Hometown: San Francisco, California, USA
Years Active: 2001-2012, 2015-present
Website: www.patricklewband.com
Gerne: Hard Rock, Punk Rock, Grunge, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Members:
Patrick Lew - Guitar, Vocals, Electronics (2001-2012); (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)
David Arceo - Drums (2006-2012); (2015-2016)
San Francisco based punk act that soared to notoriety and tiny publicity on social-media in the early 2010s atop with their eccentric, boastful, loose, anthemic and no nonsense rock.
"PLB is the type of solo project that involves me in the bedroom/living room working part by part while playing guitar and trying to experiment with ideas just randomly before I head into the bedroom, plug the guitars into my laptop and start laying down tracks. I have complete freedom musically in the creative process. I never wanted to invest too much money into my solo project, so I do everything DIY. I run the business myself as well. PLB used to be a "virtual" rock band with four friends from college, but that didn't go well as originally planned.
PLB is basically a garage-y kind of one man band. I can't really label my genre, but you can hear 90's rock influences for sure. We all live in the digital world and with the today's technology and social-media, I'm able to put all my music out there!
I recorded most of PLB's albums in my own home studio. I also play an Epiphone Les Paul in most tracks. I'm definitely a garage band that's for sure. I do everything myself 95% of the time. Such as recording, instrumentation and putting the songs together. But with the help of today's technology and social-media, that's how I'm able to put myself out there! Lol. The beauty of the digital world is that any guy or girl with years of experience can do it themselves."
Why this name?
For a long while, I experimented with many different names for my band's music. We had band names like Samurai Sorcerers and other random shit. But this was meant to be my solo project with the help of some friends. Me and my friends would do a collaboration online putting pieces of the music together online. Like we would send each other instrumental parts we've recorded in our own studios when we had the time to. So we basically Frankenstein the music together through online collaboration. So I guess calling it Patrick Lew Band it was then.
Do you play live?
Alone, I just come up with some idea here and there, record them on my laptop, and post the songs online for some recognition or to put myself out there. Like I would sit in my home studio, record some songs and put it out there on Spotify and iTunes to supplement my income along with my 9 to 5 job. I have toured with Patrick Lew Band sporadically between 2009 to 2012. But the problem with touring was that everything came out of my own pocket and I had to deal with a lot of difficulties trying to go onstage such as Pay to Play (which I'm against), former bandmates flaking and sounding up to par at least considering our limitations.
I've always had a love/hate relationship with touring and playing shows for personal and creative reasons which I won't get into. But I just revived PLB during 2015 and I have played a few shows here and there at small places like open mics! I just play a show with PLB whenever I feel like it and whenever I feel 100% that I can reload onstage. But usually, despite how bad I sounded live, most of the audience liked my performances on the stage. But my main focus when it comes to touring is with my band TheVerse. Because me and our singer Janny wants to take that band to places even if it's just a hobby at the moment. Patrick Lew Band is now limited to being this artsy digital media concept these days.
I toured the San Francisco Bay Area sporadically over the years. Me and my former friend and bandmate Greg did a bunch of secret shows in Contra Costa County and later uploaded them on YouTube and Facebook in 2011. In my old band, we played a couple of shows in San Francisco, we were touring with Tinkture and Elevator Love Letters at the time. This was in 2007. I also played an outdoor event at Dolores Park in San Francisco in February 2012. Since then, I played live whenever I felt like it and had the time to. I didn't had anything really to prove by being in a band, I just wanted to be known as an artist rather than just being this dude in a rock band.
I've always had a love/hate relationship with touring and playing shows for personal and creative reasons which I won't get into. But I just revived PLB during 2015 and I have played a few shows here and there at small places like open mics! I just play a show with PLB whenever I feel like it and whenever I feel 100% that I can reload onstage. But usually, despite how bad I sounded live, most of the audience liked my performances on the stage. But my main focus when it comes to touring is with my band TheVerse. Because me and our singer Janny wants to take that band to places even if it's just a hobby at the moment. Patrick Lew Band is now limited to being this artsy digital media concept these days.
I toured the San Francisco Bay Area sporadically over the years. Me and my former friend and bandmate Greg did a bunch of secret shows in Contra Costa County and later uploaded them on YouTube and Facebook in 2011. In my old band, we played a couple of shows in San Francisco, we were touring with Tinkture and Elevator Love Letters at the time. This was in 2007. I also played an outdoor event at Dolores Park in San Francisco in February 2012. Since then, I played live whenever I felt like it and had the time to. I didn't had anything really to prove by being in a band, I just wanted to be known as an artist rather than just being this dude in a rock band.
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.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Preferably with an indie label. As long as they provide me the right accommodations as far as creativity and salary. But as of right now, I started my own indie label called The Promised Land which is a digital multimedia venture where I release anything Patrick Lew Band or Steel Lions related such as music, YouTube videos, photos and everything else. I was previously signed with Statue Records in 2004 with early PLB and right before the indefinite hiatus with Greg's version of Patrick Lew Band, ANN, which is an upstart indie label based in the Pacific Northwest.
Equipment used:
Epiphone Les Pauls, 2014 MacBook Air, Apple GarageBand, Apple Logic Pro X, Cheap USB Recording Interface, Logitech USB Microphone, 25W Fender Frontman Amp, Vox AC30 Amp, Digitech RP50 Multi-Effects, Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion.
Check out Patrick Lew Band on Facebook: www.facebook.com/patricklewband
No comments:
Post a Comment