The Steel Lions - Band History

Impressum: Patrick Lew and the Steel Lions was a hard rock band founded and led by TheVerse guitarist and PLB frontman Patrick Lew.

STEEL LIONS HISTORY

Following a short tour across Antioch, California which was later broadcasted on YouTube and Facebook and the release of the album Murder Bay in the Summer of 2011, Taiwanese American and Canadian musician and artist Patrick Lew moved out of his parents home in Antioch and relocated back to San Francisco. During this period, Patrick Lew Band was going through a major reconstruction as a local Bay Area rock band and touring members Greg Lynch and David Hunter alongside Patrick’s then-fiancee Faith Marie became official band members in the Patrick Lew Band lineup. Greg became the project’s co-leader and Patrick settled into his childhood home in San Francisco living with his older brother. He then built a home recording studio in his bedroom and began working on new music for songs and ideas he had written while on tour with Patrick Lew Band at various locations. Patrick worked on the demos with Patrick Lew Band drummer and long-time close friend David Arceo. By this time, it became apparent that Patrick Lew Band was going to be remade into an actual band, unlike the online collaboration that the bandmates did in their own personal studios by recording their own individual parts at home and cutting and pasting everything together on the computer. When Patrick played the demos for Greg and David Hunter, they rejected the material for creative and religious reasons. So instead, what Patrick kept on his hard drive on his Toshiba laptop running Windows 7 and Mixcraft became an idea for a side project as Patrick still wanted to carry on with home recording and putting his music out there on social-media sites like Facebook and ReverbNation. Patrick Lew decided to record and use the demos with his close friend David Arceo and then-fiancee Faith Marie. He then posted a status on his personal Facebook page asking mutual friends for an idea for a new band name before settling on the name Heavy Sigma at the time. He began recording more in his home studio, as he felt the next step to succeed creatively was to do it with computers. The lack of unity in the previous lineup for Patrick Lew Band led to intermittent band practices, lack of productivity and usually tensions creative and personal. Little progress was made with the former lineup for Patrick Lew Band because every member had different priorities and different ideas where they wanted to take the band. Also, Greg and David were residing in Antioch, Patrick Lew himself was living in San Francisco, David was living in Daly City and Faith was living in Lubbock, Texas. So the lack of unity that was present before while Patrick Lew Band was an online collaboration project continued during this major period of rebuilding. Instead, Patrick wanted to continue playing music and recording. His close friend and bandmate David was fascinated with the San Francisco Bay Area rave music scene and Electronic Dance Music. Using his influences in the creative process, the band then known as Heavy Sigma recorded, composed and self-released a 30 minute recording titled Taiwanese Rebels. Around March 2012, Heavy Sigma signed a distribution deal with ANN, an upstart indie label in the Washington area. Following a performance at Dolores Park on February 4th with Patrick Lew Band, Heavy Sigma began compiling other demos and assorted home recordings that Patrick recorded and kept on his computer’s hard drive and released the album Voyager later that year. Under the influence of attempting to improve his relationship with his then-fiancee and discouragement from one of his former peers in the San Francisco indie rock scene, Patrick decided to not play shows or do any touring to promote Heavy Sigma. Instead, Heavy Sigma kept their audience updated through social-media to maintain connections. During this period, Heavy Sigma reached number 1 on the local punk charts in East Contra Costa County courtesy of ReverbNation. The last recording session the previous lineup of Patrick Lew Band took place in Antioch during July 2012, resulting in three throwaway jams - “The Thickness” and “Crippled”. On September 4th of that year, the lack of unity within the band during the rebuilding process and Patrick and David’s tensions with Greg over creative and personal reasons led to the dissolution of Patrick Lew Band. Instead, Patrick turned his attention to Heavy Sigma and began working on a new album (which later became Patrick Lew Band’s 2015 release To The Promised Land) tentatively titled Radio Daze which eventually was scrapped. Major problems began to appear during the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013. Patrick began experiencing a sharp decline in his