Chris
Brown: Voice and Guitar
Simon Ormandy: Lead Guitar
Peter Charell: Lead Bass
Monty: Drums
"Headstrong."
It's the opening track,
and debut single of Trapt,
the major label debut album
from the compulsively original
young band of the same name.
"Headstrong."
It's also an especially
apt single-word description
for the foursome's fearless
approach to music - a stubborn,
uncompromising dedication
to doing it their own way,
regardless of the consequences.
Their all-or-nthing ethos
has sustained this potent
creative collective through
more than the usual run
of false starts, dashed
hopes and hardcore dues
paying. The result, as evidenced
on the eleven tracks of
Trapt, proves the point
in no uncertain terms: if
you want it done right,
do it yourself.
And Trapt
have been doing it themselves
right from the start, a
point of origin reaching
back to the mid-90's in
the sleepy suburban enclave
of Los Gatos, California.
It was there that founding
members Chris Brown and
Peter Charell, weaned on
a diet of Korn, Soundgarden,
Pink Floyd, 311 and Metallica,
formed an impromptu group
that played their first
gig at a high school performance
"The crowd was totally
into it" remarks Chris.
By the
next summer, the pair had
recruited Simon Ormandy
to the cause, practicing
at the guitarist's guesthouse
in a party atmosphere that
fostered more good times
than serious intent. It
wasn't until late 1997 that
the fledging group began
to find their musical footing,
recording a do-it-yourself
CD of original songs featuring
Chris's lyrics and the band's
arrangements and selling
them at local gigs. By early
the following year they
had landed a regular spot
at The Cactus Club, a local
venue that allowed them
invaluable experience to
develop their electrifying
live act for a fast-growing
audience of friends and
fans.
That audience
had grown considerably by
the mid-1998 when the band,
who by now were opening
for such acts as Papa Roach,
Dredg and Spike 1000, graduated
from high school and faced
the crucial decision of
continuing their musical
partnership or going their
separate paths in pursuit
of college and career.
For a
while they tried to have
it both ways. After recording
a second independent CD,
titled Amalgamation, consisting
of various early demos and
new material, they continued
playing a string of local
performances up and down
the central coast, even
as they laid plans to continue
their education. By the
fall of 1999, the band members
found themselves diverging,
with Chris and Simon enrolling
UC Santa Barbara, Peter
hundreds of miles away at
UC Santa Cruz, and their
original drummer relocating
in-between at Cal Poly,
San Luis Obispo.
It was
a scattering that might
have spelled the end of
Trapt, except for one crucial
consideration: the group's
fierce commitment to their
music. "Pete would
drive down for rehearsals
and gigs," recounts
Chris, "and pick up
the drummer along the way.
It was a bitch trying to
keep ourselves together
over all those miles, but
we really believed in what
we were doing. We were just
hanging on, trying to make
something happen."
It was
an effort that would test
the group's belief in themselves
and their music to the limit.
Over the next year, they
knocked relentlessly on
any door that might gain
them access to a recording
deal and the chance to keep
their shared vision alive.
They posted
songs for an Internet battle
of the bands, recorded new
material every chance they
got, (including a third
CD titled Glimpse that previewed
"Enigma" and "Hollowman,"
two songs featured on their
new album) and played live
for beer-soaked bashes on
the party-hardy campus of
UCSB.
What looked
like their big break arrived
in late 2000 when, after
appearing at L.A.'s legendary
Troubadour, they were approached
by Immortal Records. "We
were stoked, for lack of
a better word," Chris
remarks with characteristic
understatement.
Though
the label quickly lost interest,
what might have proved a
fatal blow to a less determined
band, only spurred Trapt
to new levels.
Then we
all dropped out of college
and moved to L.A.,"
recounts Chris. "We'd
come this far and it was
like we all decided at the
same time that music was
what we were here to do.
Nothing was going to stop
us."
These
were fateful words, considering
the rocky road still ahead.
After recording four additional
tracks with Grammy-winning
engineer Warren Riker, Trapt
was offered a major label
deal that dissolved eight
weeks later due to creative
differences. But Trapt's
trials were only just beginning.
In the summer of 2001, the
band's long time drummer
parted ways with the group.
"We'd quit school,
turned our back on a record
deal and, to top it all
off, lost our drummer,"
recounts Chris. "There
was nothing left to do but
keep going."
The band
began searching for a replacement,
quickly recruiting Monty,
a Seattle native with wide
musical sensibilities and
an immediate affinity for
the group's tightly integrated
sound. Creatively reinvigorated,
Trapt put together a showcase
on September 11th of last
year and was immediately
offered an exclusive contract
with Warner Bros. Records.
Their
perseverance had paid off.
Hanging on against all odds,
the group was poised for
the pay-off: a chance to
make the music that mattered
to them, and find the audience
they knew all along was
out there waiting. It was
a chance they grabbed with
both hands. Early this year,
after writing a sheaf of
new material, they began
recording their Warner Bros.
Records debut in Vancouver
B.C. with producer Garth
Richardson, renowned for
his work with Rage Against
The Machine.
The result
is Trapt, featuring twelve
original tracks ranging
from the evocative "Echo"
and the blistering "Still
Frame," through the
haunting "Enigma"
to the band's signature
"Headstrong."
Trapt
, in short, is a band with
an album that proves conclusively,
that when it comes to making
immediate, innovative and
involving music, being headstrong
is an indispensable ingredient.