Zebrahead

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This article is about the band. For the 1992 movie, see Zebrahead (film).

Zebrahead

Background information
Origin	La Habra, California, USA
Genre(s)	Rapcore Pop-punk
Label(s)	Sony BMG SPV Columbia Records
Associated acts	I Hate Kate Jank 1000
Website	Zebrahead.com
Members
Ali Tabatabaee Greg Bergdorf Ben Osmundson Ed Udhus Matty Lewis
Former members
Justin Mauriello

Zebrahead is an Orange County, CA-based punk-rap band which was formed in 1996 by vocalist/guitarist Justin Mauriello (formerly of Once There), guitarist Greg Bergdorf (formerly of 409), bassist Ben Osmundson (formerly of 3-Ply), and drummer Ed Udhus (formerly of 409).

Inspired by acts including Fugazi and The Descendants, the group found themselves uninspired by the local trend towards ska-punk and instead began incorporating elements of hip-hop into their sound, eventually recruiting rapper Ali Tabatabaee to join their ranks.

After issuing the EP Yellow on the indie label Doctor Dream Records in May 1998, Zebrahead signed to major label Columbia Records to release their full-length debut, Waste of Mind, which appeared later that same year. The band’s follow up album Playmate of the Year was issued in mid-2000 and the Stupid Fat Americans EP followed the next year as an exclusive release for Japan.

The guys headed over to Europe with Green Day to support the records and played various festival dates as well. Throughout the years, they also shared gigs with bands like Less Than Jake, Kottonmouth Kings, 311, Reel Big Fish, and Goldfinger.

Three years after having released a full length album, MFZB (aka Mother Fucking Zebrahead Bitch!) appeared in 2003, and shortly afterwards lead singer/guitarist Mauriello exited the group to pursue other interests (namely start a new band I Hate Kate). His departure distressed fans, as the singing/rapping dynamic between him and Tabatabaee was crucial to the band's sound. However, Zebrahead was soon back in action with the addition of new vocalist/guitarist Matty Lewis (formerly of Jank 1000) to their lineup. The song "Check" was featured in the hit video game "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3" for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube.

In 2006 the band recorded the song "With Legs Like That", which features on the WWE Wreckless Intent Album, and is currently being used as WWE diva Maria's entrance music. The band also had two songs, "Falling Apart" and "Alone" featured on the 2004 video games WWE SmackDown vs. Raw for the PlayStation 2 and WWE Day of Reckoning for the Nintendo GameCube.

Zebrahead spent summer 2006 on the Warped Tour while their new album Broadcast to the World was released in Europe on July 3rd through the German based record company SPV. The album which had come out in February of the same year in Japan, went gold in just over a month's time.

Due to Zebrahead's growing popularity in Japan, Matty Lewis and Zebrahead bandmate Ali Tabatabaee were asked by SEGA to record vocals for a new theme song, entitled "His World", which appears in the game Sonic The Hedgehog for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The rest of 2006 is being spent touring Europe and the US as part of the Broadcast To The World Tour.