The Used and Me

Yesterday I interviewed Jeph (prounouced "Jeff") Howard, the bassist from The Used. The story will be out in The Californian later in the month (they're playing The Dome Monday, Oct. 18). But I thought it would be cool to post parts of the Q&A I had to cut because the story was too long. We had a really good conversation. It's amazing how you can connect with someone over the phone.

Also, I'm going to post some of my Diana DeGarmo interview that never ran (because I was sick). Check for that later this week.

Until then, heeeeeeeeeere's JEPH!

Q: So where is home now?
A: We still all live in Utah. It’s cheap and easy.
Q: How many shows do you perform in Utah?
A: As many as we can. We don’t over do it. Whenever we get the chance.
Q: Do you get a lot of stuff from people about being from Utah? With its large Mormon population people have a lot of misconceptions.
A: I’ve heard everything. Little comments like, ‘You guys all mormom? You guys all have ten wives?’ Is Utah flat?
Q: OK. That’s just bad geography. Someone didn’t take their US geography. Even I know that Salt Lake is surrounded by mountains. It’s the frickin’ Rocky Mountain range.
A: I know. Crazy right? It’s right next to Colorado. People probably mistake it for Wyoming or something. You don’t have to be smart to know that there are mountains in Utah.
Q: So I know that some of you are Mormon. How does that affect things, being in a rock band?
A: I was never Mormon. And Bert, I doubt he is right now. I didn’t grow up Mormon. My Dad was Mormom. My mom was Catholic.
Q: But a lot of people think of Utah as a really conservative place. Most people don’t think “rock band from Utah.”
A: It is pretty conservative. Everythings closed on Sundays. You can’t like drink on Sundays. That’s not a big deal to me anyway. But the Wal-Mart’s open. That's cool.