relationship with his then-fiancee Faith. A lot of it being very personal. During this period, his former significant other discouraged Patrick Lew from being a musician. Alongside a growing a number of detractors, dissatisfaction with the music business and “religious” brainwashing from his former bandmate Greg, Faith and the church that Patrick previously attended services. Patrick decided because of outside influences and anxiety blocking his passion for music, he decided to work a 9 to 5 job and walk away from his passion. Patrick and his close friend David briefly had a falling out over undisclosed reasons and didn’t speak to each other for half a year. When Patrick and David reconciled, they had sorted out their differences. Because of encouragement from peers and close friends, Heavy Sigma got booked to play a show at Mama Art Cafe on September 13, 2013 (which was broadcasted on YouTube) to a gleeful reception. However, Patrick’s difficulties and hardships caused by his then-fiancee forced him to walk away from playing music. With no other ideas or plans in progress, Heavy Sigma quietly disappeared after the Mama Art Cafe open mic. Patrick Lew did not decide to seriously return to playing music and being involved with his local music scene and social-media until his relationship with his former fiancee ended. By this time, Patrick invested on a MacBook on eBay and began producing new music on GarageBand. His other passion in home theater led to the first new single he had released in three years: “Cut the Cord”. TV antenna makers Antennas Direct found out about the track and endorsed Patrick as their Ambassador. Renewed creativity and passion came about and by the end of 2014, all legalities surrounding the Patrick Lew Band name was resolved with Patrick Lew being granted full ownership of the band’s name, business and direction. A full fledged campaign and flurry of activity followed on social-media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and Patrick Lew returned to the local music scene under the Patrick Lew Band name. There were stashes of demos and unfinished material that was kept on Patrick’s hard drive on his MacBook and he began putting together a new album. The album cover was taken on Patrick’s Android smartphone by his former girlfriend Pitalu while they were together in Mexico. The long awaited return was official on June 8, 2015 as Patrick Lew Band released their first album since 2011’s Murder Bay digitally titled To The Promised Land. Around this period, Patrick became more carefree about the music business and began passionately playing again without developing lack of self esteem and anxiety over fame, record sales, social-media likes and music critics. Patrick also connected with his friend and Neverfade drummer Erick Salazar via Facebook and began collaborating in Erick’s home studio making music for a new Heavy Sigma album. Heavy Sigma later changed their band name to The Steel Lions. Named after two 80’s hair metal bands Steelheart and White Lion. Patrick’s relationship with his close friend David also has remained consistent. However, Patrick also experienced dealing with several detractors in 2015. His relationship with his former girlfriend Monique became annulled after she reportedly stole a hefty sum of money from him on the Internet and committed deception. Patrick also dated YouTube personality justlizzyxx briefly, the two remain friends and on good terms. Patrick returned to live performances with Patrick Lew Band in 2015, performing at Cafe International on August 14th of that year. The Steel Lions future was put into question when Patrick Lew began heavily working with the newly revived PLB and himself and Steel Lions member David Arceo began collaborating with long-time close friend Janny in the band TheVerse. This resulted in studio autonomy for the Steel Lions upcoming album. Erick began sending over recorded files to Patrick's email and Patrick began working on the new album within his own flexibility and grueling schedule. Patrick Lew Band and TheVerse became Patrick Lew's priority as a musician when 2016 began. Patrick recorded parts for the Steel Lions album in his own home studio. The album, then titled Play It Loud, was delayed several times within the previous year with a tentative release date during the 1st quarter of 2016. The album would see the light of day when it was released through digital distribution on May 12, 2016, coincidentally, the 15th anniversary of the formation of Patrick Lew Band. Focusing more on his other projects, TheVerse was then booked to play a show at the Stork Club on May 18th in Oakland, CA, which was Patrick's first major live appearance at a Bay Area live music venue. On May 20, 2016, Patrick Lew announced on his official Facebook page that he had disbanded Steel Lions.

