Dry Cell (band)

Dry Cell
Origin	California, United States
Genres	Nu metal Alternative metal Hard rock
Years active	1998–2005 2008–present
Labels	Warner Bros. Records Beyond Control Records Hollywood Riviera
Members
Jeff Gutt Danny Hartwell Judd Gruenbaum Brandon Brown
Past members
Dave Wasierski

Dry Cell is an American nu metal band.

History

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 band caught the attention of Warner Brothers' Jeff Blue, an A&R Executive responsible for discovering Linkin Park. He later signed the band to a development deal, and found a new lead singer for the band in Jeff Gutt from Detroit.

In an interview with the website, The A&R Online, 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]

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".^[1]

The Disconnected album

A rare picture of the Disconnected album jewel case.

Signed to Warner Bros. Records, the band went to work recording their debut album titled Disconnected.

The 12-track album was due to be released on July 16, 2002. It was later pushed back to August 27, 2002.

In the end, one of the band members father's got into a heated argument with 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.^[2]

The only place Disconnected was ever sold at (albeit in limited quantities) 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.

In 2008, it was announced that the band will be releasing Disconnected after September of the same year.

After Warner Brothers

After their departure from Warner Music, Dry Cell continued on.

It was reported that a deal had signed with Epic Records in March 2003.^[3][4] For reasons unknown, nothing further eventuated.

In early 2004, Dave Wasierski was named as the band's new vocalist. At the time, it was reported that 8 new songs had been completed.^[5]

In 2005 vocalist Jeff Gutt re-joined the band, and they recorded four new demo tracks. The two songs released to the public were titled "New Revolution" and "The Lie". In late 2005, Danny Hartwell left the band. The group subsequently disbanded.^[6] After their split, two other tracks titled "Into Oblivion" and "Find a Way" were made available for download via their MySpace page.

Drummer Brandon Brown was with a band out of L.A called "Katsumoto" which disbanded recently. Ironically Brandon Brown, Brian Yoo, and Johnny Hirth of "Katsumoto" have joined a new project known as "Beneath the Vultures" featuring Brian Smith who has been a big part in the developing of collaborative projects with Brandon and johnny such as "Live Like Were Dead" and with the addition of good friend and local south bay drummer Robert Broadstone "Beneath the Vultures" will soon be playing local shows as well as planning for major touring. So be on the lookout! Brandon is also playing drums for another south bay band called "AllurA" which is playing shows frequently around L.A. as well as preparing for a new record which will be the first recordings feat. Brandon. you can also hear recording projects feat. Brandon via Myspace they include "Far From Flesh" and "Her and Her Friends" (which features brandon on drums and vocals as well as judd of dry cell on vocals).

In February 2008, bassist Judd Gruenbaum noted on the bands MySpace that they have gotten back together for Guitarist Danny Hartwell's Birthday Party at The Roxy on Sunset strip. They are also recording new music according to Judd.

Dry Cell has recently updated their MySpace page and are halfway finished with recording a brand new album according to Danny Hartwell in this message, "About half of it is done the rest is coming soon so its all good there should be some new posts of it up online in the near future keep it real..."

Dry Cell has recently made this post on their MySpace Page Blog... "Dry Cell back by popular demand! Contacted by legendary A&R producer to reunite in late 2007 the band is currently working together on four new demos for Jeff Blue, and is gearing up for their release of their Disconnected record. Dry Cell will be starting to write music for their next record on July 13. New record to be released In early summer of '09. Disconnected record is to be released after September of this year the moment we get confirmation of the date we will post it here. Get the word out- log on and chat with band members!"

Dry Cell has posted four new songs. They are "I Deny", "Tragedy Pass", "Affliction", and a new version of "The Lie."

On October 18, 2008, the original Disconnected appeared on German eBay and was auctioned for more than 400€.

On December 15, 2009, Dry Cell announced through a comment left on their myspace, that they released two full length records on iTunes, saying that one was of old songs (assumed to be Disconnected), and one was of new songs. But the songs were not found on iTunes for several days. A few days later, the Disconnected album (advance version) appeared on iTunes, with alternate cover art.

Later in January, the second album appeared on iTunes with the title "The Dry Cell Collection", which included mostly previously released material, such as "Find A Way", "Sick", "Velvet Elvis", "Grape Jelly" (retitled Living For Nothing) and several more. Four songs on the record ("The Lie [new version]", "I Deny", "Affliction", and "Tragedy") had been on the band's Myspace months before the release. So only one song off the album, entitled "So Alive", had never been released or heard before.

