For five young musicians who played in separate high school bands, forming a band of their own was never a thought worth entertaining.

As time went by, however, the five current members of Orange County’s Zebrahead found that their different bands practiced in the same warehouse at different times.

When practices would run late, the musicians would trickle into the warehouse at different times, and members of the bands would jam in ones and twos to waste time between practices.

One fateful day, five almost completely unacquainted musicians got together and started jamming in the warehouse.

The chemistry was instantaneous, and soon after, the five realized they all shared the same musical ideas. Coincidentally, the five musicians also shared a lack of excitement for the future of their current bands.

Later that week, several of the musicians played a song called “Check” (which would soon become Zebrahead’s first single) during a CD release party for a local band.

Soon after, Zebrahead was born.

Success in Orange County seemed a daunting task for Zebrahead. With a style not typical to the area, the band began looking for something new.

The group began to combine elements of rap in its music to keep its sound interesting and exciting. With the group’s hard-hitting and upbeat rock riffs, Zebrahead was far from the norm in Orange County where punk and ska bands were forming daily.

And the boys were not about to jump on the bandwagon.

“When you mix the funky guitars of Greg (Bergdorf, lead guitarist) with the bass lines put out by Ben (Osmundson, bassist) with the beats of Ed (Udhus, drummer), the hip hop of Ali (Tabatabaee, rapper), and my singing, you get a blend of a bunch of stuff,” lead vocalist/guitarist Justin “Goldtoof” Mauriello said.

“We try to make it so that not everything we play sounds the same. We try to keep our change-ups bizarre, but then make it so that it flows from song to song and keeps you wanting to listen.”

The result of the combination was electrifying.

High-energy shows built an instant near-cultlike following and before the band had ever played outside of Orange County, major record labels were pounding at its door.

Producer Glenn Ballard fell in love with Zebrahead and recruited the band for his forthcoming “Clubland” movie. In the movie, Ballard built a complete scene around a performance of the band’s song “Check” at Billboard Live, which will also be featured on the upcoming Java/Capitol soundtrack album.

The response was a great accolade for such a young band, but more honor was to come when it won the “Best Orange County band” award in the 1997 Los Angeles Music Awards.

Zebrahead’s first album was unofficially titled “The Yellow.” The album was released independently by the band and consisted of eight demo tracks and two live tracks. The CD’s artwork consisted of nothing more than a solid yellow cover with the group’s logo in the corner.

“The Yellow” set the tone for Zebrahead’s career as it blended everything from rap to rapcore to hardcore to dance. The CD received rave reviews across the country and in Europe.

The success of the first album also led to heavy press in magazines such as SPIN, Billboard, and Rolling Stone, among others.

“The Yellow” was only the beginning for Zebrahead. The band’s most recent release, “Waste of Mind,” has raised a ruckus in the industry. The album was released under Columbia Records and complements “The Yellow.”

“We redid a few songs off of the first album and actually got a chance to produce them,” Mauriello said. “The first album was really raw. We had time to produce (the new album) and work on it a lot more so it’s a lot more polished of an album.

“It kinda brings you through a musical journey of sorts. You start out hard with ‘Check’ and kinda just go from there.”

Joining forces with Zebrahead on “Waste of Mind” is veteran producer Howard Benson, who has produced Sepultura, Motorhead, Less Than Jake, and Cellophane.

Mixing engineer Chris Lord-Alge who has worked with the likes of Green Day, the Replacements, and 10,000 Maniacs, also worked on the album.

With an array of influences ranging from Metallica to Cypress Hill to Fugazi to the Beatles, Zebrahead has found its fast-paced career nothing but fulfilling.

“It’s all about the 45 minutes you are on stage and just being able to be with your friends,” Mauriello said. “With our style, it’s been amazing to see how our music has connected with the people.

“Watching people in the audience singing along with you is the best feeling in the world. All the crap you gotta put up with during the day is all worth it for those 45 minutes.”

As Zebrahead and “Waste of Mind” continue to grow in popularity, the band already is making plans for another release.

“We’re ready to start on a new album,” Mauriello said. “We’ve been playing these old songs for so long, they’re starting to get old. We’ve been writing a lot of songs on the road, and we can’t wait to get back into the studio.”

Zebrahead will be bringing its unique style to Des Moines with Reel Big Fish Sunday at Hairy Mary’s (formerly the Safari club) at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for $12 in advance and $14 at the door.