Open letter to the fans...

Open letter to the world about my personal life. Speaking my mind and to clear any concerns regarding my well being.

This is the first time in seven years that I've been single consistently. Lol. It's not that bad to be honest with you. I've been single for five months and I'm enjoying it. Not really looking for someone right now as I'm taking time to heal from several toxic relationships (except two perhaps) I've had to deal with in recent years. I don't mind women showing interest in me or exploring options with me, of course! But I'm enjoying living on borrowed time at the moment.

There will be times that society will shame me or those snooty girls regardless of color brag about their Asian boyfriend will cause me to overthink my situation and put more pressure on myself to find a better girlfriend. But as long as no one shames me for this and do this society talk or any of those girls brag about how their Asian boyfriend or boyfriend in general has a big dick or hella bank, then I'm good.

I've had a lot of awful experiences with past girlfriends. Only two of them I'm still on good terms with believe it or not. I will not mention them by name, but the awful experiences and outcome did make me very sad and bitter at the time. Ever since I was in middle school, I've always wanted a decent woman that I can have a positive experience with. It will happen though, and hopefully society won't cause me to lose it by shaming me or doubt me as a person. Because they don't know what it was like being in my situation. They can point fingers at me, but they can't judge because they don't know what it was like being in my shoes. Whatever my exes are doing now or what they've done for me good or bad I don't place too much emphasis on it. They were important at one point, but truthfully, I've carried on. People might think otherwise, but no really I moved on and I'm happier now with my current stage in life. As they say, "The show must go on!"

I'm actually happier this year than when I had to deal with my exes last year. Relationships and marriage isn't a race, so bugger off society. tongue emoticon I am pretty sure I will succeed in my love life when the time is right.

Music is my main wifey right now. Stay tuned guys. More music on the way! Thank you for all the support since day one. I am working on an album with TheVerse and there's more ideas in my stash. I was born to do this. I will continue my journey in indie rock.

Thanks,
Patrick Lew

Patrick Lew Band Biography

Patrick Lew Band 
Hometown: San Francisco, California, USA 
Years Active: 2001-2012; 2015-present 
Website: www.patricklewband.com 
Gerne: Hard Rock, Punk Rock, Post-Grunge, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal 
Members: 
Patrick Lew - Guitar, Vocals, Electronics (2001-2012); (2015-Present) 
David Arceo - Drums (2006-2012); (2015-Present) 
Former Members: 
Tommy Loi - Drums (2001-2005) 
Eddie Blackburn - Lead Guitar (2001-2005); (2007) 
Jeremy Alfonso - Lead Guitar (2009-2011) 
David Hunter - Bass (2009-2012) 
Greg Lynch - Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals (2009-2012) 

Patrick Lew Band rose from the ashes of Power Trip (also known as Band of Asians) to become an eccentric and provocative yet compelling social-media attraction in independent music during the 2010s. After Power Trip disbanded in early 2008, long-time friends and musicians Patrick Lew and David Arceo decided to carry on playing music together by forming not only a local punk rock band, but a multimedia concept. They spent most of the year in Patrick’s home studio tinkering and recording fragments of ideas, leading into the 2009 release Curb Your Wild Life. During the recording sessions for the album, the duo received an intense backlash from music critics on Soundclick.com and barely made a blip on the local Bay Area music scene at the time. 

Lew and Arceo began assembling a new cast of musicians to collaborate with them through the Internet, recruiting former Distorted Harmony guitarist Jeremy Alfonso, with bassist David Hunter and multi-instrumentalist Greg Lynch augmenting the lineup for live performances. The band experimented with many different names since 2001, before settling on Patrick Lew Band as this was going to be an outlet for Lew’s music, giving other band members the freedom to pursue other projects. The newly christened Patrick Lew Band began collaborating via Skype and sent each other individual recorded parts in their personal studios, cutting and pasting everything together. That led to the 2009 album Let It Rise And Against, which was released on CDBaby. Alfonso later left the band following its release. 

Let It Rise And Against didn’t start making airwaves until the middle of 2010, partially due to the private life of Patrick Lew and his then-fiancee Faith Lambright being exploited on social-media and backlash from critics. The negative press did little to hurt the band’s momentum, as Patrick Lew Band received an offer from Tau Kappa Epsilon at UC Berkeley to perform a benefit concert for the university. The band spent most of 2010 rehearsing and writing new material. However, the UC Berkeley gig was canceled due to Hunter and Lynch being unavailable to make the appearance. 

