Band Biographies: Protect Your Heart

The formation of Protect Your Heart was as unique as it was unlikely.

What started as a weekend getaway to the final Vans Warped Tour, ended in a three-year journey through writing, recording, and producing a debut full-length album.

Meeting through California’s vibrant dance music community, longtime friends and producers/DJs Jake Bratrude (Rudebrat, Jacob Lethal Beats, Darkk Matter, An Error Occurred), Anthony Palazzole (not sorry, Them Lost Boys), and Kean Bartelman (Wild Boyz!) decided to take on a new challenge—dust off their guitars, and get back to their roots.

What was intended to be a three-song pop-punk experiment in 2018, ultimately spiraled into weekly writing sessions, 50+ demos, and eventually, their debut LP—[re]Introduction (Out September 2022).

In February 2020, a chance phone call with Matty McDonald (Beta State, Ashcroft) would help PYH solidify its core roster—adding the vocalist to the fold after years of writing without one.

Less than a month later, the world shut down, but Protect Your Heart pushed on.

Undeterred from achieving their ultimate goal, the band hosted online writing sessions, recorded demos in their own studios, and collaborated on lyrics, music video development, and final mixes and masters over the internet.

After years of hard work, PYH released its debut single, “Don’t Count Me Out” on the third anniversary of the project’s inception.

The release of the first single marked the group’s reintroduction to the pop-punk world, and like the rest of the album, is a pure reflection of their relentless DIY attitude and motivation to make the music they love.