The Temper Trap life and biography

The Temper Trap is an Australian indie rock band which formed in 2005. The core members are Dougy Mandagi on vocals, Jonathon Aherne on bass guitar, Toby Dundas on drums, Lorenzo Sillitto on lead guitar and Joseph Greer on keyboards and guitar.

Indonesian-born Dougy Mandagi was a busker in Melbourne in 1999 when he met Jonathon Aherne – Aherne wanted to learn to play guitar. Six years later, Mandagi met Toby Dundas while both worked in a clothing store. In 2005, they decided to form a band with Mandagi on vocals and guitars and Dundas on drums. Mandagi contacted Aherne and convinced him to join on bass guitar. The group was named The Temper Trap after their first choice, Temper Temper, was rejected due to its use by a United States band. The Temper Trap rehearsed with a variety of second guitarists before Dundas recommended his former Geelong Grammar schoolmate, Lorenzo Sillitto on lead guitar. The group performed at St Jerome's Laneway Festival in March 2006.

The group signed to Michael Gudinski's label Liberation Music, which released their debut extended play, The Temper Trap, in November 2006. It was produced by Scott Horscroft (The Sleepy Jackson, Silverchair). According to planetclare of FasterLouder in her review of a gig, Dundas sometimes abandons the drums and plays guitar, while Mandagi's voice "hits a note and then transcends it, slicing the sound barrier and leaving you with your mouth open and your eyes wide", Aherne regularly moved around the stage and Sillitto provided "guitar solos, subtlety drove the melody from the side of stage". After finishing their Australian tour they performed at the V Festival at the Sydney (March 2007) and Gold Coast (April) venues.

In late 2008, The Temper Trap started recording their debut album, Conditions, in Melbourne with engineering by Kalju Tonuma. They travelled to the UK and attracted the attention of the local music industry after playing at the Musexpo in London in October. By January 2009, the band signed to Infectious Records for European releases.

The BBC chose The Temper Trap in its top 15 Sound of 2009 list. In March, the band finished recording Conditions in London with UK music producer Jim Abbiss. Mandagi said his key influences when recording it had included Radiohead, Prince, Massive Attack and U2. In May, after performing at South by Southwest in March, they signed to Glassnote Records for US releases. The album was released in Australia on 19 June, and debuted at No. 9 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. It was released in the UK in August. The band had returned to London in early May to "spend a bit of time on the continent and try and build a fan base over here", according to Sillitto. He says "it was always our dream to at least come over here and give it a good crack early on".

The album's lead single, "Sweet Disposition", was released in Australia in October 2008. It was re-recorded with Abbiss and re-issued in June 2009. This version peaked in the top 10 on the Belgian, Irish and UK Singles Charts and reached No. 14 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The group played shows in Europe with Silversun Pickups and garnered attention from newfound fans and media. In August, they played the Reading and Leeds Festivals. In September the band embarked on their first headlining UK tour, including Hare and Hounds in Birmingham and the 300-capacity Arts Centre in Norwich. The tour started and finished in Brighton, with the Goldhawks as their support act.

In August, The Temper Trap played on a balcony over London's Camden Lock, to promote the release of their next single "Science of Fear" on the online viral music show BalconyTV. The performance was dedicated to Sebastian Kirwan, a rowing athlete. In late November, the group cancelled sold-out show dates in Germany to return to Australia to perform at the ARIA Awards. They received four nominations in the categories 'Album of the Year', 'Breakthrough Album of the Year' and 'Best Rock Album' for Conditions, and 'Single of the Year' for "Sweet Disposition".

During 2010, the group toured the UK as well as appearing at several music festivals such as Oxegen, Glastonbury, Rock Werchter, Roskilde Festival, V Festival as well as Big Day Out and Splendour In The Grass in Australia. In the US, the band embarked on their first headlining tour, with the single "Sweet Disposition" receiving significant airplay and appearances in commercials and television shows. At the APRA Awards of 2010, Mandagi and Sillitto received the 'Song of the Year' award for writing "Sweet Disposition". They followed with a comeback tour of Australia in July, playing to crowds of over 5000 people; their second largest to date, being the first one Mexico City's Corona Fest in October. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 in November, The Temper Trap won two awards 'Best Group' for their album Conditions and 'Most Popular Australian Single' for "Sweet Disposition".

In an interview with a Melbourne newspaper in July, The Temper Trap revealed that they planned to work on their second album as soon as the current tour ends – and are slated to release the album late in 2011. In February the group were nominated for a BRIT Award as 'Best International Breakthrough Artist'.

The group is in the process of releasing a new album, with a planned release date of sometime in early 2012. On their Facebook website, they have said they have written 17 songs and the band are now choosing which songs will or will not make the final cut. The band also regularly update their Twitter, and as of January 2012, they have completed recording and are now moving onto mixing the album, aiming for the album to be out by June. On March 7, they released a new song from their self-titled second album titled "Rabbit Hole". The first single "Need Your Love" was made available for streaming on 23rd March 2012.

Members:
-Toby Dundas – drums (2005–present)
-Dougy Mandagi – vocals (2005–present)
-Jonathon Aherne – bass guitar (2005–present)
-Lorenzo Sillitto – lead guitar (2005–present)
-Joseph Greer – keyboards, guitar (touring member, 2008–present)

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