Soon after, Patrick Lew was interviewed by AbsolutePunk.com and Leicester Bangs and an iTunes podcast from Googly Ears gave the Patrick Lew Band more attention in the indies. Soon, Patrick Lew Band became a little more accessible, which wasn’t surprising. After all, Patrick Lew Band fused the prototypical hard rock from the 70’s and 80’s with the anger and rage of the Seattle grunge scene and hardcore punk. Patrick Lew Band’s audience began to grow slowly but steadily during 2011, thanks to a series of live performances, busking and YouTube vlogs. The band released their follow-up Murder Bay in the Summer of that year. 

Following a couple low-key tour dates in Antioch, California, which was later broadcasted on YouTube, Patrick began working on ideas in his studio what would have become the next Patrick Lew Band album. However, Lynch rejected the material for religious and creative reasons. What was recorded and kept on his hard drive became released under the name Heavy Sigma: the avant-garde progressive mini LP Taiwanese Rebel (2012) and Voyager (2013). The Patrick Lew Band would sporadically practice in 2012. However tensions began to rise between Lew and Arceo with Lynch and Hunter over creative, religious and personal differences. As it became apparent that the band was growing apart, the Patrick Lew Band, who recently gained some small momentum in the Bay Area music scene, went on an indefinite hiatus by the end of 2012. 

Lew and Arceo would not speak during the first half of 2013, Lew began experiencing a huge decline in his relationship with his then-fiancee. Lew took a break from the music business, and began exploring other avenues. He didn’t fully disappear, as he would post new promos and vlogs on YouTube during his break from writing, performing and recording. Lew and Arceo eventually reconciled and performed at the Mama Art Cafe on September 13th of that year, debuting the new tracks “See It Through” and Arceo’s spoken word composition “Reality Check.” However, it wasn’t until Lew and his relationship with his then-fiancee Faith ended that Patrick Lew considered returning to playing and making new music. By the end of 2014, all legalities regarding the Patrick Lew Band were resolved, with Lew being granted full ownership of the Patrick Lew Band name. Lew along with help of Arceo, began marketing and recording again, resulting in their first album since 2011’s Murder Bay, To the Promised Land, which was backed by a heavy campaign on social-media sites Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and using do-it-yourself ethics. The album was released on iTunes and Spotify in June of 2015. Lew also began working with Neverfade drummer Erick Salazar on a forthcoming album under the name Patrick Lew and the Steel Lions in the studio. Clearing out the vaults for another new album, the Patrick Lew Band would release their fifth album Bubblegum Babylon on iTunes and Spotify on November 15, 2015, which was Patrick Lew’s 30th birthday. 

Patrick Lew's Steel Lions EPK

                                                                                 

• We're a hard rock band from San Francisco. Just passionate about playing music and being committed to the Bay Area scene. We love jamming and rocking out. Whenever a 9 to 5 job gets us down, we plug our guitars into the amp and begin screaming away. We put our music out there on social media. We're like a modern interpretation of all those late 80's and early 90's hard rock bands. No we won't change America or be on the covers of teen magazines, but we will rock you! 

Steel Lions is: 
Patrick Lew
Erick Salazar
David Arceo

Impressum: Patrick Lew and the Steel Lions is a hard rock band founded and led by TheVerse guitarist Patrick Lew. 

Discography: 
Taiwanese Rebels (2012) 
Voyager (2013) 
Play It Loud (TBA) 

Check it out. 
http://www.reverbnation.com/thesteellions 

The audience is listening. 
“Hey Patrick! Props for doing what you do and not ignoring your dream. I'm still trying to figure it all out on my end as I'm pretty new to being an artist and am terrified half the time. It can be quit an adventure at times with all the highs and lows that come with carving out a path as an artist. All the best to you, Olivia” 
- Olivia Cheng (Chinese Canadian Actress), Email (Feb 18, 2009) 

“Punk mojo with a positive message. Whodathunk it? Well done dood! (commenting on "Love With a Spell") 
- Mark Wilson, Soundclick Critics Corner 

“I initially subscribed because of? your Junko Furuta video, then I looked at some of your other videos, and you're extremely talented. I'm surprised you don't have more subscribers.” 
- TheOwlKing1996@YouTube.com, Patrick Lew's YouTube (Nov 09, 2011) 

“PLB - Love With A Spell (Demo) More tight and confident than some of the entries last year by Patrick Lew, but still with a raw punk attitude. Some of the words are hard to understand, but the message comes through strong.” 
- Bill, Soundclick Critics Corner (Jun 10, 2013) 

