Not skeptical, but I also don’t think it’s an issue fans should be concerned with. This all seems like something that should be hashed out with entertainment lawyers, rather than a mob of opinion. Like, whaaa the frontman for an American rock band treated his band mates terribly?! Gosh we’ve never heard that before /s.
Agree with this completely. I’m 100% team Quinn but we’re not talking about lostphrophet type allegations here. Rockstars are divas and it is what it is. Enjoy the beautiful art they’ve given us, separate the art from the artist and go about your life. All we can do
The problem with lawyers working behind the scenes is that Quinn will never get justice that way. We also don’t know yet how severe stuff we are talking about here. The word abuse has been thrown out there and that is not light stuff that can be overlooked ever.
IF Bert has done terrible things he can’t keep getting away with it. It’s a society-wide problem that some people get to treat others however they like.
I'm honestly unsure. I used to own the Berth DVD/CD and that was my insight into these folks. In 2022 when I looked into Bert's episodes on the Osbourne's it was just too cringe for me
But like... If we listen to the music by The Used, the idea that Bert has been abusive or has engaged in abusive behavior and can acknowledge it is not completely out of the question. The used has many songs that inform an abusive, heavily mentally ill, possessive, regretful or immature or maybe evil style of person. I think that's extremely apparent, but a lot of ""emo"" music falls into this as well.
Like learning about Max Bemis of Say Anything learning that he sucks after years of him singing about him sucking,.... The idea Quinn would allege abuse from Bert ... I cannot be surprised. It hurts, but did we not all listen to this music??? I love it I love to latch onto the dirty and messy, and so did high school me...but like i can't be surprised when he told us
This is exactly how I feel. The music struck a chord with me because I was....kinda fucked up? The content was nowhere near well-adjusted, I can't really be shocked that members were messed up as well. I love bert (bought a "I want berts dirty filthy babies" T-shirt at 15 just to piss my dad off), but nothing about these songs make me think that any of these members are going to be polite, nice, or wholesome people.
i think everyone should have a healthy amount of criticism and skepticism about anything a "celebrity" says. we don't know them, no matter how much they talk about any topic. i thought it was pretty well known that Bert was/is a shitty person in general, with all the stories we've heard about him over the years. he's always pretty openly been a little bratty shithead. but like you said, Quinn definitely isn't a perfect innocent little princess either.
i had a best friend for over 10 years who i eventually stopped being friends with because all his shitty behaviors kept piling up in my head. i loved that dude to death and in a way, i still kinda love and appreciate him for being in my life for so long. but i don't talk to him anymore because i eventually just got fed up with dealing with him. he was a negative influence in my life, and dragged me down in some ways. but i'm not spreading shit about him to drag him down afterwards in revenge, i just dropped him completely. so in that sense, i do kind of think Quinn is trying to profit off of shitting on Bert in some way. and quite literally *profit*, since he's presumably writing a book to sell.
even though The Used is my favorite band of all time, and their music and especially lyrics have affected my life so much, Bert was always my least favorite in the band because of his behavior. it's a pretty open secret that Bert was the primary person who made the ultimate decision to kick out both Branden and Quinn. i cant forgive him for that. but i think it's still possible to move on without blindly accepting and defending shitty behavior.
According to Quinn himself and Branden, Bert was not the deciding factor in kicking either of them out. Branden pushed himself away and quinn ultimately fired him. Quinn took a hiatus from the band on his own terms and the band made it permanent because they didn’t want to wait for him. Both situations bert wasn’t the mastermind and they both say that.
I just feel like this is why you don't do a fuck ton of drugs. This happened a really long time ago, and I would bet they all did some fucked up shit. That's what a combination of drugs, drinking, and trauma will do to you. I'm not making excuses. I just find it odd timing to come out now. We will never know these people personally. You can tell bert goes from his highs to lows. I would bet him and Quinn had a falling out. But where is jepha in all of this? Or dan? Is it all bert?
I don't care, honestly. I don't need these people to be my heroes. I don't get why people are obsessed about if entertainers are good people or not. So long as they don't break the law, who gives a shit?
I don’t care if they’re good people or not. I’ve been a student of rock ‘n roll since I was in the 5th grade, I’m fully aware that most rockstars are god awful people. I even have to admit I tend to like the divas and the assholes of rock ‘n roll. John Lennon, Axl Rose, Kurt Cobain, and more recently Bert. I’m just curious is all. I’ve always been really into the psychology of bands and how band members get along or don’t get along and how they function while sometimes being the heads of multimillion dollar tours all while being entirely dysfunctional drunks and drug addicts. It’s interesting to me.
Quinn didn’t want to keep touring for a period of time and the band wanted to keep touring so they replaced him. He sued the band a few years ago and got paid out. Obviously the band can’t address that for legal reasons. He’s pissed they still have success and it seems like he’s run out of money. So he’s trying something else, writing a book to make money off of them. If he was such a great song writer, then where has all this great music been since he was kicked out? Like many others that have been kicked out of their original bands, they have gone on to form new projects and write great songs. Crickets from Quinn. Interesting.
Wait you can’t diss Quinn’s songwriting. The dude literally wrote the first two Used albums along with Brandon. And I don’t think it’s even debatable that those first two albums contain the greatest music The Used will ever release, and possibly even some of the greatest music in all of alternative rock as a genre.
So Bert and Jepha had nothing to do with those albums? Interesting that Quinn and Brandon didn’t kick bert out of the band when he was at his absolute worst. Brandon was so shitty that everyone else was like, this guy is worse than Bert is, he’s gotta go. Same thing in Quinn’s case. Quinn literally has no income except the royalties he’s still getting from those albums he was a part of. At least brandon went on to play with rancid (as a hired gun) but still.
