Rockin' In The Valley

By Colleen Cramer

Joomla on osCandy.comHoldiland crŽateur de pcsolutions web sur mesure

Twisted & Used

Mandalynn Co-Lead Vocals

Drew on Lead Vocals

Mike on

Bret on drums

Smay on Bass

Casey on Lead Guitar

Twisted & Used

     With musical influences like the Dead Kennedy’s, White Zombie, Tool and Slipknot, it’s easy to see where local heavy metal band, Twisted and Used, get their inspiration to rock Johnstown in a different way than other original bands.

     Still, the members, Bret Berkimer on drums, Casey Surap on Rhythm Guitar, Eric Smay on Bass, Mike McDannell on Lead Guitar, Drew Baney on Co-Lead Vocals and Mandy Mesaros on Co-Lead Vocals, want their current following of fans and new fans to know that there’s more to come.

     “Thanks for the support, but you haven’t seen anything yet,” said Berkhimer.

     Twisted and Used, who Smay named because “we’re all a little twisted in some way”, all grew up with music in some capacity.

     “We were all fascinated with the instruments we played,” said Berkhimer.

     So in a little over a year and half, Twisted and Used has found themselves  performing more shows and entertaining their audiences with their “intense and in your face” style of music.

     Their songwriting can be called a collaboration from all of the band members, which leads to a lot of creative freedom.

     “Somebody plays something that they thought up and we just keep adding to it until it sounds the way we want it to,” said Berkhimer.

     Like most heavy metal bands, Twisted and Used’s songs tend to be about everyday issues from problems with friends to death and one of their favorite collaborations the band agrees is “Mind Detox”.

     “Mind Detox has a good flow and heavy break downs,” said Berkhimer.

     “At the time we were having trouble with a friend of ours so we wrote it about him,” he said.

     “It’s mainly about dealing with bad experiences and what we would like to do to them,” he added.

     For anyone who has never experienced a live performance of Twisted and Used, Berkhimer can describe it pretty simply.

     “Prepare for high energy and adrenaline pumping music,” he said.

     The members of Twisted and Used invite heavy metal lovers in Johnstown to come experience one of their live shows because its their loyal fans that they perform for.

     “We love the rush and getting the crowd pumped up,” they added.

     For more information on June’s Our Town Artist’s Spotlight: Twisted and  Used log onto their myspace at www.myspace.com/twistedandused.