Dry Cell was an American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band formed in 1998 in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, United States, known in earlier stages as Impúr. They are best known for their song "Body Crumbles", which was featured in numerous third party media, such as the ''
Queen of the Damned'' soundtrack and ''
Madden NFL 2003
''Madden NFL 2003'' is an American football simulation video game based on the NFL that was developed by EA Tiburon and Budcat Creations and published by EA Sports. The 14th installment of the ''Madden NFL series'', the game features former St. ...
''. They're also known for the song "Slip Away" which was featured in ''
Freekstyle
''Freekstyle'' is a 2002 motocross racing video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance. There are four levels of gameplay: the circuit, a quick race, freestyle, and free run.
The game features an assortment of real-life FMX ...
''. The band released one studio album, ''Disconnected'', in 2002.
History
Early years (1998–2001)
Guitarist Danny Hartwell and drummer Brandon Brown met in 1998 at a
Ratt Show on the
Sunset Strip
The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...
. The pair later added bassist Judd Gruenbaum and began playing under the name Beyond Control.
Beyond Control soon earned the attention of
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
A&R executive
Jeff Blue
Jeffrey Blue (born November 21, 1967) is a A&R executive, record-producer, and songwriter who is currently an A&R consultant for Atlantic Records. He has worked as the Senior Vice President of A&R and staff producer for Warner Bros. Records, Int ...
, responsible for discovering
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...
. Blue signed the band to a development deal, found a new lead singer in Jeff Gutt from
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and renamed the group Impúr.
Blue described the band as "Like
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
meets
Incubus meets Linkin Park but heavier. No DJing, no rapping, very melodic and the kids are just phenomenal musicians".
[Interview with Warner Bros. A&R Executive Jeff Blue](_blank)
.
While known as Impúr the song Body Crumbles was featured on
Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...
's sampler disc ''Calling All Maniacs'' which circulated with his 2001 release titled ''
The Sinister Urge''.
''Disconnected'' (2002–2003)
After being signed to
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
, 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 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.
[New York Times: Young Band, Derailed Dream](_blank)
Posted September 30, 2002.
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. However, advanced copies of the album which come in a paper sleeve cover and contain different artwork, can be found more regularly. However, one song from the album, "Body Crumbles", could be found in other places, such as; the ''
Queen of the Damned'' soundtrack, as part of the ''
Madden NFL 2003
''Madden NFL 2003'' is an American football simulation video game based on the NFL that was developed by EA Tiburon and Budcat Creations and published by EA Sports. The 14th installment of the ''Madden NFL series'', the game features former St. ...
'' soundtrack and on the ''Hard Mix 2002'' promo CD. That same year, the band's
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the
Stone Temple Pilots song "Heaven & Hot Rods" was used on the
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
and the ''
Crank It Up'' soundtrack, "Slip Away" appeared in the
EA Sports BIG franchise video game ''
Freekstyle
''Freekstyle'' is a 2002 motocross racing video game for the PlayStation 2, GameCube and Game Boy Advance. There are four levels of gameplay: the circuit, a quick race, freestyle, and free run.
The game features an assortment of real-life FMX ...
'' and the song "So Long Ago" is on the soundtrack for
Warren Miller's ''Storm''.
The band always stated there was no chance of releasing the album, even if they were to sign a new
record deal
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
. In 2008, it was announced that the band would be releasing ''Disconnected'' sometime after September of the same year. It was eventually released in 2009 on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
.
In October 2002, Dry Cell was featured in an article in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' regarding their brief stint with Warner Bros.
After Warner Brothers (2003–2005)
In March 2003, it was reported that a deal had signed with
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
.
[TheScout.Net](_blank)
Posted March, 2002.
. Posted March 18, 2004. However, nothing ever became of this contract.
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.
[Dry Cell still going strong with new singer and new songs](_blank)
. Posted February 9, 2004.
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.
