Members:
Jeff Gutt – vocals
Danny Hartwell – guitar
Judd Gruenbaum – bass, backup vocals
Brandon Brown – drums
History.
1. 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 "Impur") 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".
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. The Disconnected album.
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.
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.
They shot a music video for their only single"Body Crumbles" from Disconnected. The song was included in the OST to the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, in the soundtrack for EA Sports Madden NFL 2003 and was featured on Rob Zombie's sampler disc Call All The Maniacs.
Dry Cell recorded a Stone Temple Pilots cover Heaven & Hot Rods which was featured on NASCAR: Crank It Up compilation.
3. 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. 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.
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. After their split, two other tracks titled "Into Oblivion" and "Find a Way" were made available for download via their MySpace page.
During the split drummer Brandon Brown played in several bands including "Katsumoto", "Beneath the Vultures", "Live Like Were Dead", "AllurA" ,"Far From Flesh" and "Her and Her Friends" (which features Brandon on drums and vocals as well as Judd of Gruenbaum on vocals). Jeff Gutt formed Band With No Name and also sung in bands such as "Punch" and "Acrylic".
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 were also recording new music according to Judd.
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.
http://www.myspace.com/drycell
Tragedy
Dry Cell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I can see
You wanna be my enemy,
Is all I'm saying
Half a life--
D.O.A.
Show me somethings going to change
There's only so much time
Before it's too late
Get out before it's over
You gotta get out before it's done
What a tragedy it would be
To die young
Tell me all reasons and
Things I'll never understand
You seem to know them
But you dont know, got to say,
How things ended up this way
But here we are today
There's only so much time
Before it's too late
Get out before it's over
You gotta get out before it's done
What a tragedy it would be
To die young(to die young)
So just run away(run away)
From all the things you've done
What a tragedy it would be
to die young(to die young)
Don't fight it'll be alright
Cause we'll burn so bright
We'll burn so bright, yeah
Don't fight it will be alright
Cause we'll burn so bright
We'll burn so bright, yeah
Don't fight it'll be alright
Get out before its over
You gotta get out before it's done
What a tragedy it would be
To die young(to die young)
So just run away (run away)
From all the things you've done
What a tragedy it would be
To die young (to die young)
Get out before it's over (run away)
You gotta get out before it's done (run away)
What a tragedy it would be
To die young (to die young)
What a tragedy it would be
to die young (to die young)
What a tragedy it would be to die young
In "Tragedy" by Dry Cell, the singer addresses someone they perceive as their enemy, acknowledging that they know the other person wants conflict between them. The singer reflects on the weight of time, and how quickly it can slip away. They urge their enemy to leave before it's too late to save themselves. Throughout the song, there is a sense of desperation to escape a difficult situation, highlighting the theme of tragedy. The refrain, "What a tragedy it would be to die young," underscores the importance of making meaningful choices before it's too late.
Although the lyrics are open to interpretation, it's possible that the song is about a toxic relationship or a struggle with addiction. The singer may be imploring their love interest or fellow addict to leave the situation before they suffer the ultimate tragedy of dying young. The constant rain in the song could represent feelings of despair and hopelessness.
Line by Line Meaning
It's alright,
I can see
You wanna be my enemy,
Is all I'm saying
Even though you're trying to be my enemy, I can see it and it's alright with me, I'm just acknowledging it.
Half a life--
D.O.A.
Show me somethings going to change
It's always raining
Life can feel like it's half over and dead on arrival, but show me that something good can come out of it, even though it feels like there's always trouble.
There's only so much time
Before it's too late
Time is limited and there's a point where it may be too late to change the outcome of something.
Get out before it's over
You gotta get out before it's done
What a tragedy it would be
To die young
It's important to make moves and leave before something reaches its conclusion, otherwise it could result in a tragic end.
Tell me all reasons and
Things I'll never understand
You seem to know them
But you dont know, got to say,
How things ended up this way
But here we are today
You may know certain reasons and things that I'll never understand, but you don't know how things ended up the way they are today.
So just run away (run away)
From all the things you've done
What a tragedy it would be
to die young (to die young)
It's better to just leave and escape from the things that have been done, rather than face a tragic end, especially at a young age.
Don't fight it'll be alright
Cause we'll burn so bright
We'll burn so bright, yeah
Don't resist change or difficult situations, everything will work out and shine brightly in the end.
What a tragedy it would be
to die young (to die young)
Dying young would be an unfortunate and sad way to go, especially if there was potential for a brighter future.
Contributed by Adeline Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Teo K.
cant explain how great this song is....
Big Pidge
Whoa, this is really different compared to their other demos.
Joe Hunter
It's great, but so are all of them I can't wait until they comeback
Rossmiester1
I have been dreaming for years... and its now May 2022.. and Jeff is the lead singer for STP... noooooooo!!!
Rossmiester1
It is a tragedy that this band as a group did die young... damn it
rolanddeschain
Don't fight,it'll be alright cause we'll burn so bright,we'll burn so bright...
Chesri Chance
More than awesome ^^
Joe Hunter
Yes it is but my favourite of the new demos is I Deny
Rossmiester1
MAY 2022 - LOVE DRY CELL
1ndestructibl3
I've uploaded the guitar tab to this song on Ultimate-Guitar for all of those interested! just search "dry cell tragedy" in the search box on the website