Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 12, 1993 TAG: 9302110018
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SONIC YOUTH GUITARIST GIVES ROADIE'S BAND HELPFUL SHOVES
Jerry DiRienzo, singer and guitarist for Cell, holds a cup next to the telephone receiver."Hear that?" he asks.
The fizz is unmistakable.
Alka-Seltzer.
DiRienzo hadn't expected to do any interviews on this particular day in the New York offices of David Geffen Co.
But when you've just been signed to your first major record label, and you're trying to make sure people know your name outside of your hometown, you do what it takes. And that means talking to reporters while you're hung over.
This is the first Southern tour for the punkish band, together for three years.
Until this week, the four band members had day jobs. But as they kick off this tour, they're looking at a future in music they hope will last.
Cell has been working mostly in New York clubs. The band will play Wednesday at the Cellar in Blacksburg.
In 1991, Cell got what every band needs - a fairy godmother. (Or, to be more politically correct, a fairy god parent.)
In this case, it was Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore.
"They practiced down the hall from us," said DiRienzo. And when Sonic Youth got big and took roadies for the first time, Cell drummer Keith Nealy hopped on the bus as a guitar technician.
Nealy played a Cell tape for the band one day and Moore said, "I'll put this out."
In October 1991, Cell's first single came out on Ecstatic Peace, and things progressed from there.
"We got better," DiRienzo said. "When we recorded our album, our live show was coming on a little stronger. Thurston said, `I think you ought to give your tape to Geffen.' We were like, `All right, if you think so.' We were looking at smaller labels."
Geffen's company has a small and diverse group of musicians; among its ranks are Guns 'n Roses, Nirvana, Sonic Youth and Teenage Fan Club.
"And Cher," DiRienzo adds. "Don't forget Cher."
And now, Cell.
"The label called us and said they were into it. We were all like, `Really?' "
Really. Cell took a low-budget tour of Europe, then played in the Northeast with the likes of Sonic Youth and Pavement.
Some of the band's audience is what you would probably call "alternative," though Cell and most bands loathe being stuck in that category.
But fans who are more mainstream, like DiRienzo's brother and sister, follow the group, too.
"Maybe all of this opening up of music now is working," he said. "People have the option to hear something they've never heard before and that makes me feel good."