Proto Idiot

Mancunian garage punk outfit Proto Idiot first emerged in 2007 when Hipshakes guitarist Andrew Anderson launched it as a solo side project. Though Anderson cheekily labeled the endeavor “dim-witted” and “ill-advised,” his recordings under the Proto Idiot name revealed a natural gift for crafting hooky, jangly, lo-fi guitar pop. Enlisting players from kindred acts such as CoCoComa and Negative Scanner, he issued the early singles and EPs Attempting to Make Music (2012) and Saturday Night (2013). While most Proto Idiot material appeared on Anderson’s own imprint, several singles and EPs found homes on Trouble in Mind, Odd Box, and Red Lounge. In 2014 the project gained a permanent rhythm section with the addition of bassist Michael Floyd Seal and drummer Callum Trent D’Arley. The next year Anderson compiled leftover and previously unheard material into the two-volume set Forgot to Remember to Release, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. With the expanded lineup in place, Proto Idiot kept recording, releasing the 2015 EP The Technique and Its Use in Daily Living and the single Idiot Blues before inking a deal with U.K. label Bad Paintings. Their first outing for the imprint, the ambitious double album Also Known As/His Colony Boys, surfaced in early 2016.