaginary Enemy.

Imaginary Enemy, due out April 1, is a record that shows listeners brief flashes of everything fans have grown to love from The Used since they’ve climb to the top of the scene, while still diving deeper into territory previously unexplored by the band. Tracks such as the unanointed opener, “Revolution,” reflect a band with a lust for standing against the social norm, while tracks such as “A Song to Stifle Imperial Progression (A work in progress)” send the listener on a ride of artistic progression of the truly obscure. Imaginary Enemy does not leave out those with their hearts on their sleeves, either — tracks such as “Evolution” wrenches the emotion of listeners in a way the band has not done since In Love and Death.

Under The Gun had the pleasure of sitting down with Bert at SXSW 2014 to chat about everything on the singer’s mind as he prepares for the release of the band’s new LP.

[The conversation opened with Bert discussing his experience interviewing artists while at Soundwave in Australia earlier this year]

Bert McCracken: I interviewed all day long. I interviewed Rob Zombie, Davey Havoc, and GWAR. So, being on the other side, I really got a profound respect for what you do.

UTG: So, what was it like to be on the other side? What do you think your most difficult interview was?

BM: Jesse from Eagles of Death Metal. We have a very different idea of how the world works. His favorite political is Ronald fuckin’ Reagan.

UTG: [laughs] That’s really interesting, man.

BM: We had fun with it! It turned out to be one of the coolest interviews I did during the day. I think I went a little bit overboard with the research I did — like I wrote a fuckin’ biography on each person and I thought that was gonna help me, but it almost hindered the process. I forgot to be in the moment and it’s important to be present. That’s what makes a good interview, obviously.

UTG: Yeah, totally. You can really get so overwhelmed with the information that you just lose the moment.

BM: Yeah, and then you don’t even ask fuckin’ half of what you read about. It was fun. It was a lot more hard work than I thought.

UTG: How was Soundwave this year?

BM: It was cool.

UTG: Yeah? how would you compare it to SXSW?

BM: It’s hard to tell. This is kind of a big clusterfuck of freedom and drunk and tons of music. And Soundwave is like a drunk freedom fest fuck of music. Soundwave’s in Australia so it’s goddamn beautiful.

UTG: Cool. So, you went back to John Feldmann for the new record. What has it been like to have the relationship with him flourish over the years?

BM: It’s amazing. You know, we’re so tight that it’s family. That’s an understatement. It’s like when you see someone you haven’t seen in a long time that you’re that tight with, you don’t really have to have that awkward intermediary where we’re getting to know each other again. With Feldmann, it’s a hug and then we’re at it again. We can fight, we can laugh, we can be real with each other. He’s a great filter for when I over-think things or try to put too much into something. We work really well together. It was a great continuation. He let us have our way with the sound more than we ever could imagine him doing, because he’s a bit of a perfectionist. We really wanted to focus more on The Ocean of the Sky sound that we were really excited about. To have a manufactured amount of mess on the record worked out great.

UTG: A manufactured amount of mess — was that the idea?

BM: Yeah! We want to keep it human, ya know? And I guess ‘manufactured’ is always taken out of context. You can misconceive what I mean. It’s not so planned out that it becomes stale. We’re avoiding this structured sound and letting it be as human as possible. So it’s more of a conscious effort —organic more than manufactured.

UTG: So, lyrically, was there one main focus point for this record?

BM: I like to be completely honest when I’m making a record. A record is only a snapshot of where I’m at or where the band’s at during that moment.

UTG: That’s the beauty of it.

BM: Exactly. For me, I couldn’t write about anything other than inequality and the state of the world we live in and how important I think it is for people to actually give a shit about what’s going on and how we’ve all been convinced that somewhere along the way that we can’t change anything. It’s incredible how little it does take to actually change the world. I wanna get people on board — we’re not trying to push an agenda or any specific ideology — we just want to get people asking questions. What does the war on terror mean? What is it all about?

