Trapt Logo

Trapt is an American rock band formed in Los Gatos, California. Nine studio albums have been recorded to date: ''Amalgamation'' (1999), ''Trapt'' (2002), ''Someone in Control'' (2005), ''Only Through the Pain'' (2008), '' No Apologies'' (2010), '' Reborn'' (2013), ''DNA'' (2016), ''Shadow Work'' (2020), and ''The Fall'' (2024). Since 2021, their lineup has consisted of Chris Taylor Brown (vocals & guitar), Pete Charell (bass), Shawn Sonnenschein (guitar), and Mitch Moore (drums).

Trapt's biggest commercial success was their 2002 debut single, " Headstrong", which became a crossover hit to the pop charts and peaked at number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Though their subsequent releases did not match the pop appeal of "Headstrong", the band was able to maintain a presence in the rock market throughout the decade.

History

Formation and early years (1995–2000)

The members of Trapt met in middle school in the mid-'90s, and were in an early NOFX cover band called the Swinging Udders, with Manny Terres on guitar and Aaron Azlant on lead vocals. Shortly thereafter, the band reformed and developed an act with Chris Taylor Brown (lead vocals), Simon Ormandy (guitar), Rick Sanders (guitar), Pete Charell (bass), and David Stege (drums). The band's first few rehearsals were in Ormandy's guesthouse, which had a party-like atmosphere with its loft overlooking the living room. They began playing at local venues in 1997 before any members had graduated high school. In 1998, still before graduation, they were already opening for up-and-coming fellow acts like Papa Roach. They recorded and released their first CD, ''Amalgamation'', in 1999, which they sold at their live shows. Sanders departed from the band afterwards, but the band opted to remain a quartet instead of recruiting an additional guitarist. Drummer Stege also left the band not longer after. He was replaced by Robin Diaz, and in 2000 the band released the EP ''Glimpse''.

''Trapt'' (2001–2003)

In 2001, the band signed with Warner Bros. Records and started recording their debut album. During recording however, Diaz was simultaneously in Trapt, Closure, and Theory of a Deadman, but he ultimately chose to stay in the latter two bands; thus, his place in Trapt was filled by Aaron Montgomery. On November 5, 2002, the band released their major label debut album, ''Trapt'', which was certified platinum by the RIAA on November 24, 2003. The album produced a total of three charting singles: " Headstrong", "Still Frame", and "Echo" with "Headstrong" as the most successful of the three.

''Someone in Control'' (2004–2006)

Before releasing their next full-length album, the band released a self-titled three-track EP, released March 30, 2004, that included live versions of the "Made of Glass" and "Echo" tracks from their debut album, as well as a previously unreleased non-LP track, "Promise".

Their second full-length album, titled ''Someone in Control'', was released September 13, 2005. It produced three singles for the band: "Stand Up", "Waiting", and "Disconnected (Out of Touch)". While it reached #14 on the US Billboard 200, the album didn't meet Warner's expectations, selling 500,000 copies. Disappointed, Warner stopped responding to the band. Brown said of the situation “We didn’t like the situation. We asked them to let us off the label. There was no official parting of the ways; we just said, ‘We’re leaving,’ and there was no response, so we were out of there.” The band signed to Eleven Seven the following year.

''Only Through the Pain'' (2007–2009)

Their first live album titled '' Trapt Live!'', was released on September 18, 2007. The album featured two new studio songs, "Stay Alive" and "Everything to Lose", as well as live versions of nine songs from their earlier records. On March 7, 2008, it was announced that lead guitarist Simon Ormandy had parted ways with the band. He was replaced by Robb Torres. Despite rumors indicating otherwise, Ormandy's departure was amicable, and Brown continued to speak highly of Ormandy to the media, while promoting Torres as the new guitarist. A day later on March 8, Trapt released "Who's Going Home With You Tonight?" on the band's website, a song from their then-upcoming studio album entitled ''Only Through the Pain'', which released on August 5. A music video for the song was released later that year. The band also posted four other songs before the album's release: "Black Rose", "Contagious", "Wasteland", and "Ready When You Are". On April 15, Trapt announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's ''Crüe Fest'' along with Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Sixx:A.M. The tour began July 1, 2008 in West Palm Beach, Florida, and wrapped up in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania on August 31.

