The Used Dump Their Drummer

It's been officially confirmed that Branden Steineckert used to be the drummer for The Used.

Rumours have circulated online for a while about a potential split, but the hard rock band announced this week that they've parted company with Steineckert in this statement on their website:

"Dear Friends. It is with much sadness that we want to tell you that Branden is no longer the drummer in The Used. We felt that we needed to move forward without Branden as our drummer. We wish Branden well, and owe a great deal of gratitude towards him for his hard work over the years. We could not have gotten this far without him. We all wish much happiness and success in Branden's future endeavors - wherever they may lead. No new drummer has been chosen yet. We are almost done recording the album and it should be released in early 2007. We are very proud of the songs so far and can't wait for you to hear them."

Steineckert was a founding member of The Used and played on their self-titled 2002 debut and 2004's In Love And Death album. But the 28-year-old has also done a lot of production work at his Unknown Studios in Orem, Utah, and he oversees a skateboard company called Twenty Twenty, both of which have been taking up much of his time.

Steineckert's departure from the group wasn't his decision, by the looks of this blog entry on Unknown's MySpace page titled Kicked Out Of The Used:

"Quinn, Bert and Jeph have agreed that they no longer want to play music with me. Im truly sorry that it has come to this. I wanted you to hear it from me. It makes me so very sad, breaks my heart."

Steineckert goes on to say that he's proud of his work in The Used, has many cherished memories and is grateful to have had such devoted fans. He also wishes his former bandmates — guitarist Quinn Allman, singer Bert McCracken and bassist Jeph Howard — the best of luck and continued success in the future.Steineckert will continue to drum and produce music, and he invites bands to submit demo recordings to him for his consideration.