The Distillers

The Distillers
The Distillers at the Leeds Festival 2004
Background information
Origin	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Punk rock[1] hardcore punk[1] street punk[2][3][4]
Years active	1998–2006 2018–present
Labels	Sire Epitaph Hellcat Rise[5]
Members	Brody Dalle Tony Bevilacqua Andy Granelli Ryan Sinn
Past members	Rose Mazzola Kim Chi Matt Young Dante Sigona

The Distillers are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by vocalist and guitarist Brody Dalle. Dalle co-wrote, played guitar and provided lead vocals for nearly every track on the band's three albums. After the breakup of the band in 2006, Dalle and Distillers guitarist Tony Bevilacqua went on to form Spinnerette.

History

The Distillers first came together in late 1998, when Australian-born guitarist Brody Dalle met bassist Kim Chi and the two bonded over their love for playing punk rock. They proceeded to recruit Detroit guitarist Rose Mazzola and drummer Matt Young.

Signed to Epitaph, the band issued its self-titled debut in April 2000. By the end of the year, Kim Chi had left the group to join Exene Cervenka in her band, the Original Sinners. For a while The Nerve Agents bassist Dante Sigona was playing bass for The Distillers but Ryan Sinn stepped in and took position. Matt departed to join Chi while Mazzola left during the height of "Seneca Falls". By summer 2002, The Distillers were composed of Dalle, Sinn, and new drummer Andy Granelli; joint American dates with No Doubt and Garbage were planned for later that fall. Guitarist/vocalist Tony Bradley joined The Distillers in time for the recording of their third album and major-label debut, Coral Fang, which was released in 2003 by Sire. Following her very public divorce from Rancid's Tim Armstrong that same year, Brody Dalle resumed performing under her own name.

Granelli left the band in early 2005, moving on to play with Darker My Love, and by summer, Sinn had exited as well, later joining up with Angels & Airwaves. Despite rumors, The Distillers, now just Dalle and Bradley, denied that they were breaking up, instead simply going on hiatus. In early 2006, Dalle had her first child, daughter Camille, with new husband Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. By the year's end, the two remaining members formally announced the band's disbandment and went on to form Spinnerette together.^[6]

In January 2018, Dalle shared a teaser video from The Distillers' Instagram and a newly opened Twitter account to confirm the return of the band. Initially, it was believed the four Twitter accounts that The Distillers' Twitter was following, would make up the 2018 line-up of the band: Dalle, Bradley, Granelli and former Spinnerette member Alain Johannes. Since then, however, the account has removed Johannes; and subsequently added former bassist Sinn. Bradley has since deleted his Twitter account.

It was later announced that the band would perform their first official show in over 13 years at The Casbah in San Diego, California in late April 2018.^[7]

On September 11, 2018, the Distillers official Instagram account announced the release of a new single available on iTunes.^[8] In April 2019, the band confirmed that they had begun recording their fourth album and follow-up to Coral Fang.^[9]

On April 28, 2019, The Distillers announced they would be entering the studio with English music producer Nick Launay.^[10]

On July 16, 2021, The Distillers released a live album, Live in Lockdown. The album features nine tracks that were recorded live during their 2020 livestream.^[11]

Members

Current

• Brody Dalle – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1998–2006, 2018–present), lead guitar (2002–2003)
• Ryan Sinn – bass, backing vocals (2000–2005, 2018–present)
• Andy Granelli – drums (2000–2005, 2018–present)
• Tony "Bradley" Bevilacqua – lead guitar, backing vocals (2003–2006, 2018–present)

Former

• Rose "Casper" Mazzola – lead guitar, backing vocals (1998–2002)
• Kim Chi – bass, backing vocals (1998–2000)
• Mat Young – drums (1998–2000)
• Dante Sigona – bass, backing vocals (2000)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Details	Peak chart positions			Certification
		US [12]	US Ind. [13]	UK [14][15]
2000	The Distillers Label: Hellcat	—	—	—
2002	Sing Sing Death House Label: Hellcat	—	29	—
2003	Coral Fang Label: Sire/Hellcat	97	—	46	BPI: Silver[16]

