Protofans

For Protomen fans, devotees, enthusiasts, and dilettantes. Since 2011.

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I have been attending Protomen shows since 2010, and I am thrilled to finally have one (1) recording of Beards Going Nowhere that I'm able to share with the internet

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Forgetting how to play while playing: the Raul Panther story.

[protofans]

With MAGFest in just over a week, I've combined all my own live recordings of Act III songs into a playlist, if that's of interest.

I'll be at MAGFest, weather and bodily calamities permitting, so feel free to say hi if you see me. I look more or less like my profile pic, but probably a lot more tired. Just mentally add some eyebags and the slightly harried expression of someone who knows perfectly well Diet Coke is not the same as sleep (but who has no plans to change their behavior).

[protofans]

via ig:

We just learned that we lost James “PJ” Ransone over the weekend. It’s an unbelievable loss for the whole world, but we can’t imagine what his family is going through. A Gofundme has been created to support his family during this traumatic time, so if you want to help in any way, please check the link in our bio. Thank you again, PJ, for bringing our Joe to life.

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In episode 236 of “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with Raul Panther III and Shock Magnum from the Protomen. In their conversation the two tell us about their history with band which has been around since 2005 and has quite the ravenous fan base. Both Raul and Shock tell us about their roles in the band both playing guitar and Raul singing lead and playing keyboards as well. They both talk about their base which is Nashville and where the grew up and Raul tells us about singing at an early age backing John Denver and Shock tells us about learning guitar from his brother. Raul takes us through the history of the band which started as a project from fellow MTSU students and the two tell us about their songs that have been used in tv shows and commercials and they talk about what venues they usually play. Raul and Shock discuss the Protomen’s new album “Act III: This City Made Us” and they talk gear: Shock’s Gibson’s and Orange amps and Raul’s Tom Anderson Raven through a Kemper profiler. The two tell us about what they do outside of music: family and working in the garage.

[protofans]

via mailer:

Week 1 was “The Calm” + “Hold Back The Night” Week 2 was “The Trainyard” + “No Way Back” Week 3 was “The Storm” + “Buried In The Red” (featuring Bit Brigade’s own Luke Fields on bass guitar.)  Week 4 was “Calling Out” Week 5 was “This City Made Us” Week 6 was “Hold On (The Distance Between)” Week 7 was “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” Week 8 was “The Dream” Week 9 was “Light’s Last Stand” (featuring Tim Cappello on sax) Week 10 was “The Good Doctor • Part 2” This week is “The Fate Of Thomas Light” Well. We’ve reached the end of the road here. Huge thank you for coming along with us on this pre-release rollercoaster the past couple of months. We really appreciate all the support. We can’t wait to get the CDs and records in your hands as soon as possible so you can read the story for the other half of the experience. And in case you somehow missed all the emails and social posts prior to this and are wondering what this is all about, Act III: This City Made Us is now in the CD and Digital pre-order phase on Bandcamp and we released one to two songs every week over the course of the last two months to pre-orderers. As of today, everything is live now in Bandcamp, so if you pre-order the album, you’ll have access to it there. And always remember, only the physical copies of the album (CDs, Records, etc.) come with the libretto/booklet that have all of the fleshed out story and incredible John DeLucca illustration and Caspar Newbolt design. And if you missed the previous newsletters and posts, it means you don’t know that MAGFest sold out in record time, but that you shouldn’t freak out if you didn’t get a badge, because we’re planning a little something here in Nashville for mid 2026 that you don’t want to miss. We’ll dole out more info on that as we know more details. But go ahead and clear your schedules for the entire year, because it’s gonna be a big little something.  And stiiiiiillllll no word on a pre-order date for Vinyl, but we’re getting closer. See you at MAGFest! -Commander

[protofans]

via mailer:

