Prot(o) is a Brazilian rock band. It began its activities in january 1999, in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. Before that, Prot(o) was a studio solo project of Carlos Pinduca (Maskavo Roots former guitarrist). Among its members are Pedro Ivo, bass and voice, Cristóvão, drums and Pinduca, vocal and guitar.
Prot(o)'s compositions come from a mix of brazilian artists influences, such as Mutantes, Roberto Carlos, Caetano Veloso and Inocentes, with international bands, like The Beatles, Mano Negra, The Clash and Mudhoney.
The band has in its curriculum more than 100 shows not only in its hometown but also in several brazilian cities (Goiânia, Ribeirão Preto, Recife, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). Talking about gigs, Prot(o) has played in some of the most important Brazilian independent music festivals: four times in Porão do Rock, to more than 80 thousand people; many Bananada and Goiânia Noise editions; and in the Abril Pro Rock (2002) in Recife and São Paulo editions, where it could make the opening for Stephen Malkmus, Pavement ex-leader.
In june 2003 the band released its first album by Monstro Discos. The album, produced by Philippe Seabra (Plebe Rude vocalist) and Iuri Freiberger (Tom Bloch member), was reviewed with compliments among the Brazilian main comunication vehicles, such as O Globo, Folha de São Paulo and Diário de Pernambuco. It was also praised by other music magazines, like Zero, Dynamite and Simples. Several websites (Senhor F, Urbanaque, Reciferock, etc) enthusiasticly approved the album. Its debut album also achieved the third place in pop-rock genre, best of the year 2003 election of Correio Braziliense newspaper (standing behind only to Los Hermanos and Marcelo D2, artists of national Brazilian mainstrem projection, and ahead of Skank and Mundo Livre S/A). The album also was elected "best of the year 2003, by the Alucináticos website.
In may 2005, the band began to record its second album, with the production of Rafael Farret (Bois de Gerião vocalist) and Zé Pedro Gollo (musician, producer and movie maker). In the same year, Prot(o) had two songs included in the movie "A Concepção", which soundtrack won the BrasÃlia Cinema Festival.
Prot(o)'s second album was released in july 2006 and has received positive reviews from the press (O Globo, Folha de S.P., Correio Braziliense, Jornal de BrasÃlia, VIP magazine) and also from websites like Senhor F, IG and many others. It won best album of the year in Poppycorn 2006 internet election.
In june 2007, Prot(o) traveled 1.000 kilometers to record Brejense II a song for the TV Show 12 Hours in the Studio. In the same trip, Prot(o) also played live in Poploaded , a famous Brazilian internet radio show.
