The band came together over the summer of 1996, five young musicians from La Habra, who had all been aware of each other in the same high school without ever being actually acquainted, found themselves in separate bands using the same warehouse as a rehearsal site. Inevitably practice would run-over, or somebody would turn up late, and in a gradual process the five found themselves jamming in ones and twos to kill time downtime, until finally all five put in one faithful session together. The results were electric, a realization that they shared the same ideas... and the same lack of excitement about the bands they were currently part of.
Zebrahead wanted to combine elements of rap, which was the key to doing something both inspirational and unique. The band already had a frontman and trading lead vocals with a rapper would put a completely different spin on things.
The result was a succession of high energy shows, which won over almost everyone who saw the band. The buzz was tremendous, and before the band had even played outside Orange County major labels were fighting over them. Producer Glenn Ballard fell in love with the band and recruited them for his forthcoming "Clubland" movie, building a complete scene around a performance of their song "Check" at Billboard Live, which will also be featured on the upcoming Java/Capitol soundtrack album. It was a great accolade for such a young band, but more was to come when they won the "best Orange County band" category in the 1997 L.A. Music Awards, an event made even more exciting for the fivesome when they got to meet a longtime hero at the awards ceremony, Tommy Chong of "Cheech & Chong" fame.
