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The Used's Bert McCracken

The Used's Bert McCracken

Photo: Recording Academy

Interview
The Used's Bert McCracken At Warped Tour 2018 useds-bert-mccracken-warped-tour-musicares-canyon

The Used's Bert McCracken On Warped Tour, MusiCares & 'The Canyon'

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Get the scoop on the making of the band's latest album, the frontman's six-year sobriety and why Warped Tour is so important
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jun 22, 2018 - 12:04 pm

Since their inception in 2001, the Used — vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford — have amassed a passionate following thanks to their genre-bending rock music. With the release of their 2017 LP, The Canyon, which landed at No. 3 on Billboard's Hard Rock Albums chart, their influence has only grown.

The Used's Bert McCracken At Warped Tour 2018

At the first date of Warped Tour for summer 2018, our host, Ryan J. Downey, caught up with Used frontman McCracken in Pomona, Calif., on June 21, where we got the inside scoop on the making of The Canyon, which was produced by Ross Robinson. The project, which aimed to show music in its purest form, had a profound effect on McCracken.

"We were greatly inspired by our live and acoustic album we did and we wanted to make a record that let the humanity of all our mistakes and who we are as people shine through," McCraken says. "Getting down to the true essence of what art is capable of was groundbreaking for me."

McCraken also opened up about being sober for six years now, which wouldn't have happened without the support of the Recording Academy-affiliated health and human services charity, MusiCares.

"If any of you know anyone who's struggling with addiction, there's help," McCraken advises. "MusiCares is personally responsible for saving this man's life. And the only reason why I mention it is because I thought I could quit doing it on my own. For a certain number of people on the planet, the only way is with professional help."

Downey and McCraken also covered the importance of Warped Tour itself, especially given that the tour is closing after a 20-year run this year. For the Used, after they saw the electric response of Newfound Glory during their first Warped Tour experience, they knew that's what they wanted to do. And now, all these years later, that's exactly what the Used has accomplished.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Reel Big Fish

Reel Big Fish

Photo: Recording Academy

News
Artists Reflect On The Legacy Of Warped Tour reel-big-fish-wage-war-lasting-legacy-warped-tour

Reel Big Fish To Wage War: The Lasting Legacy Of Warped Tour

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Hear what artists have to say about the important lessons, unforgettable moments and wild good music that's come out of the festival's 20-year history
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jun 22, 2018 - 4:57 pm

Picture this. It's a sunny day and the temperature's pushing 90 degrees. Bands from around the world ready their sets for a growing crowd of enthusiastic fans against the backdrop of a cloudless blue sky, palm trees and distant California mountains. There couldn't be a better setting to kick off the first day of Vans Warped Tour's final summer.

Check Out Warped Tour 2018 Opening Day

When festival creator Kevin Lyman announced 2018 would be the final run for the popular touring summer festival, we knew it would be a big one. That's why we were onsite for the tour's kickoff day on June 21 in Pomona, Calif., where we had the chance to sit down with many of the bands performing this summer this year to find out why Warped Tour has been so influential during its 20-year run.

Doll Skin

As one of the only all-female bands on this summer's Warped Tour lineup, Phoenix-based rockers Doll Skin have an empowering message to share, and Warped provides the perfect stage. When asked to sum up Warped Tour in one word, they each chose "wild," "exhilarating," "inclusive," and "amazing," a true reflection of the festival experience.  

Dead Girls Academy's Michael Vampire

Dead Girls Academy singer Michael Vampire is no stranger to the Warped Stage. Vampire, who said he's "very grateful to be on the tour," revealed his very first Warped Tour experience as a fan.

"I don't remember the year, it was a long time ago. It was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida," he shares. "When I found out there was a festival you could go to and see these bands, I was there, all in one place in one day. It was surreal and the experience was amazing."

Echosmith On Warped Tour, New Music & More

Not only did many of the bands we talked to share the unforgettable feeling of performing on the Warped tour stage, but they also acknowledged that in many ways the tour has been an influential vetting ground for new bands.

Issues

Metalcore band Issues, who planned on playing a song they've never performed live for the first time on the 2018 tour stage, point out how Warped Tour has created a venue that can make or break artists.

"Warped Tour is a very interesting phenomenon because it takes everyone who would be interested in this music and shoves every single person in the same area," observe Issues. "So if you can make a name for yourself on Warped tour, then you will. If you suck then you won't. Someone called it the great equalizer."

Tonight Alive's Jenna McDougall

When we sat down with Australian band Tonight Alive vocalist Jenna McDougall, she shared a poignant message she has learned throughout the her four rounds as a touring artist with Warped.

