Why The Used's 15th Anniversary Tour Is About More Than Just Nostalgia

For anyone who grew up in the 2000s wearing skinny jeans (purchased from the ladies section, regardless of who you were), a studded belt and checkered Vans, you'd be willing to bet that The Used were in your life, one way or another. So 15 years on, when the post-hardcore act announced that Australian fans would get to relive the emo glory of their 2002 debut self-titled and 2004's In Love And Death, wardrobes were rummaged through and nostalgic playlists were created.

"It's been incredible to go through the records from front to back and have that emotional journey, like you, in the record. [It's been ages since we've played] Let It Bleed, Poetic Tragedy, Greener With The Scenery, Sound Effects And Overdramatics, Hard To Say..." McCracken rattles other titles off so fast we hardly catch them. "There's so many. These are album nights, we take a really long time to get deep into the songs, there's some surprises but it's really about an evening with the record."

When probed about whether the band considers the records their best work, McCracken philosophically explains it's more than just nostalgia. "This work is timeless and untouchable, it was a different time when things were easier, we lived realistically without so much connection to Facebook or Instagram and everything else that fucks our true individualism. These records are very, very important to a lot of people and they literally have saved my life over and over, so there's no words that can truly describe their importance."

"The replication, the duplication and the recreation of art for capital gain has always been detrimental to the importance of art..."

In Love And Death, in particular, homed light-and-shade tracks about "loss, love [and] premature death". "I experienced a lot of heartache and lot of really serious things happened to me," McCracken starts, referring to the loss of his ex-girlfriend, pregnant with his child, to a drug overdose. "I lost someone very close to me while making the record, making a few of the songs, especially Hard To Say, [was] for me what kind of helped me want to make music again." The melancholy of that song only juxtaposes the giddiness of The Used classic, I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes), a "euphoric" song about falling in love. "You feel sick, you feel scared, you feel alive, you feel excited, it's just the greatest feeling and one beautiful analogy of fire," McCracken explains, adding that, "I think it's important to get a hug sometimes [laughs]."

He's a tranquil guy, sometimes pausing for the right thoughts and at other times passionately word-vomiting about politics and the state of the music business.

"Music has become a whole new world now - we all know that music is free. You can listen to it on YouTube or wherever else you can stream it. Nothing has changed as far as everybody trying to steal as much money as they can from the artist - they've just found new ways to steal from us now. But things are developing now where fans of music are becoming aware that Spotify pays us, like, $0.008 per play while the guys are sitting on like billions of dollars.

"The contrast between business and art is poisonous and the replication, the duplication and the recreation of art for capital gain has always been detrimental to the importance of art but ultimately, it's about everyone being able to appreciate the music and that's why we make it ... we'll keep fighting the good fight and keep trying to make people aware that when they buy our record from iTunes, I get a couple pennies and iTunes gets a couple bucks. That's honest truth, I guess."

One thing's for sure, fans have scurried to grab tickets to the dual-night extravaganza, even leading the band to upgrade their venues. What can fans expect? "It's Jeph [Howard, bassist] and I that remain and so it's a 50% different band, so 50% different feel to the intention of the song, but these songs are what The Used sound like now and whether or not anyone likes it, The Used has never been stronger, or tighter, or more brave, or more ready, to have another beautiful 15 years ahead of us."

And if we can't find our old Vans to wear on the night? Well, all bets are off.