No nonsense rock and roll. It's a jam band in chaos. But I exist to inspire. These are demos or unfinished rocking music that Patrick Lew is composing...
For those wondering, this isn't really a band. It's a crazy Asian lad and a blonde White girl with a guitar and laptop, and producing half-decent rock and roll music. And posting the sucker online like a hobby. I intend to keep this exclusively a solo project. Now if I were in a real band, it be a totally different thing most def.
One of my major accomplishments as a musician came from playing guitar, songwriting, and musically advertising and marketing alone or with other freelance musicians in the Patrick Lew Band since my freshmen year in high school. We mainly play garage punk and grunge types of music as recording artists, and had gained some recognition and critical success for our music and persistent efforts. As of March 2012, this band is on indefinite hiatus so everyone involved including myself can focus on our own projects individually.
Aside from the Patrick Lew Band, my other focus as a Bay Area rock musician is through my solo efforts and attempts at creating new music under the moniker Heavy Sigma. Sometimes, my fiancee and long-time girlfriend Faith does some electronic production and managing with this one-man rock band. Currently, Heavy Sigma is signed to Seattle based indie label Anti-Nonsense Networking (ANN) and sporadically records in the studio, putting all pieces of music online for recognition and for the sake of being a musician.
Why this name?
Everything is all random. I generate a lot of tricked out band names for some reason, and just randomly call something what it is if I like using that moniker.
Do you play live?
This is mostly a hobby only. I don't play shows usually as a solo musician. I will say this though. When I play with other guys in a band, we take it a little more seriously as far as being in a band goes. But 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 merit.
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 making an audience.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
Maybe. Who knows. We're already signed to a Seattle indie label ANN from promoting the sh*** out of ourselves on ReverbNation.com. It's mainly non-profit though and for distribution purposes, but they were the first out of a billion other labels in the big pond that truly appreciated my music and motivated me to become better at what I do.
Your influences?
White Stripes, Silverchair, Nirvana, Green Day, Dead Kennedys, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Oasis, AFI, Box Car Racer, Sum 41, deadmau5, Nobuo Uematsu, The Donnas, Nine Inch Nails, The Raveonettes, Black Keys.
Favorite spot?
San Francisco Bay Area. Mostly Concord, SF, and Berkeley.
Equipment used:
Toshiba laptop, Line6 TonePort & POD, Acoustica Mixcraft, Epiphone guitars...
And critical thinking when it comes to creating something cool. I do everything digitally, and put all the necessary pieces of music as mp3 files online on some cool websites.
Anything else...?
Keep making music. No matter what people say or the things that gets in your way.
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The Steel Lions / Blog
Bandalism happens. But gotta carry on and keep calm.
I feel so musically disorganized with the period of inactivity and anxieties I'm having about the Patrick Lew Band right now. I feel like I made a poor choice to abort a planned idea in the works without letting anyone know! Didn't mean it a harmful manner though or anything personal.
I guess I was getting frustrated with how long something would take to become something when there was little going on. I admit, I had my moments where I gotten upset or mad at a former bandmate, but I always give them credit for all their hard work and contributions to the music. Even if I don't talk to them anymore or seldom keep in contact.
I always freelance, play guitar, and record music occasionally every month. Like every other great rock and roll band, Bandalism happened in mines too. Patrick
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My rant about people who say that electronic musicians are not talented.
Who says electronic musicians have no talent because they don't play musical instruments and just sit by a Macbook? F***ing idiots dude! I happen to be one of those electronic musicians who can actually play that guitar, a little bit of bass, and understands composition. Making EDM music requires a lot of years of understanding digital music: editing/mixing, composing, and etc etc.
What bothers me about some people is they hate on electronic musicians and don't give them enough credit for what they do. And these are the same morons who bash rap music, and keep saying DUDE IT'S ALL ABOUT METAL AND REAL INSTRUMENTS...Br00ta1z
Bitch please. No one cares what you have to say, you know. Just had to do a small rant.
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Read the Patrick Lew story up close here.
It's who I am. And it's what I do. I am the best at what I do.
Patrick
http://storywrite.com/story/9890969-Facebooks_Behind_the_Music_-_Patrick_Lew-by-TWMusician1985
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Heavy Sigma CD's now on sale on our RN store page!