"I wish I knew when I was younger that I don't have to try. You just be," McDougall says. "It's just amazing we get to come back this many times. I'm just happy to be here and play the music we know people love now. We don't have to project anything."

The Used's Bert McCracken At Warped Tour 2018

While most bands we talked to took the time to reflect on the bittersweet closing of a 20-year chapter in music history, Reel Big Fish weren't convinced this is the end for Warped Tour. In fact, they have a solid plan for the festival's future — a cruise. Warped Tour already packs a community of like-minded fans and artists in a small space, but throw in free ice cream on the high seas, and Reel Big Fish will be there.

Wage War

Florida-based band Wage War attended Warped Tour as fans when they were young. Like other musicians who first attended the festival for fun, there's a sense of giving back to the community that fostered their love of the very music they now perform onstage.

"I remember going and it felt like magic watching some of the bands," say Wage War. "To be the person giving that back to people who like our music, that's really sick, because I was that kid in the crowd at one point."

The Amity Affliction

Heavy band the Amity Affliction are three-year veterans of Warped, and they share a sentiment about performing on the tour with many of the artists we spoke to. For everyone involved, from fans to artists, Warped Tour has created something really magical that will be hard to replace.

"It was like a dream come true for me to even be on it the first time, they say. "Doing the last one is special."

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Doll Skin

Doll Skin

Photo: Recording Academy

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Go Inside Day 1 Of The Final Warped Tour doll-skin-amity-affliction-inside-day-1-warped-tour-2018

Doll Skin To Amity Affliction: Inside Day 1 Of Warped Tour 2018

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As the popular summer music festival comes to a close this summer, we take you inside the first day of this year's festivities
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jun 22, 2018 - 2:16 pm

Vans Warped Tour mastermind, Kevin Lyman, announced that the 2018 run of the popular summer event would be its last. After 20 years of sharing new bands with eager fans, developing a special music community and providing one of the most iconic stages for artists to play, it's time to say goodbye to the beloved music experience. But we've still got one summer left, and Warped Tour is going to make it unforgettable.

Check Out Warped Tour 2018 Opening Day

Follow Recording Academy host Ryan J. Downey during opening day of Warped Tour 2018 in Pomona, Calif., on June 21. He takes us inside the festival to see the crowds, find out why fans love the festival, take a peek at the festival's community, see bands in action onstage, check out the half pipe, and see some of the characters in the crowd.

Also find out why bands Doll Skin, Dead Girls Academy, Issues, and Tonight Alive love playing Warped Tour. Reel Big Fish offer a suggest for the next iteration — a cruise! — while Wage War and Echosmith reflect on how Warped Tour has supported artists over the years. We The Kings share how they snuck into their first Warped Tour, and the Used and Amity Affliction remember how the show represents the "pinnacle" of success.

The Used's Bert McCracken At Warped Tour 2018

Given what we saw and heard, this is one summer festival you don't want to miss. So if Warped Tour is headed your way this summer, the time to get in on the action is now.

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

Tonight Alive's Jenna McDougall

Tonight Alive's Jenna McDougall

Photo: Recording Academy

News
Tonight Alive's Jenna McDougall On Warped Tour tonight-alives-jenna-mcdougall-specialness-warped-tour

Tonight Alive's Jenna McDougall On The Specialness Of Warped Tour

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The Australian band's lead singer lets us in on why the annual summer festival has been so important during its 20-year run
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jun 22, 2018 - 11:52 am

Australian band Tonight Alive formed down under in Australia in 2008. Comprised of vocalist Jenna McDougall, guitarist Jake Hardy, bassist Cameron Adler, and drummer Matt Best, the band has gifted the alt-rock community with four full-length studio albums so far, including their latest January 2018 LP, Underworld.

As Warped Tour veterans, our host, Ryan J. Downey, caught up with the band's lead singer McDougall at the first day of this year's festivities in Pomona, Calif., on June 21, where she dished on the "evolution" of performing at the revered summer festival, the advice she would share with her younger self and why the Warped Tour community has been so important during its 20-year run.

So you have obviously done the Warped Tour before. Is it bittersweet knowing this is the last time?

A little bit. I think it's going to become a little bit more painful as we get into it, recreating that bond and feeling it again. It's been a pretty life-changing tour for us. This is our fourth time.

I was going to ask you if you could sum up Warped Tour in one word, and I suppose life-changing, it's hyphenated, that counts.

I feel like evolution. It just gives you a chance to embody what you want to embody and be who you want to be. You get to put that in practice every single day and really manifest your highest devotion to yourself, highest devotion to your band. I love it.

