The Temper Trap is an indie rock band which formed in 2005 in Melbourne, Australia. The band consists of Dougy Mandagi (vocals, guitar), Lorenzo Sillitto (guitar, keyboards), Jonathon Aherne (bass) and Toby Dundas (drums).

The Temper Trap’s story begins with Dougy. Born in Indonesia and immersed in an artistic and musical family, with some rich influences from singing in church choirs with his aunt and uncle and listening to his dad, a country music fan, play guitar. These influences evolved around Dougy, as he moved consistently from different islands in Indonesia to Hawaii and then eventually to Australia. After moving to Australia, Dougy started working as a portrait drawer at $25 a pop; he also sang for loose change in downtown Melbourne.

Dougy eventually ended up working at the same retail store as Toby. Dougy had thought of starting a band for years and after a few months of boring work hours and finding out Toby was a drummer and a walking musical dictionary, the first band practice began, minus a bass player. In one of the coincidences that the band have come to rely on, Jonny worked a couple of stores down and was called in. He had known Dougy for years, back in the busking days when Dougy first arrived in Melbourne. Jonny, the 13 year old dreamer and son of a missionary, wanted to learn some guitar and Dougy helped him out. A brotherly friendship was formed with some sense of common ground, both drawing life from music and their spiritual upbringings, and unaware of the musical union which would be formed 6 years later.