John DeLucca on illustration and Caspar Newbolt on design WE DID IT! We got one out on a Monday!!! You seriously didn’t believe it would happen, did you? Well, I knew we had it in us! Week 1 was “The Calm” + “Hold Back The Night” Week 2 was “The Trainyard” + “No Way Back” Week 3 was “The Storm” + “Buried In The Red” (featuring Bit Brigade’s own Luke Fields on bass guitar.)  Week 4 was “Calling Out” Week 5 was “This City Made Us” Week 6 was “Hold On (The Distance Between)” Week 7 was “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” Week 8 was “The Dream” Week 9 was “Light’s Last Stand” (featuring Tim Cappello on Sax) This week is “The Good Doctor • Part 2” This coming Friday ( Dec. 5th), we’re going to do a full album listening party on Bandcamp at 1 pm CST. We’re not sure that we can drop the final song live in the stream like we thought, so it will likely be up a couple to a few hours earlier than the listening event. You can either listen early, or wait for the Bandcamp listening thing… whichever’s funnier. This is really just a chance for everyone to listen together through the full album as it’s intended… in one go with no interruptions or breaks. With that, we’ll be trying to hang with the chat flood as much as possible. To participate, we’re relatively sure you just have to have pre-ordered the album and click on the link above… or here. Also, keep an eye out for a Bandcamp email closer to Friday that should clear up any confusion about it. And in case you somehow missed all the emails, news page posts, and social posts prior to this and are wondering what this is all about, Act III: This City Made Us is now in the CD and Digital pre-order phase on Bandcamp and we’re releasing one to two songs a week (every Monday or Tuesday… ok… only one Monday…) until they’re all out in the world (with an official album release date of January 9th). We’ve reached the end of the road here with the final song being released to pre-orderererers this coming Friday. Get your pre-order in and come listen to the whole thing with us on Bandcamp for the listening party thing! And always remember, only the physical copies of the album (CDs, Records, etc.) come with the libretto/booklet that have all of the fleshed out story and incredible John DeLucca illustration and Caspar Newbolt design. And if you missed the previous newsletters and posts, it means you don’t know that MAGFest sold out in record time, but that you shouldn’t freak out if you didn’t get a badge, because we’re planning a little something here in Nashville for mid 2026 that you don’t want to miss. We’ll dole out more info on that as we know more details. But go ahead and clear your schedules for the entire year, because it’s gonna be a big little something. And stiiiiiillllll no word on a pre-order date for Vinyl, but we’re getting closer. See you Friday for the finale! -Commander

[protofans]

via mailer: Week 1 was “The Calm” + “Hold Back The Night” Week 2 was “The Trainyard” + “No Way Back” Week 3 was “The Storm” + “Buried In The Red” (featuring Bit Brigade’s own Luke Fields on bass guitar.)  Week 4 was “Calling Out” Week 5 was “This City Made Us” Week 6 was “Hold On (The Distance Between)” Week 7 was “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” Week 8 was “The Dream” This week is “Light’s Last Stand” This one’s a doozy… or doozie? Maybe doo-z? Either way, this one is a big deal, not only becasue we think it’s a pretty rad jam, but we’ve got The Offical Tim Cappello playing sax on it. For those Cappello uninitiates, he was Tina Turner’s sax machine back in the day, so that means he was on the Thunderdome soundtrack, which would be bad ass enough, but then he went on to Lost Boys glory with his scene/cover of The Call’s “I Still Believe.” And that’s not the end of it, he’s worked with too many incredible people to list here. And why didn’t we ask him to play on our version of “I Still Believe” for The Cover Up, you may be asking? Well, we didn’t know we could… Until now. We knew we needed a powerhouse sax player for this song, so we just went for it. And he agreed! And we’re so happy that he did, because it’s wonderful, and we hope you think so too. Also, Bandcamp has this pretty cool thing where you can do a listening party of an album, sooo we’re gonna do an Act III party next Friday (which is also a Bandcamp Friday) at 1 pm CST. We’re gonna drop the final song live in the stream so everyone hears it at the same time and can flood the chat with all kinds of reactions nobody will have a chance to read… because… how could you? We might even jump in the chat, too. But basically to participate, we think you just have to have pre-ordered the album and watch for a Bandcamp email/invite to the event. We should have more concrete details by the next mailer/post early next week. And in case you somehow missed all the emails and social posts prior to this and are wondering what this is all about, Act III: This City Made Us is now in the CD and Digital pre-order phase on Bandcamp and we’re releasing one to two songs a week (every Monday or Tuesday) until they’re all out in the world. And if you’re worried about the math, don’t freak out, the first one landed on a Friday and the second one landed on the following Tuesday, but from here on out they’ll land on Mondays or Tuesdays (they’ve all been Tuesdays so far, but we swear Mondays are still in the running). We said 2025, and when we said 2025, we meant 2025. And always remember, only the physical copies of the album (CDs, Records, etc.) come with the libretto/booklet that have all of the fleshed out story and incredible John DeLucca illustration and Caspar Newbolt design. And if you missed the previous newsletters and posts, it means you don’t know that MAGFest sold out in record time, but that you shouldn’t freak out if you didn’t get a badge, because we’re planning a little something here in Nashville for early-mid 2026 that you don’t want to miss. We’ll dole out more info on that as we know more details. But go ahead and clear your schedules for the entire year, because it’s gonna be a big little something. And stiiiiiillllll no word on a pre-order date for Vinyl, but we’re getting closer. See you next week for the penultimate! -Commander

