The Violet Protocols are a 4-piece rock outfit from Bendigo, Victoria, formed in December 2000 by Phil Martins (Guitar/Vocals) and Dave Turpie (Guitar/Vocals/Piano).  The band have since added new drummer Gary Bishop (ex-Jungleheine) and bass player Trevor Daly to the line-up to make up the quartet.

They got together in late 2000 to rehearse and record ‘Care Factor’, a six track EP lyrically born out of Phil’s travel adventures to various parts of the globe. The EP is a collection of honest expressions from the aggressive ‘Power Tripping’, to the comparative analogy of ‘The Hooker and the Princess’ to the heart breaking ‘Chinese Tea’.

With Phil heading back off back overseas just days after finishing the EP, the two put their common interest on hold until December last year when they got back together again this time armed with a much more diverse range of songs both lyrically and musically. With the added services of Simon Bedson filling in on bass guitar, the 3 spent the summer fine tuning their collection of tunes, went into the studio and recorded their debut album ‘Vast Expanse of Limestone Nothingness’. 

‘Vast Expanse of Limestone Nothingness’ is influenced from listening to bands and artists like the White Stripes, Feeder, Something For Kate and Powderfinger right down to Paul Kelly and even the Beatles! Basically if you like catchy guitar riffs coupled with meaningful well thought out lyrics then you will DIG this! With Dave and Phil co-writing the album, a varied and diverse sound is found all the way through. From the crashing drums and garage sound of 'One Selfish Act After Another' with the subtlety of piano fills thrown to the melodic, trance like acoustic build up of 'Silhouette', to the flat out inspirational rock tunes ‘Bolgers Hill’ and ‘Mixed Emotions’, there is something here for everyone.

So sit back, put your seatbelts on and enjoy the ride……………