UTG: That’s a cool way to look at writing. Are you doing anything outside of your voice as a musician to extend this knowledge to people?

BM: Yeah, I’ve been doing a lot more press than I ever would because I think this message is really important. I think peace is only about how we argue, right? That’s so important, to argue. I think a lot of it stems from entitlement. There’s such radical entitlement for The United States that just comes from how we were raised. School is a competition and capitalism is a competition. Getting a fuckin’ job in this country is a competition! There are two types of people in this world, I believe. There’s the type of people who believe there are two types of people in this world, and then there’s us, who don’t. I don’t know why everyone feels their own personal opinion is so important — when there’s seven billion of them.

UTG: The way that everyone in society feels as though they have a voice through the Internet can really fuel that idea.

BM: Yeah, the Internet’s become a trash dump for ignorance.

UTG: Totally. Everyone has their own form of ignorance.

BM: Yeah! Including my own personal opinion. How important is my opinion compared to yours? We’re all human beings, we all believe what we believe. And where do we learn what we believe? From people who were just taking a chance at believing in something anyway. I think people should be more willing to be wrong all the time. The only constant in my life is my belief in doubt. It keeps me focusing on the next thing. I have a lot of doubt that we can change this world, but I do believe in that doubt — I can embrace that doubt. It takes so much less than we think it does.

UTG: And it’s great that you’re using your music to channel that message.

BM: Art should be a weapon to shape society instead of reflecting the fucking sad, fucked up state we’re in. I’m so tired of hearing about where we’re at — with money and disrespect to women. I don’t give a fuck what you have object-wise or monetarily. Where did all the entitlement come from? I don’t know, man. My own belief is that humanity depends on each of us, individually. If people in Syria are suffering, then I believe I’m suffering. There’s no happiness without complete sadness. We have to understand that balance is okay. I think that people in The United States believe happiness is acquiring more things — and they think that’s progression as well.

UTG: Interesting. So, we’ve touched on some thoughts about America a little bit and I found out earlier you recently made the move to Australia. What was the motivation behind that?

BM: Nothing drastic. I love The United States and if in the next couple years there is a massive uprising, I’ll be back. My wife’s Australian and she sacrificed eight years of her life while living in LA with me so it’s my turn to give to her. And it’s not a sacrifice, living in Australia [laughs]. It’s beautiful, it’s lovely. And you get to experience a different way of life. I think everyone should get to experience a different way of life. Americans think that this is how it is all over the world.

UTG: What do you think the biggest difference is?

BM: Australians have a die-hard protection for independent, small, family-owned business.

UTG: A good protection to have. So, tour with Taking Back Sunday starts tomorrow.

BM: So stoked.

UTG: Where did the idea of teaming up with TBS come from?

BM: We’ve been good friends with Taking Back Sunday, I mean, we toured with Taking Back Sunday before our first Warped Tour, so it’s been 12 years ago. Great guys, great music. Similar genre, I guess if that matters. We thought it’d be a real interesting opportunity for everyone who was around during that time and felt the wave come through. What bands like Taking Back Sunday and The Used did for music is historically important and it’s been the way music has moved. It’s a cool opportunity to see. It’s inspiring that Taking Back Sunday is still a band. I’m inspired by that. It shows that bands do play music because they love music.

UTG: It also shows that there can be longevity. Your first record dropped 12 years ago, what do you think it takes to become that well-established?

BM: Unwavering love and passion for music. Period. If you love making music and if you love playing music then the rest takes care of itself. I think a lot of people get into it for the wrong reason. I think they want that monetary gain we were talking about, or something else that’s completely not tangible. Like fame.

UTG: Was there anything else you wanted to add?

BM: We have amazing fans. Every band says that, but our fans really have a die-hard passion for The Used. We hope you really appreciate this new message and embrace it. Let’s take this new idea and run with it because we can change this world, we really can.