[protofans]

via mailer: John DeLucca on illustration and Caspar Newbolt on design Sorry for being late today, we slept in. Here’s “The Dream”… Week 1 was “The Calm” + “Hold Back The Night” Week 2 was “The Trainyard” + “No Way Back” Week 3 was “The Storm” + “Buried In The Red” (featuring Bit Brigade’s own Luke Fields on bass guitar.)  Week 4 was “Calling Out” Week 5 was “This City Made Us” Week 6 was “Hold On (The Distance Between)” Week 7 was “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” This week is “The Dream” And you know what they say… it’s always Tuesday somewhere. But seriously… using timezones as our shield, it IS still Tuesday in American Samoa. Also, I’m in Japan right now, and it’s been Wednesday for like a whole day, so nothing is real and time is a construct. Speaking of being in Japan, I paid Capcom a visit today in Osaka… they kicked me right out.

MAGFest/Nashville As I said in the last newsletter/post, MAGFest sold out in record time, but don’t freak out if you didn’t get a badge, because we’re planning a little something here in Nashville for early-mid 2026 that you don’t want to miss. We’ll dole out more info on that as we know more details. But go ahead and clear your schedules for the entire year, because it’s gonna be a big little something. And in case you somehow missed all the emails and social posts prior to this and are wondering what this is all about, Act III: This City Made Us is now in the CD and Digital pre-order phase on Bandcamp and we’re releasing one to two songs a week (every Monday or Tuesday) until they’re all out in the world. And if you’re worried about the math, don’t freak out, the first one landed on a Friday and the second one landed on the following Tuesday, but from here on out they’ll land on Mondays or Tuesdays (they’ve all been Tuesdays so far, but we swear Mondays are still in the running). We said 2025, and when we said 2025, we meant 2025. And always remember, only the physical copies of the album (CDs, Records, etc.) come with the libretto/booklet that have all of the fleshed out story and incredible John DeLucca illustration and Caspar Newbolt design. And stiiiiiillllll no word on a pre-order date for Vinyl, but we’re working on it. See you next week! -Commander

[protofans]

via mailer:

illustration by John DeLucca and design by Caspar Newbolt. Week 1 was “The Calm” + “Hold Back The Night” Week 2 was “The Trainyard” + “No Way Back” Week 3 was “The Storm” + “Buried In The Red” (featuring Bit Brigade’s own Luke Fields on bass guitar.)  Week 4 was “Calling Out” Week 5 was “This City Made Us” Week 6 was “Hold On (The Distance Between)” This week is “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” So MAGFest sold out in record time, but don’t freak out if you didn’t get a badge, because we’re planning a little something here in Nashville for early-mid 2026 that you don’t want to miss. We’ll dole out more info on that as we know more details. But go ahead and clear your schedules for the entire year, because it’s gonna be a big little something. And in case you somehow missed all the emails and social posts prior to this and are wondering what this is all about, Act III: This City Made Us is now in the CD and Digital pre-order phase on Bandcamp and we’re releasing one to two songs a week (every Monday or Tuesday) until they’re all out in the world. And if you’re worried about the math, don’t freak out, the first one landed on a Friday and the second one landed on the following Tuesday, but from here on out they’ll land on Mondays or Tuesdays (they’ve all been Tuesdays so far, but we swear Mondays are still in the running). We said 2025, and when we said 2025, we meant 2025. And always remember, only the physical copies of the album (CDs, Records, etc.) come with the libretto/booklet that have all of the fleshed out story and incredible John DeLucca illustration and Caspar Newbolt design. And stiiiiiillllll no word on a pre-order date for Vinyl, but we’re working on it. See you next week! -Commander

