You know you've made it big when Fred Durst leaves nasty messages on your answering machine.

Taproot, the rap-metal quartet from Michigan whose popularity has soared in the past year, will play 9 p.m. Monday at Crowbar, 420 E. College Ave.

The band, composed of Stephen Richards (vocals), Michael DeWolf (guitars), Philip Lipscomb (bass) and Jarrod Montague (drums), officially formed Taproot in late 1997. They released their debut album Gift last summer.

Taproot's initiative, and the hype surrounding their album, helped propel the band into the professional music arena.

In 1998 they took advantage of the wonders of technology and turned a fan's Web site into their official site. Through the site, the band set up a distribution foundation for their self-released CDs Something More Than Nothing and Mentobe EP.

"We burned them at the U(University) of M(Michigan) lab," Richards said. "I'd personally hand package it and send it out myself, and we'd do it all at cost," he said.

They sold approximately 10,000 CDs.

Their fan base began to grow and Richards sent a demo to Durst of Limp Bizkit. Durst took immediate interest, but not immediate action. Taproot was sick of waiting and signed with Velvet Hammer, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records.

Durst wasn't pleased to say the least, saying, "You don't ever bite the hand that feeds, bro" intermingled with a hearty supply of expletives. However the hype of Durst's disapproval helped, rather than hurt Taproot's climb to the top.

Last summer Ozzy Osbourne's son handpicked Taproot to join the line up of bands to play the second stage at Ozzfest 2000.

Kerrang! described Taproot's music as having the best elements of "Helmet, Sense Field, and the Deftones, in their surging, chiming barrage."

Their music swings back and forth between the extremes of a grinding metal, reminiscent of Korn, and heavy melodies that recall the loaded songs of Tool.

Dryden Mitchell (vocals), Terry Corso (guitar), Tye Zamora (bass) and Mike Cosgrove (drums), otherwise dubbed Alien Ant Farm, will open for Taproot. Alien Ant Farm will join Papa Roach for the "Raid The Nation Tour" in March, and will also play at this summer's Vans Warped Tour.