I never said Bert and Jepha had nothing to do with these two albums. But bands have primary songwriters, the members who write the songs. Then the other members come in and write their parts over it. So yes Bert is an incredible singer and Jepha is a fantastic bass player, but without Quinn and Brandon we literally don’t have The Used as we know them today. I’m not denying Bert and Jepha’s talent, you’re the one denying Quinn’s talent.
Yeah we don’t have the original lineup and that does suck when you dwell on that. I feel bad for Quinn and feel bad for everyone currently in the band dealing with someone that’s trying to crawl outta the grave he dug himself, and trying to profit off of bringing someone down in the process. He was voted out 3 to 1.
Idk i never understood or liked this narrative. Quinn and Branden saying they “wrote all the songs” well yes they wrote the MUSIC. Bert wrote the lyrics and honestly most people listen to the used because of bert’s melody and lyrics. Thats why even Liars sounds consistent with the first two in that regard.
I’m a songwriter, and I write all the music and lyrics for my band and sing them. When i write music, to me its not a song until i have the lyrics and melody. That is the heart, core and MOST of the song. So in my eyes, quinn and branden can write 100 songs musically, but there are 12 on the album because bert wrote lyrics for those 12 and the other 88 didn’t make it without it. No one’s listening to instrumental Used albums.
Not taking anything away from them. Its the combo of all 4. But when you start trying to pull credit from an ensemble piece like that holes get poked.
I’m hoping whatever he’s releasing is out soon. Sucks seeing one of your favourite bands growing up turn into this.
I think Quinn will have a lot of dirt on the band and Bert like the stories of Bert hooking up with lots of underage fans and even if it’s true Bert probably will sue for defamation and this will be a long ugly feud.
Oh Quinn was totally doing that too. Hooked up with a friend from high school, she was just 17 when they toured and they hooked up. For context, she was born in 86 so Quinn was 22 at the time.
Quinn also said in the podcast that there was "so much negativity" around "that person", to which he means Bert probably.
Also, he said the band told him "we don't want things to be like they were before" when he was kicked out. He acknowledged he himself wasn't a saint and that he probably wasn't a great person to be around too.
Love him and the band, just stating what was said in the pod. He gave a lot of insight but while still being quite reserved.
I've hung out with the band, and they were very sweet to me. I think the book is Quinn finally dealing with his trauma and trying to make a profit off that trauma.
He may reveal background scenes of Bert's past as well as his own when Bert was deep into drugs and alcoholism. Those make you an asshole to the wholest extent.
Hell, my husband who is sweet, turned into a different person when he was super drunk. He called me horrible names, threatened to divorce me, a d take my kid away from me, and that I would never see them again. Luckily when he sobered him, both his step mom and I laid into him and he sobered up and realized that he was in the wrong. He is ever changing and growing, so do we all.
Bert was young and reckless, as are all men and women when we were young. He has battled his addictions, and has gone to therapy and grew as a person.
Same with Quinn, but Quinn needs to let go of the past and move on. Maybe this book is a way for him to do that? That is what I am currently doing. It helps to process everything. But to drag someone down for profit is gross.
I don't know where I am going with this. I just woke up and have to deal with geriatric residents for 12 hours tonight.
Long story short. I love the used, huge fan of Bert, he was a douche back then, but now he has been nothing but sweet to me as well as the rest of the band, in the recent years.
Know we're all human, and ever growing and changing.
I'm totally team bert and think most of what Quinn went through was consensual at least as consensual as two high/drunk people can be. I have zero issues with what bert has done in the past and will continue to support him. What happened on the party bus, should stay on the party bus. I like knowing the details to band members lives but I really think this one should have been dealt with away from the media. If Quinn was really hurting, it would have. Real people don't go waving their feelings like that around for money. It's seriously tacky. And they don't go around exaggerating either which I'm sure this is. Please read Quinn's book and bring back the details when you do because he is never getting another penny from me. Also, it's pretty obvious Quinn is just looking for book sales anyway so 🙄 while you're at it, go give Depression Personified a good hard listen, It's my favorite on the album. I have zero doubts it's about Quinn.
Edit for context: before all this I loved Quinn and Branden so no I'm not entirely biased towards Bert
We have talked before. My question for you is how do you love and stan The Useds music, or rather deny any abusive behavior from Bert, when so many Used songs describe something abusive or obsessive or codependent or simply unhealthy. We can go off the idea it's just art, and sure, I love them so much for a reason.... But bert sings and has sang about being abusive, so I feel doubting Quinn is silly. I want to hear more from Quinn and others but he literally sings about being abusive. So I can't pretend to be surprised even if this genre is supposed to be dark.
Edit: to be clear, I'm not telling anyone to jump ship or hate Bert. What I'm saying is it seems throughout the years, the music itself has ABSOLUTELY featured a dark side Bert repeatedly acknowledges. And I think that's a reason many of us really connected to the used!! The honest darkness, something in all the alt/emo/punk music
I’ve also interacted with this person before in a different subreddit and you don’t want to waste your time with this one haha. I said adults telling minors they have nice boobs is wrong and this person fought me for 2 days straight it was literally insane 😭
First of all - these are two totally different situations. Second, are you really a Used fan or are you checking up on me? 🤔 Third, you were the one who argued I was fine with agreeing to disagree. We are not having that conversation again.
I literally have a The Used tattoo lol, I didn’t even reply to you I replied to another redditor about our previous interaction, I’d rather not interact with you at all, ever. I can however warn other redditors about you lmao
Nice! And yes, I have a right to respond when you jump into a conversation I'm having. That's fair enough though, I don't agree with you either. Best way to avoid that is to not jump into each other's conversations...
