Beginning as a grassroots, four-piece outfit from Raleigh, Squeezetoy has grown to national notoriety with appearances on the Warped Tour and Rolling Rock Town Fair in Latrobe, Pa. With 2 Skinnee J's as producers and new management on hand, the now quintet is ready to unleash "Contact" on the music community.

Squeezetoy initially formed as a four-piece high school band from Raleigh in 1995 based out of Leesville High.

"We started as a rock outfit, pretty much influenced by Nirvana. You know, like in the 'Nervermind' era. But the main group that was our thing was Alice in Chains. We were really into that rock/grunge edge they had going," Zack Johnson, drummer for Squeezetoy, said.

The quartet would play small venues and parties at first, which really helped to develop their memorable live shows. During this time of growth in 1996 after graduating from high school, the band also found a new love that was beginning to make its mark on the scene.

Just as bands like Limp Bizkit, 311 and Korn were finding their way into the mainstream market, Squeezetoy was developing their own sound that accompanied the trend. According to Johnson, "I'd have to say we were rap-rock before it was rap-rock. I really started getting big into 311; I mean I was a 311 freak. That's where our aim went to I guess. Although, we were never Limp Bizkit fans and we thought Korn was pretty cool but 311 is where it's at. We started to incorporate rap before it really blew up. Emcees and DJs would come out to the shows and perform with us."

The difference between Korn or Papa Roach or Linkin Park and Squeezetoy is the approach that they have to creating their sound. Rather than a lot of heavy guitar, they incorporate more freestyle music.

"We really tried to fuse hip-hop, reggae and rock. I think it's done fairly successfully. O [Omotade] just gets up and freestyles while we break down and jam. Sort of like a jam band, you know, really get down and real," Johnson said.

In 1996, the band went their separate ways, so to speak, as they entered college. Brian Dickerson (guitar), Jason Martin (vocals) and Daniel Dickerson (bass) all went to N.C. State and Johnson went to UNC-Chapel Hill.

"Although we went to different universities, we were still able to work as a band. It actually proved to be quite beneficial as Jason worked in a C-Store on campus and that's where he met Omotade [lead emcee]. He [Omotade] would come into the store late every night and that's where he and Jason would talk about music. So that was that. In our first session with him, we wrote three songs."

Following the enlisting of Omotade, the band began developing a larger grassroots following. They began touring with the likes of the 2 Skinnee J's, who became figurative big brothers to the band.

"In 1999 we performed in Greenville at the Attic, opening up for the 2 Skinnee J's. They came up to us after the show and told us to keep doing what we were doing. It really was inspirational coming from a band we respected so much."

In 2001, the band won a contest sponsored by beer.com in which Pamela Anderson picked the winner out of 2,000 North American bands. The winner, named "Unsigned Band of the Year," would have the opportunity to open the Rolling Rock Town Fair with Incubus, Deftones and Staind and fly to L.A. to record in Westlake Studios.

"It was absolutely amazing to have the opportunity to record in the same studio where 'Thriller' was recorded. It was also cool to hang out with Pam and Kid Rock. It was just a straight six-hour party. But what we got out of it was [the group's last LP] 'When You're Here...You're There.'"

Following touring with 2 Skinnee J's last fall on the J's F*** You We Quit! tour, Squeezetoy was approached by Eddie Eyeball and Stephen "Stevie Spice" Light about producing their next effort. What came from the recording session is their newest EP, "Contact."

"Following the J's last show up in New York, Stevie and Eddie came down the next day to record the album. They brought all their [stuff] down to Raleigh and we began work on the album...well EP, I guess. We ended up going up to our manager's cabin up in the mountains, because, you know, he was Hootie and the Blowfish's manager so you know he's got money. Anyway, it was like a dream up there. We just had a great time recording with Eddie and Stevie. If we wanted to go ride ATVs we would, if we wanted to hike we would and if we wanted to record at four in the morning, we would. It was perfect."

Beginning this Friday at Lincoln Theatre, Squeezetoy will officially begin "shopping" its new EP to record labels with the goal of landing a deal. "We've worked so hard for so long. We want this to happen," Johnson said.