What was your impression of Warped Tour growing up, obviously not growing up in America. Was it just something you always inspired to like, "I want to be on that someday, I want to go to that someday"?

We did, absolutely. We grew up in Australia, and its so far removed from everything. Every band we loved was American and all we wanted to do was become an international touring band.  I remember being 14 and watching YouTube videos of Rufio. They were one of our favorite bands growing up and we got to tour with them in the following years. … We were really young when we heard about Warped and we never got to be fans of the festival. We are fans of the festival, but we see it from a different perspective. We see it from the inside out or outside in.

This is your fourth Warped Tour. What do you wish that you would have known the first time that you know now, the fourth time, that makes your life easier out here?

Maybe not even totally related, but just in general, what I wish I knew when I was younger is that I don't have to try. You just be. Just be who you are and you emit a frequency, you put out a signature and people will pick up on it or they won't. And that's OK. It's not a reflection of your worthiness or your ability to be interesting or your skills or anything like that. It's not a reflection of that. It's just a reflection of whether you resonate with people. I think I always tried to perfect and control how people would receive me or our band. And now it's just amazing we get to come back this many times. I'm just happy to be here and play the music we know people love now. We don't have to project anything. So I think that comes with age as well as experience.

I want to ask you, we're asking everybody that's here, if you could say anything to Kevin [Lyman] and those who run Warped Tour, given it's the last time, a thank you or anything like that.

Everything I could say, they know. This has been a life-changing experience for me. It's given me a chance to cultivate a sense of sense, a sense of identity, a sense of connecting with people and figuring out what matters to me. I love the fact that it's six weeks long. I'm sure in the past it has been longer, but the fact that you get to do this everyday, it really challenges you and tests you. It wants you to know if this is important enough. And it is. And it creates passion and it feeds your fire and that's the opportunity that they put in front of us as artists but also that they put in front of kids as well, to come to a place where that energy of being an outcast and a rebel and an anti-conformist is amplified, and the safety. There's a bubble that surrounds us and it pulls us all in. I just feel for the people that live in one city and only get to see this once a year, and we get to do it 36 times a year.

It's a place where all of us outsiders can come together and belong somewhere.

One-hundred percent. I don't want that to go away. But we'll find other places.

People will always find community in music, and music like Tonight Alive. Thanks for talking to us!

Thank you!

Catching Up On Music News Powered By The Recording Academy Just Got Easier. Have A Google Home Device? "Talk To GRAMMYs"

GRAMMYs

Bishop Briggs

Photo: Daniel Mendoza/Recording Academy

News
Bishop Briggs On "Baby," ACL & More bishop-briggs-baby-church-scars-acl

Bishop Briggs On "Baby," 'Church Of Scars' & ACL

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Backstage at ACL, we spoke with the frank and fun singer/songwriter about her latest single, debut album, and opening for a Beatle
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Oct 11, 2018 - 3:59 pm

Bishop Briggs released her debut album Church Of Scars in April 2018, fulfilling the promise of her viral hits before it, such as "White Flag" and "River." The album reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200 in May. Backstage at ACL, we caught up with the singer/songwriter to discuss the album, her latest single, "Baby," and how it feels to play on the same stage just a few acts before Beatle legend Paul McCartney.

Bishop Briggs On "Baby," ACL & More

The album title comes from its single "Hallowed Ground," confessing her sacred space within will not be limited or confined by the emotional damage that marks her heart. Facing inner darkness and grooving with it has become a signature element of her multi-faceted style.

Briggs' recent release, "Baby," extends that premise to relationships.  The result was refreshingly frank, although — and probably because — she hadn't considered all of the consequences of writing with such honesty. "That song really came from a place of, 'What would I write if I was just talking to friends and I didn't release it? What would that be?'" she confided. "That was the song, more of a joking-with-friends thing. Didn't think about telling my mom and dad."

The town of Bishopbriggs in Scotland was her parents' place of birth, a suburb north of Glasgow that's the origin of her stage name. She debuted the track for them online. "I played it for them over Skype and it wasn't until the chorus hit that I thought, 'My face is burning,'" she told us. "It was straight up burning, but I was like, 'They need to know.' They're sweet Scottish people. They need to know."

https://twitter.com/thatgirlbishop/status/1038064570311630848

OUT NOW 👶 10,000 thanks to the masters behind this video - Malia James, @seedanimation, and Anja Slibar!! https://t.co/djZ4tWMp1h pic.twitter.com/geUqPFMiZH

— Bishop Briggs (@thatgirlbishop) September 7, 2018

Bishop Briggs' tour schedule has several remaining performances in North America until Dec. when she starts on her tour of Australia.

Bishop Briggs Reveals Her River Of Influences

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.