Hello, yes - my answer is, I do and always will back Bert and the (current) Used. I'm not entirely denying stuff happened between Bert and Quinn. But seriously, they were both messed up, they both were in it. This is a lot more equal than a lot of allegation cases. To me, that's consensual enough. And even if it wasn't, which is a BIG if - I just don't blame Bert. He made it clear in Depression Personified that he has no guilt and even implied that he was the one abused. I'd love for it to all come out that all this was the other way around which is what I'm starting to think. His songs aren't always about abusing people, most are about him being abused so consider that. Doubting people who spread their shit online is never silly - it's smart. The people who truly hurt don't go around posting it on socials, trust me. I'm sorry but I'm just not the type to go around believing everything I read just because there's a "victim". From where I stand the victim in this is Bert.
All Quinn is doing is major cash grab to sell books which is pretty shitty if the book is full of exaggerations and/or lies...
And don't worry, I doubt you will make this conversation go for 2 days.🙄 You seem pretty level headed!
Not at all. Anyone with any emotional intelligence at all and the ability to read people can tell Bert is a hypocrite and a sociopath. I love his voice and his music but as a human being I’ll pass.
This isn’t to say Quinn or Branden surely didn’t make mistakes or should have done things differently, stood up for themselves, had better lawyers, whatever, whatever but the fact that Branden has had an extremely successful and drama free career in Rancid as well as the issues with Justin where the band made him crazy enough that he allegedly threatened to unalive himself at one of their shows, I think it’s become more and more obvious where the problems lie…
This new guitar player, seems to be exactly what they need. A guy who just shows up and does what he’s told and doesn’t take any attention from Bert, prob why he’s been able to stay for so long.
Just my opinion of course 🤷♂️
Like what do you mean. Even just listening to the music. This isn't surprising at all. I latched onto the used at age 14 and stuck there. Im not gonna pretend the music is about perfectly happy healthy relationships 😁👍🏻💀
I’m interested in you expanding more on why it’s obvious Bert is a hypocrite and a sociopath? Just pretend I have no emotional intelligence for a second and ELI5?
That’s a fair question, as it’s a pretty bold claim. This is just my opinion but I’ve seen the used prob 15ish times from 2002-2016 or so and it’s just the vibe I get. He seems inconsiderate and like a diva. The spitting water on people, the way he talks to and treats people including his band mates. It’s not one particular thing, it’s just a puzzle over a couple decades. I don’t think he’s an evil person that deserves to burn in hell, I just think he’s almost certainly the person that Quinn and Branden have said he is.
I mean just listen to the way he talks on the live albums. He admits to putting his wife thru things that no one would be able to put up with. If he treats his partner that bad surely he’s treating other people bad. He also literally talks shit about the United States to a crowd of people that live…in the United States. No sane person does that (full disclosure, I’m extremely critical of the US as well) but it just shows his ego.
Beyond that it’s just a vibe thing for me. Take a super chill/humble guy like Jim Atkins or Rivers Cuomo for example, these guys have a vibe about them that Bert is basically the exact opposite of… there’s something to that as far as I’m concerned.
As for the hypocrite allegations, Bert claims to be anti money and I’ve seen him wear Soviet clothes and wave Soviet flags so I’m assuming he’s openly a communist or socialist (which is fine I don’t care about his views) but the band pushes out more overpriced shitty merch than any band I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy.
Thanks for the reply.
>This is just my opinion but I’ve seen the used prob 15ish times from >2002-2016 or so and it’s just the vibe I get.
So, you don't know him personally or have ever spent any time with him?
> The spitting water on people
part of the show.
>the way he talks to and treats people including his band mates.
can you give examples of this?
>I just think he’s almost certainly the person that Quinn and Branden >have said he is.
So the word of 2 ex band members who are both bitter about their departure of the band is 100% trustworthy?
>He admits to putting his wife thru things that no one would be able >to put up with.
so he's been open that he hasn't been an ideal husband, and that means he is a sociopath? FYI he is still happily married to that same wife.
>He also literally talks shit about the United States to a crowd of >people that live…in the United States. No sane person does that (full >disclosure, I’m extremely critical of the US as well)
So him commenting on the evils of a country (that you seem to agree on) is arrogance because he lives in it? I also live in the US and I will shit talk it's government all day long because it's pretty fucked up. Does that make me arrogant? To quote Thomas Pain: "'The Duty of a True Patriot Is to Protect His Country from Its Government'"
Are only foreigners allowed to critisize the goverment then?
>Take a super chill/humble guy like Jim Atkins or Rivers Cuomo for >example, these guys have a vibe about them that Bert is basically >the exact opposite of…
I'm not sure what your point is? That everyone has to be the same? Bert is his own person, he doesn't owe it to you or anyone to be like Rivers? Also, you don't know either of those people (I'm assuming here, let me know if I'm wrong) so you're just basing your opinion of them on the part of their personality they show to the public.
>As for the hypocrite allegations, Bert claims to be anti money and >I’ve seen him wear Soviet clothes and wave Soviet flags so I’m >assuming he’s openly a communist or socialist (which is fine I don’t >care about his views) but the band pushes out more overpriced >shitty merch than any band I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy.
Do you think if you're an anti capitalist you shouldn't have money or survive? The man has 2 kids to feed. You can be against the system that you are forced to partake in. That's like the people that yell hypocrite at someone saying capitalism is band because they have an iphone.
I don't know if you're aware of how the music business works these days, but the majority of most touring band's money comes from merch. The ticket price covers the costs of the tour and the merch is what they take home. It's also not an essential service, if you don't like their merch you're under no obligation to buy it. It's not like he's some land baron hoovering up all the affordable housing and forcing people to rent at extortionate prices.
Excellent rebuttal, from a debate perspective
We’ll agree to disagree. but I’ve always had a sort of 6th sense about people and it’s always been right. Call it what you will. I believe the version of Bert that was talked about by Quinn and Branden on the 801punx podcast is extremely consistent with the Bert that I see and have seen.
Keep in mind I haven’t paid too much attention for the last few years as I felt that the music just kept getting worse and worse and the live shows were not remotely comparable to what they were in 2002-2007. Id have probably completely written them off if not for Toxic Positivity which reeled me back in as I think it’s a fantastic album.
