| Disconnected | |
| Cover: | Face to Face - Disconnected.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover of the 1993 7" vinyl single. |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Face to Face |
| Album: | Don't Turn Away and Big Choice |
| A-Side: | Disconnected |
| Released: | August 26, 1993 |
| Recorded: | August 1992 |
| Length: | 3:28 |
| Label: | Fat Wreck Chords |
| Producer: | Jim Goodwin |
| Next Title: | Debt |
| Next Year: | 1995 |
"Disconnected" is a song by the American punk rock band Face to Face, written by singer/guitarist Trever Keith and bassist Matt Riddle. It first appeared on their 1992 debut album Don't Turn Away and was released as a 7" single in 1993 on the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords. A remixed version appeared on the Over It EP in 1994 after the band had signed to Victory Music. This version received radio airplay, leading the label to request that the band re-record "Disconnected" for their second album Big Choice (1995). This third version of the song was made into a music video and reached #39 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1995.[1]
Face to Face had recorded their debut album Don't Turn Away at Westbeach Recorders in Hollywood, California in October 1991 with producer Donnell Cameron. However, there were complications with the record label Dr. Strange Records and nearly a year had passed and the album had still not been released.[2] [3] The band met aspiring record engineer Jim Goodwin, who offered to record new material with them for free. They agreed and recorded five new songs including "Disconnected" with Goodwin at Soundcastle in Los Angeles in August 1992. Goodwin also remixed all of the material from the Westbeach sessions, and the new songs were added to Don't Turn Away which was released on Dr. Strange in 1992.
Copies of Don't Turn Away sold quickly and Dr. Strange was unable to keep up with the demand, so singer/guitarist Trever Keith contacted Fat Mike of Fat Wreck Chords to re-release it with wider distribution. In addition to re-releasing the album, Fat Wreck Chords released "Disconnected" as a 7" single in August 1993.[4] [5] In 1994 Face to Face signed to Victory Music, who released the Over It EP in order to test their new distribution system. The EP included a remixed version of "Disconnected" which was added to the playlist at KROQ-FM. The steady airplay of "Disconnected" helped the band's profile grow considerably,[6] and Victory Music requested that the band re-record the song for their second album Big Choice, which was scheduled to be released in several weeks. Keith has noted that the band were reluctant to re-record the song, but did not want to miss the opportunity to capitalize on its success:
We made [''Big Choice''] (in 10 days) and before it was even released, our label had started getting radio airplay for "Disconnected." It was on an EP we called Over It that Victory Music had put out to "test" the waters. Since the song was really working at radio, our manager and label wanted us to also put it on our new album. We reluctantly agreed because we didn't want to blow any opportunities or ruin momentum for the band. It was a weird time. A friend of ours at the label called me one day and politely let me know that we were making a lot of mistakes with our career. We decided to fire our manager and try to get off of Victory Music.