*PATRICK LEW BAND - Artist Profile *

** GENRE:** Garage Punk / Electronic / Rock

** AUDIENCE:** Punk, Fans of non-formulaic music ** LOCATION:** San Francisco, California, USA YEARS ACTIVE: 2001 - present

STATUS: Home recording / Occasional live shows

MEMBERS/ALUMNI: Patrick Lew (guitar, vocals; born November 15, 1985), Madeline Lew (DJ; born November 15, 1985), David Arceo (drums; born March 15, 1987), Eddie Blackburn (guitar; born July 12, 1988), Tommy Loi (drums; born April 22, 1986)

To describe Patrick Lew Band is to describe a phenomenon in the unsigned music world that many musicians have experienced but that this one artist exemplifies. It is the world of the underground celebrity. The presentation of a musical vision to a smaller audience, but with no less heart then that of a rock legend on a world wide stadium tour.

We spoke to the titular front man, and today we'll be taking a closer look at a singer/songwriter with an online following, lots to say, dedicated musical collaborators and a somewhat relatable story. There may not be paparazzi hiding in the bushes, but Patrick Lew Band has found it's very own brand of celebrity along the way.

The sound of “PLB”, as it is more easily referred to, is immediately and obviously routed in Californian garage rock. From the jangling, frantic guitars that seem to channel the Beach Boys and Grunge in unison, all the way to the punk era vocals that swoon with more heart and feeling then concern for the stricter rules of melody.

On the musical side PLB has some interesting features which we will delve in to more later, but firstly let's look at the “who” behind the “what”.

Patrick, himself, is an Asian American living in San Francisco and recently put out both the album “Oakland”, the latest in a considerable discography, as well as an EP “Cold Sirens” and a compilation of 16 years of studio room floor cuttings and demos titled “HiStory”.

The only thing as prolific as his musical output is his social media statements, usually talking about both his feelings on music and about his ethnic heritage, an important part of the “Patrick Lew story”. As he has even gone as far as DNA testing to demonstrate, he is proudly 100% east Asian, breaking down to 66% Chinese, 25% South East Asian and some other assorted elements. This being said, it's more of a social thing than a musical one as there is no doubt that his style is very American, and very Californian.

Veering heavily away from the sharp precision and possible over-efficiency of many Asian groups (even the punk ones), Patrick approaches from a more chaotic stand point that avoids the rules as much as possible in favour of experimentation. This both gives him a unique sound and possibly an alienating quality to many listeners who are hit with waves of experimental reverb production and a flavour for chaotic pacing over strict tempo adherence.

We asked: You have been quite outspoken about being a self made musician and not steering towards any formal training. I do agree that often the "university student" school of music writing is rather formulaic, but you seem to have gone for the antithesis, a very rough and ready sound. Do you feel that's an important part of what Patrick Lew Band is? I didn’t really have formal training as a musician. Just a few guitar lessons from a guitar teacher when I was 14 and that’s about it. I mostly taught myself how to do everything in regards to music. I’ve read books, magazines and watched YouTube to learn how to do the things I do. Whether it was intentional or not, that’s a good question. But I wasn’t intending the way the things sounded generally speaking. It all came by trial and error. It just so happens some time during the mid 2010s, things caught on for Patrick Lew Band. I started playing more shows and some people began putting the music out there online. And that’s how I’ve managed to achieve the small things I did. Blood, sweat, tears and hard work I’m assuming?

It's a modest answer but one that speaks to most unsigned musicians. Learning is something any musician does in there own way and with the intention of getting them to a place that they are happy with. As Patrick said, PLB also perform a slow but steady list of performances at bars and clubs to average size crowds. Despite having backing members in PLB previously, the band now operates either as Patrick alone on guitar and vocals and with the song backings, or him playing with his collaborating members from sister band “The Verse”. Still, there is always a feel that when Patrick is on stage, it is the Patrick Lew Show.

PLB obviously carries your name at the helm. Do you feel a pressure in being very much underground but also trying to be a stand out front man? No, not at all! I try to blend a perfect marriage between the two for sure.

So, many of us have passed that dreamy age of wanting to be TV friendly 20 something celeb rockers, so what do you think the priorities are when you find your place instead as a solid member of the underground scene? I’m basically at that age where I’m like fuck it! I’m doing what’s good for me and I define success as something totally different from what the traditional music industry portrays it as. The Internet definitely made it easier for many bands to sustain a music career outside of the traditional music industry that’s always been cliche so to speak.....I just ask for the simple things when it comes to accomplishing my goals in music. These days in the age of streaming, digital and the internet, you can be your own rock star online and locally on your own terms. It all boils down to how much drive and determination you guys have!

In a world where the traditional music shop and the record companies of old have, all but, faded in to the background, Patrick makes a very good point. Everyone is a celebrity on their own level if they want to embrace it.

