About

Olympia Trout Patrol is an electronic alt-pop project by singer-songwriter Michael Edminster. Beginning in San Diego in the early 2000s as explorations in blending synthesizers, electro-acoustic manipulation, and sampling with traditional songwriting, college roommates Michael Edminster and Mark Dolislager experimented with FruityLoops (now FL Studio), drum machines, Korg and Roland samplers, DIY instruments and electronics, field recordings, traditional instruments, and pop songwriting techniques to build a style rooted in their shared influences.

Although they have played only a few live shows over the years, Mark and Michael have created various recording projects to follow their disparate interests. In 2005, they created the short-lived experimental noise music group Edgar Are with fellow noise lover and art major Brad McBurnett, and the following year they created the electronic alt-pop project Les Invalides with a hometown friend from Visalia. They continued recording intermittently as Les Invalides from 2006-2009, when Michael went to teach English in South Korea. Although they never published an album under the name Les Invalides and the various myspace pages associated with their projects during this time have vanished, many incomplete demos and works-in-progress were published to soundcloud in 2013 under the name Magnetronics, a currently abandoned project name used to archive Les Invalides recordings from 2006-2009.