[protofans]

via bandcamp:

“Hold on (The Distance Between)” added to ACT III pre-order! We're into the 2nd half of the album now. Everything from here on has never been heard before, so hold on to your butts. Remember, we’ll be releasing 1 to 2 tracks per week during this pre-sale period. Grab your CD or Digital pre-sale now to receive your weekly dose! Just keep in mind, the CD will come with the booklet that has all the story/liner notes/artwork, while the digital will not.

[protofans]

via bandcamp:

“This City Made Us” added to ACT III pre-order! Remember, we’ll be releasing 1 to 2 tracks per week during this pre-sale period. Grab your CD or Digital pre-sale now to receive your weekly dose! Just keep in mind, the CD will come with the booklet that has all the story/liner notes/artwork, while the digital will not.

[protofans]

via bandcamp:

“Calling Out” added to ACT III pre-order! Remember, we’ll be releasing 1 to 2 tracks per week during this pre-sale period. Grab your CD or Digital pre-sale now to receive your weekly dose! Just keep in mind, the CD will come with the booklet that has all the story/liner notes/artwork, while the digital will not.

[protofans]

via bandcamp:

“The Storm” + “Buried In The Red”* added to ACT III pre-order! *“Buried In The Red” featuring Luke Fields on bass guitar from Oscar winning band, Bit Brigade. Remember, we’ll be releasing 1 to 2 tracks per week during this pre-sale period. Grab your CD or Digital pre-sale now to receive your weekly dose! Just keep in mind, the CD will come with the booklet that has all the story/liner notes/artwork, while the digital will not.

[protofans]

via bandcamp:

"The Trainyard" + "No Way Back" added to ACT III pre-order! Remember, we’ll be releasing 1 to 2 tracks per week during this pre-sale period. Grab your CD or Digital pre-sale now to receive your weekly dose! Just keep in mind, the CD will come with the booklet that has all the story/liner notes/artwork, while the digital will not.

[protofans]

via MAGFest:

Y'all did it: Super MAGFest 2026 badges are SOLD! OUT! If you are looking to get a badge secondhand: PLEASE be aware that there will likely be scammers looking to trick you into paying them for a fake badge. Be vigilant and thorough in any interactions you may have. Super MAGFest badges can ONLY be bought/transferred through our in-house registration system. Any badges sold on third-party platforms, including Eventbrite, are FRAUDULENT and we cannot honor or refund them. Badges can only be sold for FACE VALUE - and make sure to use a platform with purchase protection! Badge transfer policy can be found here: https://super.magfest.org/faq/#sell-or-transfer WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU IN JANUARY!!!

[protofans]

via MAGFest:

Here it is: Our LAST Main Stage Announcement. The one you've all been waiting for. The Big One. The return of The Protomen!!! If you have been following their socials recently, you already know Act III is very real and very imminent. The most perceptive of you probably also noticed it comes out Jan 9, 2026. Convenient, right? You guessed it, They’re debuting the live performance of Act III at Super MAGFest 2026! But that’s not all. This is a full-fledged complete telling of the Protomen’s vision of their rock opera. Acts I, II, and III will be played in album narrative order over the course of a Three. Night. Extravaganza. This will be the first time they're performing ANY full act at MAGFest since MAG9! Come catch each of their captivating and powerful stories one after the other and finally learn what happens to our heroes in the climactic finale! Plus, badge prices go up tomorrow anyway.... If you want in on the action, you better act fast because we're close to selling out!