Extended plays

Title	Details
The Distillers EP	Released: 1999 Label: Epitaph Formats: 7" vinyl

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions					Album
		US Alt [12]	SCO [17]	UK [14][15]	UK Indie [18]	UK Rock [19]
"The Young Crazed Peeling"	2002	—	—	—	—	—	Sing Sing Death House
"City of Angels"		—	—	104	38	13
"Drain the Blood"	2003	28	48	51	—	8	Coral Fang
"The Hunger"	2004	—	—	48	—	—
"Beat Your Heart Out"		—	—	74	—	—
"Man vs. Magnet"	2018	—	—	—	—	—	Man vs. Magnet / Blood in Gutters
"Blood in Gutters"		—	—	—	—	—

Music videos

• "The Young Crazed Peeling" (2002)
• "City of Angels" (2002)
• "Drain the Blood" (2003)
• "The Hunger" (2003)
• "Beat Your Heart Out" (2004)
• "Man vs. Magnet" (2018)
• "City of Angels (Live)" (2021)

In popular culture

• In a February 2003 episode of Gilmore Girls, Jess surprises Rory with last-minute tickets to a Distillers concert.
• A version of the song "Muppet N.A.M.B.L.A" on the Leftöver Crack EP, Rock the 40 Oz featured Dalle on guest vocals.
• In the Daredevil episode "Kinbaku", "Die on a Rope" is played on the stereo of a car that Matt Murdock and Elektra steal.

Video games

• "Beat Your Heart Out" is featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2.
• "Beat Your Heart Out" is featured in ATV Offroad Fury 3.
• "Dismantle Me" is featured in MTX Mototrax.
• "Seneca Falls" is featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.
• "Drain the Blood" is featured in Gran Turismo 4 and is a downloadable song for Rock Band.
• The song "Beat Your Heart Out" and a cover of the "Spider-Man theme song" are featured in the video game adaptation of Spider-Man 2.
• The songs "City of Angels" and "Hall of Mirrors" both featured in the 2004 game True Crime: Streets of LA.
• "City of Angels" is featured in Crash 'N' Burn, as well as in the third episode of Sleeper Cell entitled "Money".

References

1. The Distillers Biography Archived 2014-05-03 at the Wayback Machine at AllMusic
2. Diehl, Matt (2007). My So-Called Punk: Green Day, Fall Out Boy, The Distillers, Bad Religion—How Neo-Punk Stage-Dived Into the Mainstream. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-33781-0.
3. "The Distillers". In Music We Trust. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
4. "Brody Dalle: Spinnerette / The Distillers". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 2016-01-07.
5. The Distillers release 'Live In Lockdown', share live video, Loudhacker.net
6. Wilson, MacKenzie. "Artist Biography". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 2014-05-03. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
7. Fu, Eddie C. (18 January 2018). "The Distillers reveal reunion tour dates". Access Atlanta. AJC.com. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
8. "THE DISTILLERS MAN VERSUS MAGNET/BLOOD IN GUTTERS". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2018-09-11.
9. "NEWS: The Distillers to start recording its fourth album in April 2019!". DEAD PRESS!. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
10. "The Distillers are entering the studio to record first album in 16 years". Rawmusictv.com. April 29, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
11. Punknews.org (2021-07-16). "The Distillers release 'Live In Lockdown', share live video". www.punknews.org. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
12. "The Distillers - Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2015-03-08. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
13. "Sing Sing Death House Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2013-07-29.
14. "The Distillers Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
15. "Chart Log UK 1994–2010 Asher D – Dyverse". Zobbel. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
16. "BRIT Certified". BPI. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
17. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
    • Drain the Blood: "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. 9 November 2003. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
18. Peak chart position on the UK Independent Singles Chart:
    • City of Angels: "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. 17 November 2002. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
19. Peak chart position on the UK Rock Singles Chart:
    • City of Angels: "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. 17 November 2002. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
    • Drain the Blood: "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. 9 November 2003. Retrieved 13 November 2019.

External links

• [1] official website (Archived).
• The Distillers at Facebook.
• The Distillers at Instagram.
• The Distillers at Twitter.
• The Distillers at Myspace.