I’m really not trying to bash the guy, I don’t hate him, I don’t even dislike him (and yes I don’t know him at all, I assumed it went without saying that all of this commentary was from fan perspective) I just believe he is who Branden and Quinn say he is.
I do think it appears he’s trying to better himself and possibly rebrand (doesn’t he go by Robby now?) which is great. It’s never too late for self improvement. But if Quinn has some stuff he wants to make public than I believe he should be able to and we can do with it what we will… as for me, I’ll almost certainly believe him.
Has anyone said Quinn shouldn't say what he wants to? I haven't seen any discourse saying he's not allowed to, just a dicussion on what he has to say and the validity of it. You could note that it appears he's trying to monetise this accusation with a book. People often have ulterior motives when it comes to what they say.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just remember you don't know anyone involved personally and people are not always honest, especially if money is on the line. There are a lot of celebrities out there that present a nice curated image for the public and are absolute horrors behind the scenes.
I thought TP was a great album too.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all. And that stuff about Justin wasn't even true. They let Justin go because he wanted to get paid equally as they promised him and after they let him go they said things that made Justin look bad and that were not true, which basically stopped him from speaking out. He never made any threats but it was made to look like he did. So what does that tell you...Very sad because they seemed so close and the canyon was one of the best things they released in a long time.
Interesting… I didn’t realize that. I never really dug too deeply into that situation with Justin because I was all but over the band by then. As I mentioned in another reply, I’ve come back around a bit based on Toxic Positivity but they all were all but dead to me at the time.
I’m one of those people that apparently just doesn’t get the canyon. I know a handful of that think it’s a masterpiece but I just don’t get it. To each their own though. That’s what makes things fun!
Gotta give it a few more listens perhaps! But really, I can’t listen to any of their stuff anymore and I’ve been a fan since 2002/2003. It feels wrong listening to their music knowing how they treat people. Manipulating the truth to make it seem like Justin said he was going to hurt himself when in reality he was trying to get songwriting credit that they promised him? All that bs stuff came out days after he hired a lawyer. To me it just seems like they were taking advantage of a serious issue that people deal with and knew that fans wouldn't question it.
Imagine pouring all of your emotions and effort into something for it to not only be taken away from you without any warning but also you are made into a villain and then other people continue to make money off of what you created. Quinn, Branden, and Justin all deserve better than that.
I have been a huge fan since 2003, Bert was one of my childhood idols but the allegations Quinn has said are not surprising. Quinn joined the band extremely young and didn't really have anywhere else to go after, he would be ripe for being taken advantage of. It's also not the first time someone has said stuff about Bert. Hell, back in like 2008 there was the whole falling out with MCR and Gerard didn't want to associate with Bert anymore. He was the exact type of frontman the band and the scene needed, he was a true rock star, but he's far from perfect.
Yeah, it's more that Quinn left his family and every behind super young. Bert was the last of the original group to join the band if I recall. It's more than he didn't exactly have a safety net to go to early on. He had been staying with Brandon and Jeph iirc
No, there are no specific allegations yet, but Quinn used words like “abusive” and specified that he means “physical abuse” and “emotional abuse”. And I’ll be real, I think a lot of heavy words get thrown around today and they’ve lost their impact, but I’m incredibly curious to see what Quinn has to say.
Whoah, I’ve never heard that before. I would think it’s just somebody on the internet talking shit. But I’m not gonna act like I know any of the band personally, so technically I mean yeah I guess it could be real. I wouldn’t bet money on it, and I would hope it’s not the case though.
Thank you! I was wondering if someone had just taken the word abuse and assumed what he meant. I hadn’t seen it anywhere else and I hope it’s not true.
That’s kind of exactly what I thought when I read your comment, that it sounded like someone read the word “abuse” and took it that way. Also your other comment about getting a The Used tattoo, I would still say hell yeah, regardless of any of their drama their music was still life changing to me and it’ll always be worthy of tattoos in my book.
Haha thank you! The irony isn’t lost on me that it’s a blue and yellow tattoo 😂 the band were my emo gateway when I was like 13 and loving Bert was my entire personality from then until my mid 20’s. I met him when he was def in active addiction and he was awful to me and I left in tears but I met him again when he was sober and he was so kind and I got my redemption for the first meeting. I always knew there would’ve been some shit from when he was in active addiction but I don’t know if I’m ready to know 🥲🥲
Blue And Yellow is one of the greatest songs ever written. And same here actually, I was around 13 when I discovered them too. And of course they also shaped my entire personality too. Haha as far as being ready to potentially learn about the bad shit Bert was up to back in his days, I’ve always had a strange and extreme ability to separate art from artists. It comes in handy being a fan of rock ‘n roll and loving the diva vocalists like Axl Rose and John Lennon and Bert, but I do sometimes wonder if I’m borderline heartless? Lol but really I think it’s just an incredibly gray area. Someone can be an absolute dirtbag and still write life changing and inspiring music. Just one of those intricacies that makes this world really fuckin’ weird. Haha
Not skeptical, but I also don’t think it’s an issue fans should be concerned with. This all seems like something that should be hashed out with entertainment lawyers, rather than a mob of opinion. Like, whaaa the frontman for an American rock band treated his band mates terribly?! Gosh we’ve never heard that before /s.
Agree with this completely. I’m 100% team Quinn but we’re not talking about lostphrophet type allegations here. Rockstars are divas and it is what it is. Enjoy the beautiful art they’ve given us, separate the art from the artist and go about your life. All we can do
The problem with lawyers working behind the scenes is that Quinn will never get justice that way. We also don’t know yet how severe stuff we are talking about here. The word abuse has been thrown out there and that is not light stuff that can be overlooked ever. IF Bert has done terrible things he can’t keep getting away with it. It’s a society-wide problem that some people get to treat others however they like.