So we had a look at some of the albums which brought Patrick on this journey

Digging through the myriad of recordings by Patrick and his various affiliated artists, the oldest full recording I could find was 2010's bizarrely named “Let It Rise And Against”. The sound is pure garage punk experimentation but with that new generation feel that, rather than a tape deck, this was recorded on a basic computer set up. The album is peppered with samples and loops that sit between Patrick's central contribution of thrashing riffs and unrestrained vocals. Like with much of Patrick's work, the parts of the music sit together in the loosest of ways and what you really get is more of a wall of sound than individual songs. It's not the easiest listen, but the lyrics remain consistently heartfelt, leading to something of a problem. On the less effective side of the album there are tracks like “Free My Soul” where the message in the lyrics is somewhat overshadowed by the music being disjointed and never really setting out a clear melody. On the better side though, songs like “Little Miss Preppy” have a feeling a chaos but also direction. Honestly, for an album in which Patrick is trying to work out his direction, it's just simply a bit too long and a bit too low on consistency despite some highlights.

When most artists start, it's that experimental phase that often yields some of the best and the worst work, and that seems to be a phase Patrick Lew was still passing through with this album.

2011 sees the PLB experiment move on to their “Murder Bay” record. The front man explained this is the most favourable with many of his listeners and I can kind of see why. The sound is still the chaos which I suspect provides much of the enjoyment for his listeners, but there is more of a solid backbone to the songs now. The drum sampling is solidly used, the vocal melodies make more sense with the rhythm guitars and the PLB signature solos are as often in time as they are avant garde. The experimentation becomes more productive with dabbling such as pitting his free spirited vocals against an autotune filter to interesting affect on “The Social Network”, shifting tones mid song on “Let This Change Ignite” and going for jangly 60's guitars on “Compromiser”.

Once again, the PLB taste for non-conformity and chaos will alienate some, but this is a much more palatable album even if you skip through some tracks and favour others.

Continuing the one-a-year album cycle, 2012 saw “The Fall And Rise Of An Anti-Hero”, which Patrick recorded with his backing arrangement The Steel Lions. Patrick explained to me that this project was a reaction to something of a fracture in his usual circle of contributing musicians.

It certainly was a great chance to get back to experimenting in new sonic directions and has that exuberant unrestrained air about it all over again. Presented as a single 26 minute track washed full of samples, heavy atmospheric production and total non-formula, it's something you would never expect to see on a record store shelf. That said, you can imagine being urged to put it on by a friend in a smoke filled room, if you know what I mean.

Along with the rock vibes that underpin your sound, you do often incorporate elements of electronic music and heavy production as well. Are you a fan of any electronic music and do you want to experiment more with this in future? I think the future is in digital music. And electronic instruments definitely made up for the lack of a live band putting parts together in the home studio. I do listen to electronic music, especially video game composers from the Chiptunes era and Jim Johnston. You know who Jim Johnston is right? No actually, can you tell me? He composes all the theme music for WWE wrestlers. I think electronics definitely did help augment and polished up my sound as a musician. I use Logic Pro X to compose on an old iMac. I am pretty sure, I might experiment more with it. Not too long ago around 2012, I was in a one-off band called The Steel Lions and me and David from the band put together an avant-garde dubstep/prog-rock sound collage called Taiwanese Rebels. I believe David from PLB had something to do with the direction into using electronic instruments considering the absence of a live band of good players. He was into the whole EDM and rave thing, so that definitely did help too!

Patrick explained that this album was constructed partly from original recording, partly from googling license free samples and partly from picking at songs he knows and loves. This totally home made approach leads to what is probably the best of his works in my mind. It may not necessarily by a “PLB” album so to speak, but what it instead does, is cut through to who he is as a person, and shows all home studio musicians that one thing that is often forgotten in their attempts to make a commercially viable “product”. Patrick is showing here, simply, how to enjoy making sound. No songs to make in to singles, samples that probably make it uncopyrightable, a total disregard for genre. It's a refreshing listen, if, as ever with PLB, you can stomach this much chaos.

So we jump forward to early 2017 and the “Oakland” album. By this point we see him comfortable as the sole member of the band which carries his name.

A totally instrumental guitar number starts us off, it's notably rather unexperimental in nature, pushing ahead with simple strumming and pounding drums but no lead or vocals. When the second track hits we're in a totally synthesiser arranged electronic piece however. It's already clear that each songs has been given it's own very separate identity. “Oakland” is a more designed and deliberate album then the ones before it. There are punk songs like “Fuck Boy”, there are interludes like “Autumn Shade!” there are electronic numbers like “Little Seoulja”.

“Oakland” shows Patrick hitting that phase many musicians do when they become aware of the formula they have made for themselves and start to use it more mechanically. This is not to say it is a bad thing. It is refreshing that this album has several instrumentals and a tighter sound overall, but it certainly serves up less big surprises.

So it seemed like a good idea to get to know a little about how Patrick felt about his position in the music scene.