ABOUT US

The Story So Far
 
Cell 23 is a five-piece alternative metal outfit based in Colorado Springs. The band’s present lineup consists of lead vocalist Jeremy Richards, guitarists Ian Hopkins and Nathan Meredith, bassist Xander Grendel and drummer Stewart Ricker.  Cell 23’s music is characterized by an amalgam of metal, grunge, hard rock, punk, emo and hardcore. The band draws from a wide range of influences, including My Chemical Romance, Beartooth, Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Breaking Benjamin, Tool, System Of A Down, Rise Against, and many more. Their debut album, The End of Everything, delineates a purposive madcap of hell hymns, detailing the story of five individuals starved for purpose in a fruitless earth. The album spans a broad spectrum of genres beneath the metal umbrella, as showcased in songs such as “Disillusioned”, “Fckboi” and “In Your Shadow”.  Cell 23 was constructed in November of 2018 by Ian Hopkins, Nathan Meredith and Stewart Ricker, who had all formed pre-existing friendships with each other in high school. Having two guitar players and a drummer, the band sought an eventual four to five piece lineup consisting of a bass player and a lead vocalist. Unfortunately, their collaborations with neighboring Springs musicians proved unavailing for years. Subsequently, a great deal of the instrumentation for The End of Everything was written by Hopkins, Meredith and Ricker as a three-piece.  Originally, the band operated under the name Room 23, at Hopkins’ suggestion, which was in reference to the room number in which the band rehearsed at their practice space in Colorado Springs. Having settled on a name, the band decided to put together a short demo in an effort to boost the band’s publicity within the Colorado scene and potentially complete their lineup. In February of 2020, the band put out a three track demo, titled Room 23 Demo - Winter 2020, which contained demo versions of “I’m All I’ve Got” and “Broken to the Bone”, as well as an instrumental version of “Outcast Me”, tentatively dubbed, “Untitled”. In order to exemplify the band’s ideal musical prowess in their future bandmates, the demo was recorded to mock a lineup that already consisted of vocals and bass guitar, with Ricker on lead vocals and Hopkins on bass and backing vocals. Limited runs of the demo were pressed on CD and distributed to friends and family of the band, in the hopes that it would eventually reach the ears of future bandmates. A series of barebones visualizers were filmed and uploaded to the band’s social media channels to accompany the songs on the demo. That same month, the band inducted Jeremy Richards into the band to assume the role of lead vocalist, who had discovered the band through a Craigslist ad. Tracking for The End of Everything began in May of 2020. Despite having never played a show, coupled with an incomplete lineup and virtually no funding or connections from within the music industry, the band decided to self-produce their debut album, in the hopes that the album’s eventual release would spawn some attention towards the band. Hopkins assigned himself to mixing duties, with the intent of also writing and recording bass guitar for all songs on the album. Over the course of the summer, the band finished writing the remaining tracks for the album, and also invited bassist Xander Grendel into the band, who both Hopkins and Ricker had met through their mutual employment, thus officially completing the band’s lineup. Recording sessions for The End of Everything were split primarily between Hopkin’s apartment and the band’s rehearsal spaces in Colorado Springs and Longmont, Colorado. With most of the band having little to no music recording experience, coupled with new band members and Ricker’s move to Fort Collins, Colorado for college, the band faced a seemingly innumerable amount of challenges in executing the album’s completion.  Prior to the release of The End of Everything, the band name changed from Room 23 to Cell 23 at Hopkins’ recommendation and Grendel’s discretion, who suggested that the word “cell” better represented the band’s aura and lyrical themes. Not long afterward, the first Cell 23 show took place on May 5th, 2021 at an impromptu outdoor skate competition in Colorado Springs, accompanied by local hardcore outfit, Lavagato. Having established a solid first impression, the band began to play regularly in the Colorado Springs and Denver area alongside bands such as Lavagato, Mindless Vitality, Sending Skyward, Get The Axe, SemiFiction, Ovira, and several others. During this time, the band was simultaneously recording and promoting their upcoming debut album, including a single release of “I’m All I’ve Got”, re-recorded since its initial release on the Room 23 demo, which was released on November 7, 2021.  After roughly a year and a half of trial and error, The End of Everything was officially released on November 29th, 2021. The album was uploaded to streaming platforms universally, alongside a limited run of D.I.Y. CDs. Following the album’s release, Cell 23 played their first headlining show at The Black Sheep in Colorado Springs with Lavagato and Mindless Vitality, on February 18th, 2022. On March 26th, 2022, the band released a full-length documentary, titled Into The Hollows of This Memory - an artistic piece detailing the making of The End of Everything with footage filmed during recording sessions.  On May 28th, 2022, Cell 23 went into Enharmonic Studios in Colorado Springs to record their next single, “Outcast Me”, and released on October 30th of the same year.
 
The Short Version
 
Cell 23 is a five-piece alternative metal outfit based in Colorado Springs. Their music is characterized by an amalgam of metal, hard rock, punk, emo and hardcore. The band draws from a wide range of influences, including My Chemical Romance, Beartooth, Slipknot, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Breaking Benjamin, Tool, System Of A Down, Rise Against, and many more. Their debut album, The End of Everything, delineates a purposive madcap of hell hymns, detailing the story of five individuals starved for purpose in a fruitless earth. The album spans a broad spectrum of genres beneath the metal umbrella, as showcased in songs such as “Ghosts”, “Fckboi” and “Resident”. The End of Everything is available on all streaming platforms. Their latest single,"Outcast Me" is available on all streaming platforms.
 
TL;DR
 
Cell  23 is an alternative metal outfit based in Colorado Springs. Their debut album, The End of Everything and latest single, "Outcast Me" are available now on all streaming platforms.