Dry Cell (band)
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| Dry Cell | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Origin | California |
| Country | United States |
| Years active | 1998 – 2005 |
| Genres | Nu Metal Hard Rock |
| Labels | Warner Music Beyond Control |
| Members | Jeff Gutt Danny Hartwell Judd Gruenbaum Brandon Brown |
| Past members | Dave Wasizrski |
| Website(s) | MySpace site |
Dry Cell was a four-piece nu metal/hard rock music group originating from California in the United States. The band broke up late 2005, after vocalist Jeff Gutt and guitarist Danny Hartwell departed.
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[edit] History
[edit] Dry Cell's formation
Part of the band formed in 1998 when guitarist Danny Hartwell and drummer Brandon Brown met at the "Ratt Show" on the Sunset Strip. They later met up with then-vocalist Judd Gruenbaum. The original name of the band was "Beyond Control".
After forming, the guys caught the attention of a Warner Brothers A&R Executive, Jeff Blue (responsible for Linkin Park), who then signed the band to a development deal. He also found a new lead singer for the band in Jeff Gutt from Detroit.
In an interview with the website, "The A&R Online", Mr. Blue described Dry Cell (at the time tentatively called "Impúr") as: "they're like Metallica meets Incubus meets Linkin Park but heavier. No DJing, no rapping, very melodic and the kids are just phenomenal musicians".[1]
Mr. Blue also goes on to tell how he discovered the band: "A friend of mine told me about the drummer who was 11 at the time and said how amazing he was. I ended up hearing a demo that wasn't very good but because I was right down the street from where they were playing I went up and saw them and was actually very impressed. I made a development deal and have now been working with them for over a year and a half. I'm with them six hours, six days a week. I have them in a rehearsal room right next to Warner Brothers".[2]
[edit] The Disconnected album
Signed to Warner Brothers Music, the band went to work recording their debut album titled, Disconnected.
The 12 track album was due to be released on July 16, 2002 which was then later pushed back to August 27, 2002.
Ultimately, one of the band member's fathers got into a heated argument with Mr. Blue regarding the size of the band's promotion budget, the result of months of behind-the-scenes disagreement. Within 48 hours the father took his complaints to Warner, and two days later they released Dry Cell from their contract.[3]
The only place Disconnected was ever sold at was during the "Locobazooka Festival" in 2002. These were the final Warner pressed copies complete with artwork. On extremely rare occasions copies are sold on eBay. However, advanced copies of the album which come in a paper sleeve cover and contain different artwork, can be found more regularly.
The band always stated there was no chance of releasing the album, even if they were to sign a new record deal.
[edit] After Warner Brothers
After their departure from Warner Music, Dry Cell continued on.
Supposedly, Dry Cell had signed with Epic Records in March of 2003.[4][5] But for reasons unknown, nothing further eventuated.
In early 2004, Dave Wasizrski was named as the band's new vocalist, after Jeff Gutt departed to form his own band named "Acrylic". At the time, 8 new songs had supposedly been completed.[6]
With vocalist Jeff Gutt re-joining the band, they recorded four new demo tracks in 2005. The two songs released to the public were titled "New Revolution" and "The Lie". In late 2005, band members Jeff Gutt and Danny Hartwell quit, and the group has since disbanded.[7] After their split, two other tracks titled "Into Oblivion" and "Find a Way" were made available for download via their MySpace site.
Vocalist Jeff Gutt has since formed two new projects; "Band With No Name" and "Punch". Drummer Brandon Brown is now part of a group named "Katsumoto".
[edit] Recorded songs
[edit] Released tracks
- 2002 – "Body Crumbles" – Used on the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, released February 19, 2002.
- 2002 – "Heaven & Hot Rods" – Used on the NASCAR on Fox: Crank It Up soundtrack, released May 21, 2002.
[edit] Demo tracks
- 2002 – "I Confide" [2:58] – Disconnected B-Side. Featured on the CD's test press release (Track 1/3).
- 2002 – "Sick" [3:10] – Disconnected B-Side. Featured on the CD's test press release (Track 2/3).
- 2002 – "Sick" (Clean Edit) [3:10] – Disconnected B-Side. Featured on the CD's test press release (Track 3/3).
- 2002 – "Body Crumbles" (The Humble Brothers Remix) [3:21] – Part of a 3 track sampler disc (Track 3/3).
- 2003 – "Grape Jelly" [3:32] – Demo part of a 3 track sampler disc (Track 1/3).
- 2003 – "Peewee" [4:04] – Demo part of a 3 track sampler disc (Track 2/3).
- 2003 – "Velvet Elvis" [3:00] – Demo part of a 3 track sampler disc (Track 3/3).
- 2005 – "Find a Way" [3:32] – Demo part of a 4 track sampler disc (Track 1/4).
- 2005 – "New Revolution" [3:43] – Demo part of a 4 track sampler disc (Track 2/4).
- 2005 – "Into Oblivion" [3:45] – Demo part of a 4 track sampler disc (Track 3/4).
- 2005 – "The Lie" [3:17] – Demo part of a 4 track sampler disc (Track 4/4).
[edit] Band members
[edit] Original
- Jeff Gutt – Vocals
- Danny Hartwell – Guitar
- Judd Gruenbaum – Bass, Backup vocals
- Brandon Brown – Drums
[edit] Previous
- Dave Wasierski – Vocals
[edit] Discography
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label |
 |
Unreleased | Disconnected | Warner Music Beyond Control |
[edit] Miscellaneous
[edit] Trivia and Other information
- Dry Cell released four demo tracks which were recorded in 2005 on their MySpace page. They can be obtained from here.
- Dry Cell featured in a New York Times article regarding their brief stint with Warner Music. It can be read here.
- The song "Body Crumbles" featured on Rob Zombie's sampler disc "Calling All Maniacs" which circulated with his 2001 release titled, The Sinister Urge.
- A music video was made to accompany Disconnected's lead single, "Body Crumbles".
- The video game, Madden 2003 featured "Body Crumbles" on its soundtrack.
- The song "Slip Away" featured in the dirt bike video game "Freekstyle", although the version has a slight variation compared to the album's version.
- Dry Cell's own label was called "Beyond Control Records".
- Vocalist Jeff Gutt is a member of two bands. One is named "Punch" and the other is "Band With No Name".
- Drummer Brandon Brown is part of a band named "Katsumoto".
