Peter Semenza and Luke Johnson had known about each other’s existence for a bit. Both had gone to the same middle school and highschool, without ever really meeting each other. After Luke had heard some of Peter’s solo work and songs from his band, the two met up and became collaborators and fast friends. Their first collaborative work began at the very start of 2022 and fell under the name “Animal Machines”, which mainly consisted of indie rock/pop recorded on Luke’s portastudio. Later that year, Luke joined Peter’s band Kelpbeds as the keyboardist, and the pair’s collaboration stood at the sidelines. 

In 2023, they began recording demos live on their iPhones (which later turned into “Junk Trunk”), then made the switch to a shoebox tape recorder. Using tapes with operatic radio shows previously recorded on them, they wrote and recorded their first album within a night, dubbing the project “Allegations” after Peter asked “What’s the most fucked thing that anyone would wanna name their band?”

The duo later recorded 3 more tapes in that same fashion, with their favorites landing on a compilation titled “Armagedon”. While their first releases featured only bass and drums, they went on to record with guitars, keyboards, and drum machines while still recording live in one take as a pair. They played a couple shows in the summer of 2024, recorded an a cappella tape, and haven’t collaborated under the name since.