''No Apologies'' and ''Reborn'' (2010–2013)

In March 2010, Trapt said they were wrapping up the recording process of their new record with producer Johnny K. '' No Apologies'' was released on October 12, 2010. The first single, "Sound Off", was available on iTunes on July 20, 2010. Another song, "Stranger in the Mirror", was released for free from the band's Facebook page August 11, 2010. The band left Eleven Seven shortly after the release. In 2011, the band released the compilation album ''Headstrong'' under Cleopatra Records, with which they re-recorded 7 tracks from their self-titled, as well as releasing a new track, "Policy of Truth".

In 2012, the band signed with Epochal Artists, and in October of that year, announced '' Reborn'' would be released on November 20, before delaying it to January 22, 2013. The tracks "Bring It" and "Love Hate Relationship" were released as a double single.

''DNA'' and ''Shadow Work'' (2014–2022)

In 2014, Trapt re-released their early, out of print albums ''Amalgamation'' and ''Glimpse EP''. and announced "The Self Titled Tour", a tour focused around their self-titled album. On June 15, Trapt launched an Indiegogo campaign to help fund their next studio album, ''DNA'', and a collection of acoustic versions of songs called ''The Acoustic Collection'', which came out that summer. Their $50k goal was met two weeks early.

The band's seventh studio album, ''DNA'' was released on August 19, 2016. It was the band's poorest charting album to date, debuting and peaking at number 148 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Similarly, its three singles, "Passenger", "Human", and "It's Over", failed to crack the top 20 of the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, or chart at all on the Hot Rock Songs chart. They also partook in the Make America Rock Again tour that year and the following year. In 2018, the band released the non-album single "Come Together" with rapper An0maly, which did not chart on any ''Billboard'' song charts.

In May 2020, a new studio album, ''Shadow Work'', was announced. It released the following July, though it failed to chart in the US Billboard 200 chart,selling only 600 copies in its first week, an 87% drop from their prior studio album, ''DNA'', in 2016. In the following December, multiple outlets reported that Brown had been fired from the band, though it was debunked as a hoax hours later. On January 23, 2021, drummer Mike Smith announced that he had left Trapt for "primarily political" reasons.

In 2022, the band embarked on the "20th Anniversary Tour", where they performed the self-titled album in full.

''The Fall'', continued touring and ''Resurrection'' (2023-present)

In 2023, the band announced that their new album, titled ''The Fall'', would be released by the end of the year, before being delayed to March 2024, and again to May 31. They embarked on ''The Fall'' Tour throughout 2023 and 2024.

In 2025, Trapt embarked on a full band acoustic tour, with dates being added throughout the year. In March 2025, the band were announced to be a part of Powerman 5000's "Taste of Armageddon Tour", but were pulled from the bill the same month. Brown claimed they left the tour on their own terms because of heavy backlash. During the acoustic tour, Brown claimed four venues backed out due to "cancel culture", with which people would contact the venues to inform them of the band's controversies.

On April 24, 2025, it was reported that Trapt's upcoming album would be titled ''Resurrection''.

Musical style and influences

Trapt's sound has been described as nu metal, post-grunge, alternative metal and hard rock. AllMusic critic MacKenzie Wilson thought that the band "draws influences from grunge and heavy metal" while "absorbing the heavy rock sounds of Korn, Soundgarden, and Metallica". The band has cited Korn, Tool, Papa Roach, Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam and Genesis as influences.

Social media use

Many publications have taken note of the band's unusual use of social media accounts, run by Brown, often to lash out and attack others, something not often done from official band accounts. Music website ''MetalSucks'' noted in 2015 that the band's official Facebook account made lengthy posts criticizing viewers of ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'', which devolved into the account swearing and berating commenters. The comment also included homophobic insults towards internet musician Rob Scallon, whom the band had feuded with on social media earlier in the year over the unauthorized and unattributed use of Scallon's videos. In 2017, Brown insulted commenters who disagreed with his defense of former President Trump's dismissal of James Comey, and then again later in the year with critics of Brown's stance that institutional racism does not exist.

