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Daniel Whitesides (born July 7, 1977) is the drummer of the American rock band The Used. Whitesides had previously played with The New Transit Direction for about seven years. He replaced former drummer and founder of the band Branden Steineckert who left the band in the summer of 2006.

Early life and career
Whitesides took snare drum lessons at age 13. Although the lessons, taken while he was in seventh grade, were not a success, and he took none thereafter, Whitesides persisted and continued to work with the drums.

In an online interview with Venom09'Productions., a MySpace site which interviews and photographs bands, Whitesides stated that that if he was not in The Used, he would be laying bricks, a job that he did for money starting at age 17 and which his family has done for many years.

Whitesides was the drummer for a number of Salt Lake City bands in the decade before he joined The Used in 2006, including Tiger Kant, Mich!gan, Sandkicker, Fale, Adherence, Fahrenheit 451, The Federation, Sprinklerhead, The Kill, The Wolfs, Form of Rocket and Young Blood with the last being The New Transit Direction, who would play local venues such as Kilby Court and Club DV8.

Drummer for The Used
Whitesides was a big fan of The Used before he joined in 2006. New Transit Direction had opened for The Used, and Whitesides was aware of the tension between The Used drummer Brandon Steineckert and the other members. Nevertheless, Whitesides was surprised to receive a call from members of The Used asking him to audition to be Steineckert's replacement. To prepare, Whitesides played The Used's albums for eight hours a day. He remembered that when he came for the audition, The Used frontman Bert McCracken "didn't want anything to do with me", having in mind other potential replacements. After hearing Whitesides play at his first show with The Used, though, McCracken was "persuaded".

Whitesides stated that it is a "dream come true" to be playing with The Used. Fellow band member Jeph Howard said in 2007 of the addition of Whitesides, "We just felt this whole new thing, it's a new member and a new energy entirely, I don't know if it was our new drummer or taking time off that made us realize we love each other," Although Whitesides did not play on the CD, he joined the band as an official member in time for the tour supporting their third album, Lies for the Liars (2007).

In 2009, The Used released its first album with Whitesides on drums, Artwork. For it, they fired their manager, temporarily cut ties with longtime producer John Feldmann, and even hired a new engineer to mix the sound. Bassist Quinn Allman and Whitesides rented a house in Los Angeles, for two months, wrote and recorded music, and passed it on to band frontman Bert McCracken, who wrote the lyric. Whitesides remembered that some fans hoped for an album like the band's first two, but that the band felt "we've already done that".

Whitesides said of Artwork, "We wanted to make a dirty, gross-sounding record with a pop sensibility. An example of something that's gross sounding is In Utero by Nirvana or Pinkerton by Weezer." He also said of it, "As far as the preparation and the vibe, it's similar to our first album. It's musically dark and heavy and melodic, a classic Used record. It's more raw and less produced."

Personal life, plans and influences
Whitesides has been married since 2010 and a father since 2011. He currently resides in Pasadena, California

The Used are writing a new album as well as preparing for their 15 year anniversary world tour starting In 2016. They will be performing their self titled album and In Love And Death albums for this tour. After that they will be heading in to the studio to record a new album due out 2016-2017.

Whitesides endorses SJC Drums, Remo Drum Heads, Zildjian Cymbals, Vater Sticks, and DW Hardware. He states that the influences on him include Tommy Lee, John Bonham, Tony Williams, Buddy Rich, Jon Theodore, Dave Weckl, Travis Barker, Damon Atkinson, Dave Grohl, and William Goldsmith.

Discography (The Used)

 * 2007: Lies for the Liars
 * 2009: Artwork
 * 2012: Vulnerable
 * 2014: Imaginary Enemy