Left respective bands to form their own

In summer 1996 in La Habra, California, guitarist Greg Bergdorf and drummer Ed Udhus (both formerly of the band 409), bassist Ben Osmundson (formerly of 3-Ply) and singer/rhythm guitarist Justin Mauriello (formerly of Once There) all became acquainted with one another after experimenting with different music styles together, as the bands they were in at the time shared the same practice space. Subsequently, all four left their respective bands to form their own, which they named Zebrahead. Inspired by bands such as Fugazi and Descendents and uninterested in the local musical trends of the time , Zebrahead began experimenting and incorporating elements of hip-hop into their sound, leading to the inclusion of rapper Ali Tabatabaee as a co-vocalist. The first song ever composed was “Check”, which was later included on their first demo tape, One More Hit , released shortly after.