Trapt, rock band that fought with ‘the whole internet,’ to play Crafthouse
In January, drummer Michael Smith quit Trapt with a statement saying that posts on the band’s official social media were not “aligned with my personal morals and beliefs.” In the previous two months, Facebook and Twitter quit Trapt, too, suspending the accounts of the Los Gatos, Calif., band that swings through Whitehall on Friday for a show at the Crafthouse Stage & Grill.
Over the past year, Trapt, which is best known for its aggressive 2002 anthem “Headstrong,” has found new relevance as a social media trigger.
It all began with a meltdown on March 16, 2020, the week of the pandemic shutdown, when the official account, run by frontman Chris Taylor Brown, launched 900 tweets over a 48-hour period. Everyone was a little stressed out that week, particularly bands losing their tours, but this was a bit overboard as Trapt took on anyone and everyone in its defense of then-President Donald Trump and its comments about victim mentality.
Trapt Official was firing off comments like, “What you need to do is get a job and start paying taxes, and move out of mommy and daddy’s basement.”
Trapt’s battle royale spread to other bands including members of Trivium, Dance Gavin Dance and From Ashes to New, prompting Phil Labonte, the Libertarian singer for All That Remains, to tweet, “Trapt is still fighting the whole internet huh? It’s been going on for days now hasn’t it?”
It culminated in Ice-T sending the threat, “Dude. Keep talkin. We’ll bump into each other one day.”
Trapt’s social media weathered all that, but then in November, the account posted a meme that, according to Newsweek, showed a “Proud Boy holding the Statue of Liberty” with the caption, “Don’t worry girl. We got you.” Promoting the far-right group, banned by Facebook in 2018, got Trapt booted, too.
The band’s account tweeted, “For posting this pic and saying the same thing in the post, Facebook has completely deleted the TRAPT FB account. They said don’t use the phrase ‘Proud Boys.’ I specifically told FB trapt fans that I could not say the name. I will be suing Facebook. Was also a
post about Parler …”
A month later, Twitter removed the Trapt account after a heated exchange with followers about what constituted inappropriate teacher-student relations.
The band now on tour features two members from the original 1995 lineup — Brown and bassist Pete Charell. They were childhood friends, played Little League together and laid the groundwork for the band when they were in high school.
They got their deal with Warner Brothers a few years later and debuted in 2002 with a self-titled album that all but guaranteed them a short-lived existence as Creed/Nickelback knockoffs. The doubleplatinum debut featured Trapt’s one hit, “Headstrong,” which went to No. 16. Warner dumped the band when the second album, 2005’s “Someone in Control,” tanked.
As a touring act, the band’s biggest claim to fame was a spot on the Crue Fest tour in 2008 with Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Sixx:A.M. Crue bassist Nikki Sixx had picked up Trapt’s third album, “Only Through the Pain,” on his Eleven Seven Music label. The band was also on the 2016 Make America Rock Again tour with Fuel, Puddle of Mudd, Scott Stapp and others.
The band didn’t whip up much controversy until July 2015 when a Facebook rant suggesting “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” fans “please move out of the country” got ugly in the comments.
When asked about the exchange in Loudwire magazine, Brown expressed regret, saying, “I think the biggest thing you have to do for yourself is collect yourself and realize that you’re in a position where people are looking up to you. You do have to be the bigger person, no doubt.”
Last May, Brown was particularly excited about the band’s latest, independently released new album, tweeting, “The new TRAPT album Shadow Work is the best piece of music trapt has put out and probably one of the top 5 albums that will ever exist for all of time.”
When it came out in June, Brown got into exchanges with fans over claiming
that it sold 4,000 in the first week rather than the reported 600. In August 2020, the band defied social distancing protocols by playing the controversial Sturgis Bike Rally, a 10-day festival in South Dakota that resulted in a COVID-19 outbreak.
The Trapt website indicates the Crafthouse show is one of just five on a current tour that included two in Texas, an acoustic show in Cleveland on Saturday and a show in Indiana next week.
The Whitehall venue has been doing
partial capacity shows since the restrictions for live music eased in the fall.
Promoter Drusky Entertainment declined to comment on the show and Brown did not respond to requests for an interview.
But you might be able to find him on the band’s new Facebook page, where he’s been plugging shows and trolling the more talented Tool.