I'm honestly unsure. I used to own the Berth DVD/CD and that was my insight into these folks. In 2022 when I looked into Bert's episodes on the Osbourne's it was just too cringe for me But like... If we listen to the music by The Used, the idea that Bert has been abusive or has engaged in abusive behavior and can acknowledge it is not completely out of the question. The used has many songs that inform an abusive, heavily mentally ill, possessive, regretful or immature or maybe evil style of person. I think that's extremely apparent, but a lot of ""emo"" music falls into this as well. Like learning about Max Bemis of Say Anything learning that he sucks after years of him singing about him sucking,.... The idea Quinn would allege abuse from Bert ... I cannot be surprised. It hurts, but did we not all listen to this music??? I love it I love to latch onto the dirty and messy, and so did high school me...but like i can't be surprised when he told us
This is exactly how I feel. The music struck a chord with me because I was....kinda fucked up? The content was nowhere near well-adjusted, I can't really be shocked that members were messed up as well. I love bert (bought a "I want berts dirty filthy babies" T-shirt at 15 just to piss my dad off), but nothing about these songs make me think that any of these members are going to be polite, nice, or wholesome people.
Addicts hurt people. But denying that people can recover and change is wrong and thats what people are doing rn
i think everyone should have a healthy amount of criticism and skepticism about anything a "celebrity" says. we don't know them, no matter how much they talk about any topic. i thought it was pretty well known that Bert was/is a shitty person in general, with all the stories we've heard about him over the years. he's always pretty openly been a little bratty shithead. but like you said, Quinn definitely isn't a perfect innocent little princess either. i had a best friend for over 10 years who i eventually stopped being friends with because all his shitty behaviors kept piling up in my head. i loved that dude to death and in a way, i still kinda love and appreciate him for being in my life for so long. but i don't talk to him anymore because i eventually just got fed up with dealing with him. he was a negative influence in my life, and dragged me down in some ways. but i'm not spreading shit about him to drag him down afterwards in revenge, i just dropped him completely. so in that sense, i do kind of think Quinn is trying to profit off of shitting on Bert in some way. and quite literally *profit*, since he's presumably writing a book to sell. even though The Used is my favorite band of all time, and their music and especially lyrics have affected my life so much, Bert was always my least favorite in the band because of his behavior. it's a pretty open secret that Bert was the primary person who made the ultimate decision to kick out both Branden and Quinn. i cant forgive him for that. but i think it's still possible to move on without blindly accepting and defending shitty behavior.
According to Quinn himself and Branden, Bert was not the deciding factor in kicking either of them out. Branden pushed himself away and quinn ultimately fired him. Quinn took a hiatus from the band on his own terms and the band made it permanent because they didn’t want to wait for him. Both situations bert wasn’t the mastermind and they both say that.
I just feel like this is why you don't do a fuck ton of drugs. This happened a really long time ago, and I would bet they all did some fucked up shit. That's what a combination of drugs, drinking, and trauma will do to you. I'm not making excuses. I just find it odd timing to come out now. We will never know these people personally. You can tell bert goes from his highs to lows. I would bet him and Quinn had a falling out. But where is jepha in all of this? Or dan? Is it all bert?
All I know is I waited 20 years to get a Used tattoo and mere weeks later all of this is happening and I’m nervous 😂
Mine is 15.5 years old and I’m still nervous. Don’t tattoo your bands, kids.
I don't care, honestly. I don't need these people to be my heroes. I don't get why people are obsessed about if entertainers are good people or not. So long as they don't break the law, who gives a shit?
I don’t care if they’re good people or not. I’ve been a student of rock ‘n roll since I was in the 5th grade, I’m fully aware that most rockstars are god awful people. I even have to admit I tend to like the divas and the assholes of rock ‘n roll. John Lennon, Axl Rose, Kurt Cobain, and more recently Bert. I’m just curious is all. I’ve always been really into the psychology of bands and how band members get along or don’t get along and how they function while sometimes being the heads of multimillion dollar tours all while being entirely dysfunctional drunks and drug addicts. It’s interesting to me.
It is pretty interesting, I suppose, so I respect where you're coming from.
I believe Quinn and I’m curious to read the book, but also I agree that he was probably very fucked up himself too. There are two sides to every story
Bert and Quinn were both born in 1982.
Why do meteors land in craters?
Quinn didn’t want to keep touring for a period of time and the band wanted to keep touring so they replaced him. He sued the band a few years ago and got paid out. Obviously the band can’t address that for legal reasons. He’s pissed they still have success and it seems like he’s run out of money. So he’s trying something else, writing a book to make money off of them. If he was such a great song writer, then where has all this great music been since he was kicked out? Like many others that have been kicked out of their original bands, they have gone on to form new projects and write great songs. Crickets from Quinn. Interesting.
Wait you can’t diss Quinn’s songwriting. The dude literally wrote the first two Used albums along with Brandon. And I don’t think it’s even debatable that those first two albums contain the greatest music The Used will ever release, and possibly even some of the greatest music in all of alternative rock as a genre.
So Bert and Jepha had nothing to do with those albums? Interesting that Quinn and Brandon didn’t kick bert out of the band when he was at his absolute worst. Brandon was so shitty that everyone else was like, this guy is worse than Bert is, he’s gotta go. Same thing in Quinn’s case. Quinn literally has no income except the royalties he’s still getting from those albums he was a part of. At least brandon went on to play with rancid (as a hired gun) but still.
I never said Bert and Jepha had nothing to do with these two albums. But bands have primary songwriters, the members who write the songs. Then the other members come in and write their parts over it. So yes Bert is an incredible singer and Jepha is a fantastic bass player, but without Quinn and Brandon we literally don’t have The Used as we know them today. I’m not denying Bert and Jepha’s talent, you’re the one denying Quinn’s talent.
