"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-nothing 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."