Proton Beast (From L-to-R: Westley Holdsworth, Stu Harwood and Vaughn Williams. Photo: Photo by Jenna Todd.
L.A. band Liars were one of a handful of bands drummer Stu Harwood listed on a Gumtree classified, seeking like minded musicians for a new project. After filtering out everyone who mentioned Coldplay or The Red Hot Chili Peppers in their reply, Stu was left with guitarist, Westley Holdsworth.
For the past five years the duo have been cutting a path between the worlds of dance, doom, and industrial, most recently with the help of new guitarist Vaughn Williams, formerly of The D4.
Their debut album, Digitizer, is out on Muzai this week. Music 101's Emma Smith caught Westley on the line from Auckland, and Stu on a fittingly crunchy Skype line in China. He’s an electronics engineer by day, on a work assignment to test factory equipment.