In the recently resurging world of arena rock, hard work and tenacity are often the keys to going from van-dwelling road dogs to bus-riding rock ‘n’ roll royalty. California quartet Trapt is no exception, having worked to build its career since high school and touring the country with virtually no support until its first single hit Billboard paydirt after 12 weeks on the charts. The headstrong hard rockers have sold over 2 million copies of their self-titled debut album and have recently released a successful followup effort, “Someone in Control.” Pulse managed to track down Trapt lead guitarist Simon Ormandy to discuss chubby stage divers and the benefits of touring with Canada’s most famous hard rock export.

Joshua Haun: You guys are on tour opening for Nickelback. What has the crowd reaction been like so far?

Simon Ormandy: Well, that’s what makes it, the crowds and stuff like that. Last night was a really good crowd. I think they were definitely better than I expected the crowd to be, not being the headliner, but the crowd was definitely very into the show.

JH: You guys toured behind your last record for two years. Do you still enjoy being on the road?

SO: Oh yeah, this kind of thing is great. We get to do all big arenas and everywhere’s got a shower and there’s catering and stuff like that, so you’ve got the amenities that make it a little bit easier and that much more enjoyable.

JH: Do you enjoy arena tours more than playing smaller venues?

SO: It’s kind of a trade-off. In the smaller venues it’s a more intimate show and everybody’s kind of right there. With these shows it’s a bit bigger, you know, you get the big huge stage and there’s a barricade, but I don’t necessarily have a preference – they’re both good and enjoyable in their own ways.

JH:Both Trapt and Nickelback are major rock bands. Is it a feeling of competition or camaraderie when you’re on tour together?

SO: It’s definitely not competition, I mean, the guys in Nickelback are really great, really nice guys. It’s fun to tour with them. I had a blast last time and this time is seeming to be thus far, especially after this one show. The crowd at last night’s show I think was better than any crowd we had last time on that whole tour, so it’s definitely fun.

JH: Being that Nickelback already has five albums under its belt and is the senior band on the tour, do you feel like you can learn anything from them?

SO: Yeah, they put on a great show – they’re a quality live band. As far as anything to learn from them, yeah, anything that they do that we can take and kind of adapt into what we do that’s positive is always good. A lot of times people think Nickelback is kind of like a softer band. It’s a pretty big misconception, they rock it out hard live, so if anything that’s what I’d want to take away.

JH: Is there a divide between Trapt fans and Nickelback fans, or do you guys see a lot of crossover?

SO: There’s definitely a crossover, judging by last night, it seemed that most of the crowd was definitely into it. There doesn’t seem to be a divide.

JH: Arena rock tours seem to be experiencing a resurgence. Do you think rock is becoming popular again?

SO: Rock is always popular. I mean, ever since it started it’s always been popular, so I don’t think rock music has ever really gone away. I think it’s gone away a little bit recently in the MTV realm, as in they don’t play music videos anymore, and when they do play music videos it’s all booty-shake videos. I think maybe in that way the popularity of rock has decreased, but there’s bands who are going out there now that are doing it and they’re killing, and that’s what we want. A nd if rock is getting more popular, that’s great news, so I’m very optimistic about the future.

JH: What’s the strangest situation you guys have been involved in on tour?

SO: Well, this is certainly strange, we were playing a show in Rhode Island or Rochester, and there was no barricade and so people were right up to the front of the stage. And this rather portly woman kind of flopped her way on stage and just watching it was extremely comical because I was like shit, is she gonna make it? And she finally makes it, right, she kind of slithers on up. She gets up, she’s dancing around, and our tour manager comes over to try to get her off the stage and he had some difficulty in wrangling her in. It was a lot of love to be wrangled in. The strangest part of it was how she got onstage, it was kind of like flopping and getting up there, that was strange.

JH: Switching gears away from touring questions – you guys just put out a new album at the end of 2005. Was there a lot of pressure to live up to the success of your debut?

SO: I think it was more felt by the individuals around us than ourselves, because that nervousness and pressure isn’t conducive to creation. I guess to answer your question, yes, a little bit, but not enough to throw a major monkey wrench into the works.

JH: I know many people consider “Headstrong” to be your signature song, and it can still be found on television, in movie previews and on the radio. Do you ever get tired of playing it live?

SO: No man, we always play that one last. One thing I absolutely hate is when you go see your favorite band and they don’t even play your favorite song that got you into them, the song that got them big. We always enjoy playing that song just because of the crowd reaction.