It didn't take much -- a few thousand dollars, some bunkbeds and multi-track

recording equipment -- but it's pretty much all singer Scott Stapp and his band Creed needed to record

HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Creed/My_Own_Prison.ram">"My Own

Prison" (RealAudio excerpt), currently one of the most played songs on U. S. rock radio.

"It cost us $5,000 to record the album," said 24-year-old songwriter Stapp,

speaking from the band's Chicago-bound tour bus. "We rented equipment in

this guy's house for 30 bucks an hour. We recorded between two bunkbeds in a

bedroom, the drums were done in the hallway, and the guitars in the bathroom."

The Tallahassee, Fla., band's radio hit is pulling its debut album, also titled My Own Prison, steadily up the charts; the album was #94 with a bullet (indicating that continued upward movement is expected) as 1997 came to a close.

With titles such as "What's This Life For?," "Torn" and "Unforgiven," My Own

Prison is packed with brooding lyrics expounding on the search for self-

identity as well as heavy guitars reminiscent of the early-1990s Seattle-grunge

sound.

The hit -- "My Own

Prison," a melodic yet wrenching tune -- came to Stapp in his sleep. "One

night I woke up about 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. from a dream and I just wrote it all down," Stapp said. "I

didn't know it was a song at the time. A few days later I called [guitarist] Mark

[Tremonti], he had been putting together some music, and we sat down and got

the song together in about 30 minutes."

With over 175,000 albums sold in the last four months, Creed has drawn

comparisons from rock critics to big-name bands such as Tool, Soundgarden

and, most frequently, mega-stars Pearl Jam. Not bad for a group of 24-year-olds

from Tallahassee.

"It could be worse," laughed Stapp of the Pearl Jam comparisons. "They could be comparing us to some shitty band that no one

has ever heard of, rather than the biggest band of the decade."

Born in Orlando, Stapp left home at 17, lived in a car for a week, turned down a

full scholarship to Vanderbilt University, and eventually found his way to

Tallahassee. "I was living in Orlando, and I was reading this book about the

Doors," Stapp said. "I figured if Jim Morrison moved to Tallahassee and made it,

so could I."

Creed came together soon after Stapp's 1995 arrival in Tallahassee; Orlando

high school acquaintance and guitarist Mark Tremonti joined Stapp soon after.

The two were outside at a friend's house when they overheard someone

playing drums: "Someone amazing," Stapp said. Enter drummer Scott Phillips.

Bassist Brian Marshall then signed on, and the band began playing in the

college bars and clubs of Tallahassee.

"Creed got big faster than I would have ever imagined they would have,"

said Steve Bailey, club manager at Bullwinkle's, a popular Tallahassee

venue where Creed frequently played. "They were high energy, really

enthusiastic and always drew a large crowd."

And while he is not a fan of the band's sound, Bailey said the band made the

right impact at the right time. "I didn't think they were any more special than any other local band,"

grumbled the 42-year-old Bailey. "I think they just got into the right crowd, with

the right marketing."

Stapp might agree with Bailey, at least on the last point.

"It does seem like there's been a bit of fate," Stapp added of the band's

relatively quick success. "Some bands have to do this for 10 years ... I've been

through some tough times and so has Mark. But it feels like we finally have

found what we're supposed to do." [Sat., Jan. 3, 1998, 9 a.m. PST]