Proto (band)

Proto
Origin Memphis, Tennessee
Genres Progressive rock
Years active 2002-present
Labels Torrent Records LLC, TuneCore/Proto
Website www.torrentrecords.com
Members Eric Matthew Berkes
Shaun Shelton West
James Mark Crider
Krista Lynn Wroten
Benjamin Christian Cowell Mansfield
Jack Benjamen Kirton

Proto is a six-member progressive rock band, originally from Memphis, which moved to Chattanooga (Tennessee) in January 2003, after recording their first EP release with new label Torrent Records LLC. Shaun West and J. Mark Crider began Proto with Erik Berkes in 2002.

In the fall of 2003, the band began preparing for their first release to prelude the full-length album. Proto asked violinist Krista Wroten (schooled in classical music training at Boston University) if she was interested in playing on the CD to fill out some of the songs. What began only as an addition to the record became an addition to the band. It was obvious that Krista belonged after hearing her play.

They quickly recruited lead guitarist Benjamin Mansfield and wrote their first song, "The Backwards Waltz". The song embodied a mutual frustration within the band towards ignorance and the destruction of the human mind. It was from this collaboration that the band realized their potential and agreed to pursue a serious career in music. The music immediately took precedence over everything else in their lives.

Proto continued to write new material for their first full-length album, which was due out in 2004. After recording, the band left Memphis for Chattanooga.

Other projects of members of Proto are All Things Green and North American Royalty. The latter is formed by ultra-melodic, female vocal-fueled Elise Berkes on lead vocals and guitar; Krista Wroten of Proto on violin and vocals; Jack Kirton of Proto on guitar, mandolin and steel guitar; and Dennis Hubbard and Joey Berkley from All Things Green on bass and percussion.

Their first song, "Monkey", off the self-titled album, was used in introduction of the movie Devour (2005), starring Jensen Ackles, and in the third season of Roswell.

Members

Discography

Proto have two full-length albums. Their first release, Proto, was released and distributed in digital and physical format copy in a special limited production, unlike the second album, The Alchemist, which was only released in digital form, via TuneCore, iTunes Store, Amazon, eMusic, and Rhapsody.

Other songs not included in albums: "When Shall I Return"

Length: 00:30 | Year: 2010 | Genre: Film score, Electronic, New Age. | Moods: Dark, Suspenseful
Catalog/Publisher: Absurd Music (Ascap) / Bny Music (Ascap) / Evan Edward Publishing (Ascap).
No. Title Length
1. "Monkey"   04:14
2. "The Obvious"   01:44
3. "The Backwards Waltz"   04:36
4. "Essence Of..."   00:58
5. "Breathe This Day"   06:46
6. "Clarity In..."   00:24
7. "Breathing"   12:34
Total length:
 31:20
Additional and technical information

Release: June 1, 2003 (EP), September 23, 2003 (Album)
Recording Type: Studio (Stereo)
Label: Torrent Records, LLC (3649 W Road, Signal Mountain, Tennessee, 37377-3001)
Universal Product Code: 7158647 (Torrent Records JMS1-2)
Copyright Claimant: Threptos Music, LLC d.b.a. Baby New Year Music, Evan Edward Publishing
Lyrics "Monkey": West, Berkes
Lyrics "The Backwards Waltz": Crider, Berkes
Lyrics "Breathe This Day": Berkes
Music and Production: Proto
Engineered, Recorded and Mixed: Willie Peaver (Chief Engineer)
Studio Crew: Brandon Sams (Engineering Assistant), Chuck Goin (Studio Assistant), Chris McCrudden (Instrument Tech)
Recorded in the U.S.A. at Young Avenue Sound Studio in Memphis, TN
Edited and Mastered by Roger Lian at Masterdisk Studios in New York, NY
Graphic Design: Eric Jackson
Art Concept: Proto
Thanks to PM Music and The Drum Shop. Proto thanks families, friends and all those who have pointed us in the right direction.
Artist Representation: Torrent Records, LLC (www.torrentrecords.com)
Barcode: 783707706627

No. Title Length
1. "Adaptation"   01:58
2. "Chameleon"   03:36
3. "Lemmings"   03:27
4. "Asunder"   03:22
5. "Sigma Six"   00:47
6. "Threshold"   03:45
7. "Perception"   01:04
8. "Cannibal"   03:30
9. "Apogee"   2:44
Total length:
 24:17

Additional information
Release: April 9, 2007
Recording Type: Studio (Stereo)

Label: TuneCore/Proto

Ratings

It's not every day that you hear violin jamming with hard rock. But today you can! Meshed with their "angular rock" are sawing, edgy violin lines that both sing and sear, interwoven with desperately passionate vocals and propelling song writing.

If the bands Postman Syndrome, Mars Volta, Dredg, Floater and A Perfect Circle speed up your heart-rate even a little, this is a must have. With a smart and artistic melding of heavy-handed grind and more open, spacious atmospheres, their textural integrity along with an unusual ability to really listen to one another in their playing produces a clear and yet full-bodied, directed sound that is hard to come by these days. Dark *is* beautiful.

Moody, climatic, and sonic, Proto excels in creating a warm atmosphere. Dramatic violin passages give way to ambient explosions of angular rock.

— CD Universe, CD Baby

Music described as creepy, tense violin passages giving way to heavy explosions of angular rock." Recent review from DECOY MUSIC reads "...31 minutes of sheer beauty, brawn, and well, almost perfection... the musicianship is so tight, it's uncanny... The vocals are unparelleled... these guys are on a different level than their peers.

— Decoy Music, Local Band Network

"MUSICALLY BRILLIANT!"

"...these guys are going to be back by demand! They've got a secret ingredient that no one has yet."

— Billy Black, WRXR Rock 105.5 Clear Channel

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References

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