Biography: Trapt Schoolhood chums Chris Brown and Peter Charell absorbed the heavy rock sound of KORN, Soundgarden and Metallica during the mid-nineties. Both were music geeks and naturally flirted around the idea of getting a group together. Casual gigs in school motivated them even more, leaving Brown and Charell design what would become Trapt. In 1997, fellow guitarist Simon Ormandy joined the band. The trio recorded their own demo and landed gigs in and around suburbs of Southern California. Within a year Trapt was opening up for the likes of Papa Roach, Dredg and Spike 1000, but high school graduation loomed ahead. The future of Trapt was unknown. Trapt's second album, Amalgamation was self-released in 1998, but the band's dynamic was shifty. Ormandy and Brown were attending classes at UC Santa Barbara by fall 1999 while Charell was several hours away at UC Santa Cruz. The distance between them was a test, but a test Trapt didn't dare to fail. The band would meet up on weekends for rehearsals and shows. They also managed to issue another record Glimpse in early 2000 with hopes that somehow a record label would take notice. As luck would have it, Trapt impressed the folks at Immortal after a stellar gig at the Troubadour one evening in late 2000. Talks of a deal were in the works, but hope faded fast. Immortal dropped the band after eight weeks. Still, Trapt were as strong as ever. Each member eventually dropped out of school and moved to Los Angeles to solely focus on Trapt. Seattle native Aaron Montgomery joined Trapt to play drums; their massive, hard rock sound was in full effect. After a benefit show for September 11th, Warner Bros. offered the band a deal in late 2001. Hard work and dedication had paid off. A year later, Trapt prepared themselves for their self-titled proper debut. ~ MacKenzie Wilson,