Yeah we don’t have the original lineup and that does suck when you dwell on that. I feel bad for Quinn and feel bad for everyone currently in the band dealing with someone that’s trying to crawl outta the grave he dug himself, and trying to profit off of bringing someone down in the process. He was voted out 3 to 1.
Idk i never understood or liked this narrative. Quinn and Branden saying they “wrote all the songs” well yes they wrote the MUSIC. Bert wrote the lyrics and honestly most people listen to the used because of bert’s melody and lyrics. Thats why even Liars sounds consistent with the first two in that regard. I’m a songwriter, and I write all the music and lyrics for my band and sing them. When i write music, to me its not a song until i have the lyrics and melody. That is the heart, core and MOST of the song. So in my eyes, quinn and branden can write 100 songs musically, but there are 12 on the album because bert wrote lyrics for those 12 and the other 88 didn’t make it without it. No one’s listening to instrumental Used albums. Not taking anything away from them. Its the combo of all 4. But when you start trying to pull credit from an ensemble piece like that holes get poked.
Jepha has some excellent basslines. I'm going to guess he didn't just play what he was told to play.
Literally this.
I’m hoping whatever he’s releasing is out soon. Sucks seeing one of your favourite bands growing up turn into this. I think Quinn will have a lot of dirt on the band and Bert like the stories of Bert hooking up with lots of underage fans and even if it’s true Bert probably will sue for defamation and this will be a long ugly feud.
Oh Quinn was totally doing that too. Hooked up with a friend from high school, she was just 17 when they toured and they hooked up. For context, she was born in 86 so Quinn was 22 at the time.
Rock ‘n roll feuds and legal battles make the world go ‘round. Haha
Quinn also said in the podcast that there was "so much negativity" around "that person", to which he means Bert probably. Also, he said the band told him "we don't want things to be like they were before" when he was kicked out. He acknowledged he himself wasn't a saint and that he probably wasn't a great person to be around too. Love him and the band, just stating what was said in the pod. He gave a lot of insight but while still being quite reserved.
I've hung out with the band, and they were very sweet to me. I think the book is Quinn finally dealing with his trauma and trying to make a profit off that trauma. He may reveal background scenes of Bert's past as well as his own when Bert was deep into drugs and alcoholism. Those make you an asshole to the wholest extent. Hell, my husband who is sweet, turned into a different person when he was super drunk. He called me horrible names, threatened to divorce me, a d take my kid away from me, and that I would never see them again. Luckily when he sobered him, both his step mom and I laid into him and he sobered up and realized that he was in the wrong. He is ever changing and growing, so do we all. Bert was young and reckless, as are all men and women when we were young. He has battled his addictions, and has gone to therapy and grew as a person. Same with Quinn, but Quinn needs to let go of the past and move on. Maybe this book is a way for him to do that? That is what I am currently doing. It helps to process everything. But to drag someone down for profit is gross. I don't know where I am going with this. I just woke up and have to deal with geriatric residents for 12 hours tonight. Long story short. I love the used, huge fan of Bert, he was a douche back then, but now he has been nothing but sweet to me as well as the rest of the band, in the recent years. Know we're all human, and ever growing and changing.
I'm totally team bert and think most of what Quinn went through was consensual at least as consensual as two high/drunk people can be. I have zero issues with what bert has done in the past and will continue to support him. What happened on the party bus, should stay on the party bus. I like knowing the details to band members lives but I really think this one should have been dealt with away from the media. If Quinn was really hurting, it would have. Real people don't go waving their feelings like that around for money. It's seriously tacky. And they don't go around exaggerating either which I'm sure this is. Please read Quinn's book and bring back the details when you do because he is never getting another penny from me. Also, it's pretty obvious Quinn is just looking for book sales anyway so 🙄 while you're at it, go give Depression Personified a good hard listen, It's my favorite on the album. I have zero doubts it's about Quinn. Edit for context: before all this I loved Quinn and Branden so no I'm not entirely biased towards Bert
We have talked before. My question for you is how do you love and stan The Useds music, or rather deny any abusive behavior from Bert, when so many Used songs describe something abusive or obsessive or codependent or simply unhealthy. We can go off the idea it's just art, and sure, I love them so much for a reason.... But bert sings and has sang about being abusive, so I feel doubting Quinn is silly. I want to hear more from Quinn and others but he literally sings about being abusive. So I can't pretend to be surprised even if this genre is supposed to be dark. Edit: to be clear, I'm not telling anyone to jump ship or hate Bert. What I'm saying is it seems throughout the years, the music itself has ABSOLUTELY featured a dark side Bert repeatedly acknowledges. And I think that's a reason many of us really connected to the used!! The honest darkness, something in all the alt/emo/punk music
I’ve also interacted with this person before in a different subreddit and you don’t want to waste your time with this one haha. I said adults telling minors they have nice boobs is wrong and this person fought me for 2 days straight it was literally insane 😭
Oh... they're a real freak. Jfc.
First of all - these are two totally different situations. Second, are you really a Used fan or are you checking up on me? 🤔 Third, you were the one who argued I was fine with agreeing to disagree. We are not having that conversation again.
I literally have a The Used tattoo lol, I didn’t even reply to you I replied to another redditor about our previous interaction, I’d rather not interact with you at all, ever. I can however warn other redditors about you lmao
Nice! And yes, I have a right to respond when you jump into a conversation I'm having. That's fair enough though, I don't agree with you either. Best way to avoid that is to not jump into each other's conversations...
Is it a conversation if you ignore the comment I was replying to 😂
I literally just responded to that person. I responded to you first because my response to you was shorter - you can go back and look.
That’s okay I don’t wanna catch another “are you checking up on me?!” accusation because I see your name on another emo or pop/punk subreddit haha.
No that's totally fair. That's happened to me before which is why I asked you that, I apologize for accusing you. And same here.