“You are unique and that's good. Keep trying you can only get better. There's room for every genre of music. No one genre is better than the others. I think you could make this unique genre but try to consider making your backing track ( chord progression) more connected to your melody or the opposite. I suggest reading : How Music Really Works by Wayne Chase You'll find it on the internet I read a good part of it and experimented some of the things it covers when I came back to music after I had quit for 30 years +. For the genre of music I'm favoring it helped me and it might help you with your own genre of music. It dont mean you have to follow a given formula but knowing about some basic things help.” 
- Densyl, Soundclick Critics Corner (Jun 14, 2013) 

“I am quite familiar with the music of Patrick Lew (Steel Lions and various other names) and I welcome him back to the showcase. I find it amusing to get the take of others who are not familiar with his brand of ‘disconnected’ music. It is true that each element in his music is never aligned with another … it is almost amazing that he can do it (try it yourself and you will fail). But this is Patrick and his approach is purely straight ahead pouring out his feelings while pouring out his instrumental segments which are from some other part of his consciousness. Strange that it works for me because I just concentrate on his message which is here one of contentment. I don’t know that you can listen to Patrick for pleasure, but he will always let you know how he feels which is often a good purpose for anyone’s music. ” 
- Larry Ludwick, Soundclick Critics Corner (Jun 12, 2013) 

"The phrase, guitar hero has been tossed around lately with an almost casual disregard, but Patrick Lew embodies many of the qualities one needs to have to truly be a guitar hero. Through the years hes worked his way up from being a young Taiwanese boy with a passion for music, to a one-man, garage, punk, grunge, hard rock band. By always remaining true to himself, true to his music, and true to his artistic vision, Patrick Lew has created in the Patrick Lew Band and Heavy Sigma, a dynamic sound, unparalleled in the burgeoning music industry." - Heath Andrews (Reviewyou.com - Spring 2012) 

“Punk is still alive! There's something youthful and energetic about it that I've got to admire, but I've probably grown out of it myself, having discovered major sevenths and other stuff. Nice lyrics with a kicking tune. Kids having fun. That's how rock and roll was born. (commenting on "Build and Wash Away" by Heavy Sigma)” 
Tim - Soundclick Critics Corner 

“A very different take on the Patrick Lew Band; it’s good to see Patrick return.” 
Bill @ Soundclick.com - Soundclick Critics Corner Showcase 

“Haters are going to hate, People are going to say shit. F*** them. Don't let them get to you. Be this man. continue making more music. Be the musician you know you can be. do it for you. If you need/want to, do it for fans too. who gives a f*** if people talk? They are jealous of your creativity. I love you man. Thanks for being a friend and brother. i have a life so do you. Let's continue this road trip.” 
David Arceo (Bandmate/Friend) 

“Patrick Lew is the coolest rockstar I know, he's the f***ing most rad Japanese/Taiwanese person ever and I'm glad he's my brother. If you don't like his bands than you're just a dumb lil cat lackin glands. HE RAWKS!! much love.” Joe Chiodo - Fan Messages via Facebook 

“Compared to older tracks by Patrick, and you can't really compare him to anyone but himself, this is a shade or two more sophisticated, especially the drums. On the surface it sounds like angry protest music but the lyrics are quite the opposite. For some reason the term Surf Metal comes to mind. As far as the general sound goes I'd say it was phat enough.” 
Ralph Atkinson - Soundclick Critics Corner 

“Hi Patrick, Been checking out Heavy Sigma! Here's what I think, being your board is disabled. I think you have been practicing, your guitar sound has gotten bigger and tighter. The overall vibe I get, is of a real, in your face, punk aesthetic, reminiscent of the mid-eighties to early nineties. The drums are really good too, and the recordings are great. The drums sound miked really well. I think you are on the verge something really great here, and am looking forward to hearing what comes next.” 
- Scott, Silver Wheels Productions Reviews (Jul 25, 2012) 

“You guys are really cool!” 
- Monica Dupont (Blues Musician), ReverbNation.com Fan Messages (Nov 01, 2012) 

Formerly known as Heavy Sigma, now condensing both Patrick Lew Band and Heavy Sigma into one project. This is a conceptual project and San Francisco Bay Area rock band formed by Asian American-Canadian musician and artist Patrick Lew. Patrick Lew has been active in the Bay Area music scene since 2001, playing guitar and singing in a variety of different local bands, the most notable, being the Patrick Lew Band and Power Trip. Lew was active online on social-media heavily promoting his work with Patrick Lew Band since the early to mid 2000s. 

