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Prototype-A’s first self-titled full-length album, combines dark melodic rock with electronic music such as house, trance and drum ‘n’ bass, and lyrics that range from freeing your mind and body to exploring your sixth sense.

“It’s been done before where rock and electro have been put together, but we tried to make everything really authentic, on both sides,” explains bassist Daniel Quintal.

Based in Montreal, the 11-song album, produced by Matt DeMatteo (Mobile, Ashley MacIsaac), includes the dance-inducing “My House,” more aggressive vocal attack of “Let Go,” the poppy fun of “Dance” and moving ballad “Save You.” It is the first album this solid line-up has made with an outside producer.

“Matt wanted to push our electronic elements and we wanted somebody capable of doing that,” says frontman Danick Ferland simply.

The band — singer Danick Ferland, bassist Daniel Quintal, guitarists/keyboardists/programmers P-A Bedard and Ben de Champlain, and drummer Alain Scherer — has been intact for 12 years, moving from a successful punk rock act to a more experimental yet commercial sound.

Under the moniker Screwl Stew, the five-piece honed its live skills in the punk rock scene, playing anywhere it could. Its debut full-length, Growing Up, was self-produced and released in 2001, but by the time the band decided to release another recording, it really had done some growing up. 2005’s Prototype-A EP had keyboards and electronic elements and showed a glimmer of what was to come.

“We didn’t really focus ..,” recounts Danick. “We were coming up with different types of music and the punk rock scene wasn’t accepting our songs, so we decided to change our name, then when we went to do a show, we weren't stuck with the punk rock label.

“We’d been in and out of the studio since we were 17, not always releasing stuff but always recording. We experimented with programming keyboards and that’s where we learned all these neat tricks and incorporated it into Prototype-A.”

They sent their music to such concert promoters as House of Blues (now Live Nation) and landed opening slots for NoFx, Pennywise, Hoobastank, Papa Roach, Evanescence, Three Days Grace and a spot on the Vans Warped Tour. In time, the band pooled its finances and starting looking for a top producer with whom it could record a full album.

It almost didn’t happen with Matt. Danick muses how he initially played hardball in negotiation and almost lost him, but they soon began working together. The album took a comprehensive nine months to make.

“We were stumped at the end of three months when we ran out of money, but needed to continue because we weren’t at the place that we wanted to be with our songs,” says Danick. “We decided to compromise. Matt’s studio wasn’t built yet and he asked ‘Can you build me a control room?’ So we traded off skills.”

The resulting album presents a range of emotions.

“My House,” which Danick says is a metaphor for having a strong sense of character and not letting anyone spoil your inner party. If The Cure had less make-up and bigger muscles that's how they would sound.

“Let Go” employs riff-rock and techno and is about dealing with problems in this fast-paced life, while “Dance,” has an escapist rave vibe to match its lyrics. It’s a song that Danick called on Dan to help with the lyrics because he was having a tough time being upbeat.

Danick’s father succumbed to cancer during the recording of the album and the ballad “Save You” took on new meaning.

“Nobody wanted it on the album, not even Matt,” says Danick. “It wasn’t on our pick list. It’s one of my heartfelt songs. I fought for it, and between four other guys and Matt, I won. So I must have been convincing. ‘Save You’ is about my relationship with spirits and after I wrote it, it turned into something else because my dad was diagnosed with cancer, so I rewrote the lyrics so it could also be about my father.”

Onstage, Danick still retains his punk ethos. “We’re trying to keep it pretty dark, even though the songs, yes, are more mainstream pop oriented,” he says.

Dan says Danick is amazingly charismatic. “He’s a little bit crazy. He’s on the edge and he gives off this mysterious vibe. As a frontman, he’s all there. He’ll explode at anytime and he’s good with the crowd. People relate to this guy. He’s one of the reasons the band exists. He’s got a great voice and great onstage presence.”