In March 2020, ''Metal Injection'', ''The A.V. Club'', and ''Slate'' all reported that the band's Twitter account had gone on a week-long effort of arguing with and insulting people. It began with insults of civil rights activist and bishop Talbert W. Swan II and accusations of having a "victim mentality". The comments then expanded into areas such as defending the Unite the Right rally, calling people "nerds", challenging the existence of white privilege in society, supporting Trump's " Chinese virus" rhetoric in reference to the COVID-19 pandemic, and fat-shaming women. ''Loudwire'' noted that many notable bands and musicians later responded to counter or ridicule the claims. Brown later used the band account to threaten legal action against an unflattering parody account assuming Trapt's identity, but dropped the issue on the same day once the account altered its Twitter handle to make the parody clearer. In May 2020, Brown threatened legal action against multiple Change.org petitions to keep the band's music off of the upcoming ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2'' re-release, even though the band's music never appeared on the originals nor was announced for the remaster. In the same month, Brown used the band's account to partially blame George Floyd for his own death.

In August 2020, in response to an article by music publication ''Consequence of Sound'' that asserted that the band drew a small crowd size at a festival, the band took to Twitter to berate the publication and any fans who agreed with the story's claim of poor attendance. The following month, the band's account was used to publicly berate Travis Livingstone, an artist the band had commissioned, but not paid, for a lyric video for their album release that year. In October 2020, the band drew criticism when they announced their support for the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys and invited the group's Dallas, Texas, chapter to their next show in town.

In November 2020, ''Spin'' reported that Facebook had deleted Trapt's page on the grounds of hate speech. In December 2020, the band's Twitter account was suspended after Brown wrote a series of Tweets that multiple publications interpreted to be about defending statutory rape, where Brown said he would 'high five' a hypothetical 15-year-old boy who had sex with a 25-year-old female teacher. In April 2021, Brown defended and clarified his stance, saying it was not meant as a defense of statutory rape, but rather, "a joke in bad taste" in relation to his thoughts on the "double standard between how men need to treat women versus the other way around".

Band members

Current members
* Chris Taylor Brown – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, synths, samples (1995–present)
* Pete Charell – bass guitar, backing vocals (1995–present)
* Shawn Sonnenschein – lead guitar (2021–present)
* Mitch Moore – drums (2021–present)

Former members
* Simon Ormandy – lead guitar (1995–2008)
* Rick Sanders – lead guitar (1995–1999)
* David Stege – drums (1995–2000)
* Robin Diaz – drums (2000–2002)
* Aaron "Monty" Montgomery – drums (2002–2012)
* Robb Torres – lead guitar (2008–2013)
* Dylan Thomas Howard – drums (2012–2016)
* Travis Miguel – lead guitar (2013–2014)
* Ty Fury – lead guitar (2014–2017)
* Brendan Hengle – drums (2016–2018), lead guitar (2018–2021)
* David Suddock – lead guitar (2017–2018)
* Mike Smith – drums (2018, 2020–2021)
* Adam Prentice – drums (2019–2020)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums
* ''Amalgamation'' (1999)
* ''Trapt'' (2002)
* ''Someone in Control'' (2005)
* ''Only Through the Pain'' (2008)
* '' No Apologies'' (2010)
* '' Reborn'' (2013)
* ''DNA'' (2016)
* ''Shadow Work'' (2020)
* ''The Fall'' (2024)

References

External links

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1995 establishments in California
American alternative metal musical groups
American post-grunge musical groups
Hard rock musical groups from California
EMI Records artists
Musical groups established in 1995
Musical groups from the San Francisco Bay Area
Musical quartets from California
Nu metal musical groups from California
Warner Records artists
Race-related controversies in music
Alternative rock groups from California
LGBTQ-related controversies in music