Both albums are currently available as Amazon MP3 downloads as well as iTunes. The albums are also available in audio CD format on Amazon.com.^[7][8]

On April 30, 2011, the original, sealed jewel case edition of the Disconnected album was put up on eBay for $300,^[9] and was later sold for the same price.

Members

• Jeff Gutt – vocals
• Danny Hartwell – guitar
• Judd Gruenbaum – bass, backup vocals
• Brandon Brown – drums

Former

• Dave Wasierski – vocals

Discography

Albums

Album information
Disconnected Recorded: 2002 Released: December 2009 on iTunes Label: Warner Bros. Records/Hollywood Riviera/Beyond Control Records Singles: Body Crumbles
The Dry Cell Collection Recorded: 2002–2005 and 2008 Released: January 8, 2010 on iTunes Label: Hollywood Riviera/Beyond Control Records

Released tracks

• 2002 – "Body Crumbles" – Used on the Queen of the Damned soundtrack, released February 19, 2002. Also part of the Madden NFL 2003 soundtrack.
• 2002 – "Heaven & Hot Rods" – Used on the NASCAR on Fox: Crank It Up soundtrack, released May 21, 2002. A cover of the Stone Temple Pilots song from the album No. 4.
• 2002 - "Slip Away" appears in EA sports BIG franchise title Freekstyle.

Disconnected

Advance/iTunes

1. Slip Away - 3:58
2. Under the Sun - 3:32
3. Body Crumbles - 3:05
4. Last Time - 3:12
5. Sorry - 3:33
6. Silence - 3:11
7. So Long Ago - 3:44
8. Forever Beautiful - 2:49
9. Disconnected - 2:48
10. Ordinary - 4:20
11. Brave - 3:00
12. Last Time (Reprise) - 3:12

Jewel Case Version

1. Slip Away - 4:15
2. Under the Sun - 3:33
3. So Long Ago - 3:47
4. Forever Beautiful - 2:53
5. Ordinary - 4:37
6. Last Time - 3:37
7. Brave - 3:03
8. Disconnected - 2:50
9. Sick - 3:14
10. Silence - 3:16
11. Body Crumbles - 3:13
12. Sorry - 3:34
13. I Confide - 3:24
14. Body Crumbles (Humble Brothers Remix) - 3:21

The Dry Cell Collection

1. The Lie - 3:31
2. I Deny - 3:29
3. Affliction - 3:07
4. Find a Way - 3:39
5. New Revolution - 3:50
6. Into Oblivion - 3:52
7. Living for Nothing - 3:35
8. Velvet Elvis - 3:02
9. Sick - 3:12
10. Body Crumbles Remix - 3:24
11. So Alive - 3:21
12. Tragedy - 3:37

Miscellaneous

• 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 Bros. It can be read here.
• Under the name Impur their 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".
• "Body Crumbles" was also a song included in the soundtrack for EA Sports Madden NFL 2003.
• The song "Slip Away" featured in the dirt bike video game "Freekstyle", yet another EA Sports title, although the version has a slight variation compared to the album's version: the vocals and guitar were slightly changed, and the song opens with him saying "Your best is not good enough".
• Dry Cell's own label was called Beyond Control Records, owned by Danny Hartwell's father.
• The song "So Long Ago" is on the soundtrack for Warren Miller's Storm.
• "Body Crumbles" is also a part of "Queen Of The Damned" soundtrack.
• "Body Crumbles" was also featured on the Hard Mix 2002 Promo CD.
• "Body Crumbles" was also released as a single sold at stores prior to breaking their contract with Warner.
• Dry Cell is signed to Beyond Control Records, which will have a website up shortly

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Interview with Warner Bros. A&R Executive Jeff Blue.
2. ^ New York Times: Young Band, Derailed Dream. Posted September 30, 2002.
3. ^ TheScout.Net. Posted March, 2002.
4. ^ Interview with Dokken guitarist Jon Levin. Posted March 18, 2004.
5. ^ Dry Cell still going strong with new singer and new songs. Posted February 9, 2004.
6. ^ New songs available for download with Dry Cell. Posted October 22, 2005.
7. ^ Disconnected.
8. ^ The Dry Cell Collection.
9. ^ Disconnected on eBay

External links

• Dry Cell (band) on Myspace