The Used's Junk Drawer

early the used years!! I mean I'm literally in love

(words by Joshua Sandoval and Trevor Wayne)

We ran dry with our celebrity contacts, but fortunately Trevor’s brother Tanner has a wealth of well-known friends because of his roots in the music industry. Tanner is an epic drummer who has worked with numerous artists, including currently with Sky Blu of LMFAO. Tanner reached out to his friend Bert McCracken, the lead singer of The Used, and he agreed to shoot with us.

On Saturday August 11 Bert said he was free on Sunday August 12, but didn’t give us a set time. He also said he didn’t want to shoot in his home. I didn’t blame him, because the atmosphere of a set can be messy, chaotic, and not something you generally want to bring into the tranquility of your home. That’s something Bert likely knew from having appeared on The Osbournes while dating Kelly Osbourne. Bert also asked if we could pick him up and bring him to Trevor’s where we decided we would shoot. Neither of those were unreasonable requests given the enormous favor he was granting us.

Essentially we had to be on call whenever he was ready. That was not the most comforting situation to be placed in because I’m used to call times with a shoot schedule. I thrive with organization.

It’s not like we could tell Bert to give us an exact time, because after all he was doing us a huge favor. In addition, I spent the week’s prior telling Trevor that all I needed was a celebrity and I could produce magic. Tanner provided the celebrity, so I needed to hold up my end and produce the necessary footage regardless of the circumstances I was given.

Among other discomforting things thrown at us was our mad scramble to find a cameraman. The main problem with putting Trevor in front of the camera as often as we do is that he can’t also hold the camera. Fortunately we have a legit camera guy who has filmed movies like Fast & Furious andMission Impossible III. Unfortunately for us, he was busy that day. Our buddy Brandon said he would do it, and he was a more than a suitable choice on 24 hours notice.

I arrived at Trevor’s house at 10am with Bert’s arrival still in question. The first and last time we heard from him was the night before the shoot when he texted Tanner the ingredients he needed to make cioppino. We held off on buying the product just in case an unforeseen circumstance arose and Bert wasn’t able to shoot.

I almost wanted Bert to hit us up and cancel the shoot, because I didn’t feel we were ready. It was what I like to call the “Impostor Syndrome” kicking in. Before I do anything hugely important that I am supposed to be good at, like writing, producing, or sex, I get nervous that I won’t be able to deliver the goods. After a moment of self-doubt I remember that I am good at those things and then rise to the occasion. It’s got to the point where if I don’t get that feeling from the “Impostor Syndrome” then I begin to worry, because it means I am about to do something that I don’t really care about.

At around 2pm we got a text from Tanner that Bert was ready, so Trevor went to Pasadena to get him and I went to Ralphs. With that text my nervous feelings disappeared. Before Trevor left, however, I noticed that he too felt we weren’t ready, because he started to have an anxiety attack in the form of shooting off a million questions in panic at me. Before I could answer his first concern he had three more to follow. I simply told him, “Go pick up Bert and we will find a way to make this happen.” That probably wasn’t the most comforting thing to hear when he wanted a definitive solution to ease his uncertainty, but the lack of time only allowed that response.

I despise grocery shopping. I don’t like anywhere with lines and my lack of patience makes searching for specific items a less than enjoyable experience. If I happen to get the wrong product or brand name I feel bad for the person making the meal, because they had a specific item in mind, and I forced them to adjust. I also felt a bit more pressure since Bert is a celebrity and this was a project that could elevate the status of my career. I also don’t cook, unless you count microwaving leftover pizza, so when Bert requested fennel, leeks, and saffron I questioned if those were food items or the name of a law firm.

Ultimately, I didn’t mess up the grocery list too much, other than getting rotten fish, salted butter, and unfresh garlic cloves. Those mishaps ended up providing great footage when Bert cracked on the nastiness of the fish. Fortunately there was a silver lining, because had everything gone to plan, the video probably wouldn’t have been as entertaining. Nice justification on my part, right?

I was happy with the resulting footage because Bert has a great personality, is great at improvising, and really knows his way around the kitchen. I didn’t have to do much other than give Trevor a few questions for conversation purposes and occasionally get the guys back on track when they lost focus.

In post we ended up scrapping the idea of Trevor as the host, because Bert’s personality outshone everyone, which was to be expected since he is the front man of a very popular band. So, when pitching the show we are making Bert the host and he will cook with his celebrity friends in different episodes.

Generally speaking, I am not a fan of soup, because it rarely provides a filling meal. Bert’s cioppino, however, was remarkable. I was full after two bowls, and still wanted more. It was that ridiculously delicious. I also have a love for anything spicy, and the two habaneros he let sit in the pot gave it the ultimate flavoring.

(end result)

All That I've Got - The Used