Originally, Heavy Sigma was a creative project which Lew recorded music in his studio that was rejected from former members of the Patrick Lew Band prior to their hiatus in 2012. Heavy Sigma released three albums during 2012: Oddities, Taiwanese Rebels and Voyager. All of the music on these albums consisted of material that was turned down by his former bandmates from the former lineup of the Patrick Lew Band. 

Patrick intended Steel Lions formerly known as Heavy Sigma to be a continuation of the Patrick Lew Band's signature punk rock style during their hiatus. Since 2015, he now intends it to a modern and polished update of the 80's and 90's rock bands he was inspired by growing up. The band uses modern musical gear such as computers, guitar synthesizers and more incorporated in their music, but maintains their self-described intentions and sound. A lot of the lyrics in Steel Lion's music discusses social issues in today's generation. 

For a short time, Anti-Nonsense Networking, an upstart indie label in Washington, handled the band's distribution on social-media. 

After the release of Voyager, Patrick Lew briefly retired from the music business for personal reasons. Following the return of the Patrick Lew Band in the Bay Area rock scene during 2015, Neverfade and former Distorted Harmony drummer Erick Salazar contacted Lew through a private message on Facebook about collaborating on new music together in his studio. Currently the band is recording their fourth album Play It Loud which is being produced by Erick with all music being written by both Patrick and Erick in the studio. 

Alongside his pursuits and activity with the newly revived Patrick Lew Band on the Internet and with the Bay Area music scene, he is also dedicated and passionate about his upcoming musical work with Erick producing. Stay tuned for the latest news on our Facebook page!
Why this name?
Patrick: Well, I typed "Heavy" on a band name generator online and got the name Heavy Sigma when I saw it on the computer screen, liked it, and declared my one-man band under that moniker. At first, Heavy Sigma was named Chaos In Chinatown, which my Facebook friend Candace suggested when I posted a Facebook status about my ideas to do music outside of PLB. But I was worried it would offend Asian people and I'm very self respecting of my culture and my ethnicity, so I decided to change the name of my new garage band. I was thinking of calling it Your Audio 2 Riot, but I f***ing hated that idea. It sounded too much like a Bay Area metalcore band name, and this music that I am doing isn't modern metal. So when I went on one of those name generators on the Internet while I was browsing for King of Queens reruns to watch on my laptop on YouTube, that's how the band name Heavy Sigma came to be. 

At one point, Heavy Sigma used to be known as Chaos In Chinatown, which a friend named Candace suggested. But I was scared shitless that it was gonna cause controversy, so I had to change it right away. 

There has been rumors that I got the name Heavy Sigma based on an old grudge I had with someone from the scene, or it was a parody of Mick Jagger's supergroup Super Heavy. Or I was watching too much GI Joe, and was inspired to name my band after an old school cartoon from the 80's. 

But the whole Heavy Sigma name was completely random and thought of without any real meaning. 

And then suddenly, I thought maybe it would be better to change the band's name again because I got tired of the name Heavy Sigma. So I condensed PLB and Heavy Sigma into a garage band known as The Steel Lions. Which is combines the names of two 80's hair metal bands that I love: Steelheart and White Lion.