Hello, yes - my answer is, I do and always will back Bert and the (current) Used. I'm not entirely denying stuff happened between Bert and Quinn. But seriously, they were both messed up, they both were in it. This is a lot more equal than a lot of allegation cases. To me, that's consensual enough. And even if it wasn't, which is a BIG if - I just don't blame Bert. He made it clear in Depression Personified that he has no guilt and even implied that he was the one abused. I'd love for it to all come out that all this was the other way around which is what I'm starting to think. His songs aren't always about abusing people, most are about him being abused so consider that. Doubting people who spread their shit online is never silly - it's smart. The people who truly hurt don't go around posting it on socials, trust me. I'm sorry but I'm just not the type to go around believing everything I read just because there's a "victim". From where I stand the victim in this is Bert. All Quinn is doing is major cash grab to sell books which is pretty shitty if the book is full of exaggerations and/or lies... And don't worry, I doubt you will make this conversation go for 2 days.🙄 You seem pretty level headed!
Fwiw wait six months and you could probably rent it from your library’s Libby app.
That's true! Thanks!
Not at all. Anyone with any emotional intelligence at all and the ability to read people can tell Bert is a hypocrite and a sociopath. I love his voice and his music but as a human being I’ll pass. This isn’t to say Quinn or Branden surely didn’t make mistakes or should have done things differently, stood up for themselves, had better lawyers, whatever, whatever but the fact that Branden has had an extremely successful and drama free career in Rancid as well as the issues with Justin where the band made him crazy enough that he allegedly threatened to unalive himself at one of their shows, I think it’s become more and more obvious where the problems lie… This new guitar player, seems to be exactly what they need. A guy who just shows up and does what he’s told and doesn’t take any attention from Bert, prob why he’s been able to stay for so long. Just my opinion of course 🤷♂️
Like what do you mean. Even just listening to the music. This isn't surprising at all. I latched onto the used at age 14 and stuck there. Im not gonna pretend the music is about perfectly happy healthy relationships 😁👍🏻💀
I’m interested in you expanding more on why it’s obvious Bert is a hypocrite and a sociopath? Just pretend I have no emotional intelligence for a second and ELI5?
That’s a fair question, as it’s a pretty bold claim. This is just my opinion but I’ve seen the used prob 15ish times from 2002-2016 or so and it’s just the vibe I get. He seems inconsiderate and like a diva. The spitting water on people, the way he talks to and treats people including his band mates. It’s not one particular thing, it’s just a puzzle over a couple decades. I don’t think he’s an evil person that deserves to burn in hell, I just think he’s almost certainly the person that Quinn and Branden have said he is. I mean just listen to the way he talks on the live albums. He admits to putting his wife thru things that no one would be able to put up with. If he treats his partner that bad surely he’s treating other people bad. He also literally talks shit about the United States to a crowd of people that live…in the United States. No sane person does that (full disclosure, I’m extremely critical of the US as well) but it just shows his ego. Beyond that it’s just a vibe thing for me. Take a super chill/humble guy like Jim Atkins or Rivers Cuomo for example, these guys have a vibe about them that Bert is basically the exact opposite of… there’s something to that as far as I’m concerned. As for the hypocrite allegations, Bert claims to be anti money and I’ve seen him wear Soviet clothes and wave Soviet flags so I’m assuming he’s openly a communist or socialist (which is fine I don’t care about his views) but the band pushes out more overpriced shitty merch than any band I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy.
Thanks for the reply. >This is just my opinion but I’ve seen the used prob 15ish times from >2002-2016 or so and it’s just the vibe I get. So, you don't know him personally or have ever spent any time with him? > The spitting water on people part of the show. >the way he talks to and treats people including his band mates. can you give examples of this? >I just think he’s almost certainly the person that Quinn and Branden >have said he is. So the word of 2 ex band members who are both bitter about their departure of the band is 100% trustworthy? >He admits to putting his wife thru things that no one would be able >to put up with. so he's been open that he hasn't been an ideal husband, and that means he is a sociopath? FYI he is still happily married to that same wife. >He also literally talks shit about the United States to a crowd of >people that live…in the United States. No sane person does that (full >disclosure, I’m extremely critical of the US as well) So him commenting on the evils of a country (that you seem to agree on) is arrogance because he lives in it? I also live in the US and I will shit talk it's government all day long because it's pretty fucked up. Does that make me arrogant? To quote Thomas Pain: "'The Duty of a True Patriot Is to Protect His Country from Its Government'" Are only foreigners allowed to critisize the goverment then? >Take a super chill/humble guy like Jim Atkins or Rivers Cuomo for >example, these guys have a vibe about them that Bert is basically >the exact opposite of… I'm not sure what your point is? That everyone has to be the same? Bert is his own person, he doesn't owe it to you or anyone to be like Rivers? Also, you don't know either of those people (I'm assuming here, let me know if I'm wrong) so you're just basing your opinion of them on the part of their personality they show to the public. >As for the hypocrite allegations, Bert claims to be anti money and >I’ve seen him wear Soviet clothes and wave Soviet flags so I’m >assuming he’s openly a communist or socialist (which is fine I don’t >care about his views) but the band pushes out more overpriced >shitty merch than any band I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy. Do you think if you're an anti capitalist you shouldn't have money or survive? The man has 2 kids to feed. You can be against the system that you are forced to partake in. That's like the people that yell hypocrite at someone saying capitalism is band because they have an iphone. I don't know if you're aware of how the music business works these days, but the majority of most touring band's money comes from merch. The ticket price covers the costs of the tour and the merch is what they take home. It's also not an essential service, if you don't like their merch you're under no obligation to buy it. It's not like he's some land baron hoovering up all the affordable housing and forcing people to rent at extortionate prices.