[New songs available for download with Dry Cell](_blank)
. Posted October 22, 2005. After their split, two other tracks titled "Into Oblivion" and "Find a Way" were made available for download via their
MySpace page.
Reunion and second break-up (2007–2010)
In 2007, the band stated that:
In February 2008, bassist Judd Gruenbaum noted on the band's MySpace that they had gotten back together for guitarist Danny Hartwell's birthday party at
The Roxy on Sunset strip. They were also recording new music according to Gruenbaum. Sometime afterwards, Dry Cell updated their MySpace page stating they were 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..."
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 2010, the second album appeared on iTunes with the title ''The Dry Cell Collection'', which included mostly previously released material and several more. Four songs on the record had been on the band's MySpace months before the release.
Since early 2010, there were no updates/news from the band. In 2012, it was revealed that Jeff Gutt has left the band in 2009 for good and the band is now defunct. After his departure, Gutt competed on ''
The X Factor'' in 2012 and 2013 (he eliminated on "Boot Camp" and as runner-up, respectively), and later Gutt became as lead vocalist of
Stone Temple Pilots since 2017.
Members
; Final lineup
*
Jeff Gutt – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
* Danny Hartwell – lead guitar
* Judd Gruenbaum – bass, co-lead vocals
* Brandon Brown – drums, percussion
; Former members
* Dave Wasierski – lead vocals
(2004–2005)
Discography
Albums
''Disconnected (Album Advance)''
Advance/iTunes
# "Slip Away" – 3:58
# "Under the Sun" – 3:32
# "Body Crumbles" – 3:05
# "Last Time" – 3:12
# "Sorry" – 3:33
# "Silence" – 3:11
# "So Long Ago" – 3:44
# "Forever Beautiful" – 2:49
# "Disconnected" – 2:48
# "Ordinary" – 4:20
# "Brave" – 3:00
# "Last Time (Reprise)" – 3:12
Jewel Case version
# "Slip Away" – 4:15
# "Under the Sun" – 3:33
# "So Long Ago" – 3:47
# "Forever Beautiful" – 2:53
# "Ordinary" – 4:37
# "Last Time" – 3:37
# "Brave" – 3:03
# "Disconnected" – 2:50
# "Sick" – 3:14
# "Silence" – 3:16
# "Body Crumbles" – 3:13
# "Sorry" – 3:34
# "I Confide" – 2:58
# "Body Crumbles (Humble Brothers Remix)" – 3:21
''The Dry Cell Collection''
# "The Lie" – 3:31
# "I Deny" – 3:29
# "Affliction" – 3:07
# "Find a Way" – 3:39
# "New Revolution" – 3:50
# "Into Oblivion" – 3:52
# "Living for Nothing" – 3:35
# "Velvet Elvis" – 3:02
# "Sick" – 3:12
# "Body Crumbles Remix" – 3:24
# "So Alive" – 3:21
# "Tragedy" – 3:37
2003 Sampler
#"Living for Nothing / Grape Jelly"
#"I Regret / PeeWee"
#"The Way You Abuse Me / Velvet Elvis"
2005 Sampler
#"Find a Way"
#"New Revolution"
#"Into Oblivion"
#"The Lie"
2008 Sampler
#"Affliction"
#"I Deny"
#"The Lie (Rock Version)"
#"Tragedy Pass"
Non-album songs
* "Heaven & Hot Rods (
Stone Temple Pilots cover)" – was released on ''
NASCAR: Crank It Up''
* "Understand Me (Demo 2000)" – was released on 10th Annual Los Angeles Music Awards 2000 Sonic Sampler
* "I Confide" – BSide from the ''Disconnected Advance'', mixed differently from the jewel case version
* "Sick" – BSide from the ''Disconnected Advance'', mixed differently from the jewel case version
* "Sick (Clean Edit)" – BSide from the ''Disconnected Advance'', which was an censored version of the song
References
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1998
Nu metal musical groups from California
American alternative metal musical groups