Do you play live?
Patrick: Not really. I'm more into producing my own original music at home. I have too many limitations and things that hold me back from playing live. I like recording more. Plus I'm not really that good at playing sometimes, but practice makes perfect right? But I played shows sporadically with Patrick Lew Band and Power Trip in the San Francisco Bay Area. We sounded like a punk band playing at a bar. Definitely not like the Rolling Stones playing Madison Square Garden, but we were definitely a no nonsense local rock and roll band from the Bay. Some of our live performances can be found on my YouTube page. Because I work 32 hours a week in retail trying to keep a roof over my head and pay the bills, sometimes I don't have a lot of time to pursue a career as a professional musician. But I'm still willing to take opportunities if someone throws a good deal.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
I came during a generation, where bands and musicians didn't need to sucker themselves into signing with a major record label, getting on TV and radio, and doing mass live performing as a way of bigger exposure. I came during a time where the computers and social-media made it more possible for the little or middle fish in the pond to get themselves heard. Despite my love for 90's rock, I highly doubt I would have been recognized back then like I am now supposedly, and it's not a money thing either. It's recognition and building an audience. And for bands who use social-media to get themselves out there, it increases chances of getting booked to play shows locally and other things. 

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Maybe. Who knows. If someone really appreciates what I do musically and gives me a chance to grow bigger as an artist. I would certainly do it.

Band History:
I'm a freelance rock musician who began making music on my own in 2009 after several flops with a local band I used to be in. I'm always trying my best to get better when recording and when it comes to playing the guitar. I always use social media to put my music and every band I played guitar and sang in out there. 

Originally, I did Heavy Sigma as a creative outlet for my musical ideas that were rejected by former bandmates in my old band. I began making music with both Patrick Lew Band and Heavy Sigma, and my former bandmates and myself had creative and personal differences along with my dysfunctional relationship with my former fiancee at the time, so I quit creating music and playing guitar for about 2 or 3 years. I picked up the guitar again and started using my MacBook Air running GarageBand and began producing demos and new musical ideas again. Then one day in early 2015, my friend Erick Salazar who also plays drums in the San Francisco based punk band Neverfade sent me a private message on my Facebook profile talking about collaborating and working on new music together. 

So in May of that year, me and Erick began creating music under the Heavy Sigma name in his home recording studio. Erick isn't an official member of the band, but he plays a big role in creating the music and business related things when getting it out there! And the rest is history!

Your influences?
Mother Love Bone, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Guns N Roses, Green Day, Blink 182, The Sex Pistols, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Marilyn Manson, Tesla, Def Leppard, Silverchair, Metallica, White Lion, The Sex Pistols, Oasis, Beyond (Hong Kong Group), The Fall, U2, Bon Jovi.

Favorite spot?
San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, NYC, London, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.

Equipment used:
My musical gear. I use this equipment as a Bay Area musician... 

GUITARS: 
- Epiphone HotWheels Les Paul 
- Red Epiphone Les Paul Special Edition 

BASSES: 
- Rogue RBX200 Bass Guitar 

AMPS: 
- Fender 25 Watt Frontman 

PEDALS: 
- Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion 
- Digitech RP50 Multi-Effects 
- Digitech Death Metal Distortion 

RECORDING GEAR: 
- Line6 TonePort Silver DI 
- Peavey XPort DI (used rarely) 
- Line6 POD Farm 
- Acoustica Mixcraft 6 (2009-2012) 
- Apple GarageBand (2013-present) 
- LANDR.com (for mastering all of my tracks) 
- Toshiba PC Laptop (2009-2013) 
- Early 2009 Macbook (2013-present) 
- 2014 MacBook Air (since 2015) 
- Apple Logic Pro (when collaborating with Erick at his studio) 
- Radioshack Microphone 
- Logitech USB Microphone 

INSPIRATION: 
- 32 GB Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Smartphone 
- My BIG CD collection (mostly ROCK) 
- Watching local bands live! 
- Finding out about new music on the social-media or through friends.

How do I feel about my ex fiancee and recent former girlfriend. Patrick Lew speaks the truth.

My former fiancee is getting married. My response? I'm really happy for her deep down but she really needs to stop talking shit about me and my friends and actually own up to what went wrong you feel me? I already stated my flaws a number of times, she hasn't. She also needs to stop messaging all my previous exes or future wife about how terrible I am, because there's two sides to every story and it's none of her business. As far as the other ex is concerned, I can feel empathy for her son but I don't feel anything more about her generally speaking. Once you cheat and steal my money, you're blacklisted for life pretty much. If she loses her son because of drug use or fucking around, I don't really care you know? But I do feel for her son though. I promise to my future wife whenever that happens, that I won't repeat their sins. Because that's what's in Triple H's words, "Best for business."