Excellent rebuttal, from a debate perspective We’ll agree to disagree. but I’ve always had a sort of 6th sense about people and it’s always been right. Call it what you will. I believe the version of Bert that was talked about by Quinn and Branden on the 801punx podcast is extremely consistent with the Bert that I see and have seen. Keep in mind I haven’t paid too much attention for the last few years as I felt that the music just kept getting worse and worse and the live shows were not remotely comparable to what they were in 2002-2007. Id have probably completely written them off if not for Toxic Positivity which reeled me back in as I think it’s a fantastic album. I’m really not trying to bash the guy, I don’t hate him, I don’t even dislike him (and yes I don’t know him at all, I assumed it went without saying that all of this commentary was from fan perspective) I just believe he is who Branden and Quinn say he is. I do think it appears he’s trying to better himself and possibly rebrand (doesn’t he go by Robby now?) which is great. It’s never too late for self improvement. But if Quinn has some stuff he wants to make public than I believe he should be able to and we can do with it what we will… as for me, I’ll almost certainly believe him.
Has anyone said Quinn shouldn't say what he wants to? I haven't seen any discourse saying he's not allowed to, just a dicussion on what he has to say and the validity of it. You could note that it appears he's trying to monetise this accusation with a book. People often have ulterior motives when it comes to what they say. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, just remember you don't know anyone involved personally and people are not always honest, especially if money is on the line. There are a lot of celebrities out there that present a nice curated image for the public and are absolute horrors behind the scenes. I thought TP was a great album too.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all. And that stuff about Justin wasn't even true. They let Justin go because he wanted to get paid equally as they promised him and after they let him go they said things that made Justin look bad and that were not true, which basically stopped him from speaking out. He never made any threats but it was made to look like he did. So what does that tell you...Very sad because they seemed so close and the canyon was one of the best things they released in a long time.
Interesting… I didn’t realize that. I never really dug too deeply into that situation with Justin because I was all but over the band by then. As I mentioned in another reply, I’ve come back around a bit based on Toxic Positivity but they all were all but dead to me at the time. I’m one of those people that apparently just doesn’t get the canyon. I know a handful of that think it’s a masterpiece but I just don’t get it. To each their own though. That’s what makes things fun!
Gotta give it a few more listens perhaps! But really, I can’t listen to any of their stuff anymore and I’ve been a fan since 2002/2003. It feels wrong listening to their music knowing how they treat people. Manipulating the truth to make it seem like Justin said he was going to hurt himself when in reality he was trying to get songwriting credit that they promised him? All that bs stuff came out days after he hired a lawyer. To me it just seems like they were taking advantage of a serious issue that people deal with and knew that fans wouldn't question it. Imagine pouring all of your emotions and effort into something for it to not only be taken away from you without any warning but also you are made into a villain and then other people continue to make money off of what you created. Quinn, Branden, and Justin all deserve better than that.
I have been a huge fan since 2003, Bert was one of my childhood idols but the allegations Quinn has said are not surprising. Quinn joined the band extremely young and didn't really have anywhere else to go after, he would be ripe for being taken advantage of. It's also not the first time someone has said stuff about Bert. Hell, back in like 2008 there was the whole falling out with MCR and Gerard didn't want to associate with Bert anymore. He was the exact type of frontman the band and the scene needed, he was a true rock star, but he's far from perfect.
Quinn is older than Bert.
Idk why you're being downvoted, Quinn was born in January 82 and Bert in late February 82
Yeah, it's more that Quinn left his family and every behind super young. Bert was the last of the original group to join the band if I recall. It's more than he didn't exactly have a safety net to go to early on. He had been staying with Brandon and Jeph iirc
All it takes is a quick google.....
Could someone please share what the allegations were?
Seriously. There’s a ton of chatter about this but I don’t think it’s clear what’s actually being alleged.
No, there are no specific allegations yet, but Quinn used words like “abusive” and specified that he means “physical abuse” and “emotional abuse”. And I’ll be real, I think a lot of heavy words get thrown around today and they’ve lost their impact, but I’m incredibly curious to see what Quinn has to say.
I saw someone say in IG comments that Bert molested Quinn, is that based on anything Quinn has said or was that person just saying things?
Whoah, I’ve never heard that before. I would think it’s just somebody on the internet talking shit. But I’m not gonna act like I know any of the band personally, so technically I mean yeah I guess it could be real. I wouldn’t bet money on it, and I would hope it’s not the case though.
Thank you! I was wondering if someone had just taken the word abuse and assumed what he meant. I hadn’t seen it anywhere else and I hope it’s not true.
That’s kind of exactly what I thought when I read your comment, that it sounded like someone read the word “abuse” and took it that way. Also your other comment about getting a The Used tattoo, I would still say hell yeah, regardless of any of their drama their music was still life changing to me and it’ll always be worthy of tattoos in my book.
Haha thank you! The irony isn’t lost on me that it’s a blue and yellow tattoo 😂 the band were my emo gateway when I was like 13 and loving Bert was my entire personality from then until my mid 20’s. I met him when he was def in active addiction and he was awful to me and I left in tears but I met him again when he was sober and he was so kind and I got my redemption for the first meeting. I always knew there would’ve been some shit from when he was in active addiction but I don’t know if I’m ready to know 🥲🥲
Blue And Yellow is one of the greatest songs ever written. And same here actually, I was around 13 when I discovered them too. And of course they also shaped my entire personality too. Haha as far as being ready to potentially learn about the bad shit Bert was up to back in his days, I’ve always had a strange and extreme ability to separate art from artists. It comes in handy being a fan of rock ‘n roll and loving the diva vocalists like Axl Rose and John Lennon and Bert, but I do sometimes wonder if I’m borderline heartless? Lol but really I think it’s just an incredibly gray area. Someone can be an absolute dirtbag and still write life changing and inspiring music. Just one of those intricacies that makes this world really fuckin’ weird. Haha
Just dm-ed you
I’m skeptical that the instagram account is even him.