You can now order my one-man band Heavy Sigma's two albums "Oddities" and "Taiwanese Rebels" on CD directly through the band's ReverbNation store page. The CD's will be manufactured by the good people at ReverbNation themselves and mailed directly to your home address via USPS. You can order via credit/debit card. Please do yourself a favor and buy Heavy Sigma CD's and help support local music. We put a lot of hard work, energy, and effort into our own music, and we as musicians need your support and purchases to help cover our studio time, equipment, promotions, and everything else to keep it going.
http://www.reverbnation.com/store/store/artist_2021944?item_type=music
Buy Heavy Sigma CD's today. You won't regret it!
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New promoters!
The band is now being promoted with Northeast Noise Entertainment on their Facebook! I'm very happy there's been smaller music promoters out there getting my name out there. :)
Woohoo!
Patrick
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The Bay Area music scene is wearing down on me. Lord can't stop me from playing.
Slowly but surely, I'm tired of the Bay Area music scene. But I am gonna be rocking my ass out no matter what. Seems like I have more supporters of my band elsewhere besides the Bay, which in my opinion has been dominated by Hyphy and Metalcore acts. Sure there are some well-deserving bands, but I'm disillusioned with some aspects of the Bay Area music scene, it's pretty cut throat and seems like the bands that do get buzz are not my cup of tea. They're just squeaky clean friendly, or something about them doesn't set them apart from others. Not saying I'm bitter, I just think the scene itself gotten really cut throat and jaded.
San Francisco has some pretty interesting indie rock acts though.
Patrick
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This is what I'm all about in this band! :)
No nonsense rock and roll. It's a jam band in chaos. But I exist to inspire. These are demos or unfinished rocking music that Patrick Lew is composing...
For those wondering, this isn't really a band. It's a crazy Asian lad and a blonde White girl with a guitar and laptop, and producing half-decent rock and roll music. And posting the sucker online like a hobby. I intend to keep this exclusively a solo project. Now if I were in a real band, it be a totally different thing most def.
One of my major accomplishments as a musician came from playing guitar, songwriting, and musically advertising and marketing alone or with other freelance musicians in the Patrick Lew Band since my freshmen year in high school. We mainly play garage punk and grunge types of music as recording artists, and had gained some recognition and critical success for our music and persistent efforts. As of March 2012, this band is on indefinite hiatus so everyone involved including myself can focus on our own projects individually.
Aside from the Patrick Lew Band, my other focus as a Bay Area rock musician is through my solo efforts and attempts at creating new music under the moniker Heavy Sigma. Sometimes, my fiancee and long-time girlfriend Faith does some electronic production and managing with this one-man rock band. Currently, Heavy Sigma is signed to Seattle based indie label Anti-Nonsense Networking (ANN) and sporadically records in the studio, putting all pieces of music online for recognition and for the sake of being a musician.
Why this name? Everything is all random. I generate a lot of tricked out band names for some reason, and just randomly call something what it is if I like using that moniker.
Do you play live? This is mostly a hobby only. I don't play shows usually as a solo musician. I will say this though. When I play with other guys in a band, we take it a little more seriously as far as being in a band goes. But 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 merit.
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 making an audience.
Would you sign a record contract with a major label? Maybe. Who knows. We're already signed to a Seattle indie label ANN from promoting the sh*** out of ourselves on ReverbNation.com. It's mainly non-profit though and for distribution purposes, but they were the first out of a billion other labels in the big pond that truly appreciated my music and motivated me to become better at what I do.
Your influences? White Stripes, Silverchair, Nirvana, Green Day, Dead Kennedys, Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Guns N' Roses, Oasis, AFI, Box Car Racer, Sum 41, deadmau5, Nobuo Uematsu, The Donnas, Nine Inch Nails, The Raveonettes, Black Keys.
Favorite spot? San Francisco Bay Area. Mostly Concord, SF, and Berkeley.
Equipment used: Toshiba laptop, Line6 TonePort & POD, Acoustica Mixcraft, Epiphone guitars...
And critical thinking when it comes to creating something cool. I do everything digitally, and put all the necessary pieces of music as mp3 files online on some cool websites.
Anything else...? Keep making music. No matter what people say or the things that gets in your way.
Reply
Heavy Sigma EPK written by Heath Andrews.
The Patrick Lew Band’s story doesn’t start off too atypically, it’s the age-old tale of a young thirteen year-old boy that picks up the guitar and finds out that rock & roll makes life a whole lot cooler than what it was. Flash forward through the years of friends, start-up bands, school, life in general, and eventually Lew found himself playing with his group, Band of Asians before having to invest his energies fulltime into college. Once he became settled in at California State University, going for his B.A. in Philosophy and Music, Lew began investing time into the Patrick Lew Band.
While primarily a rhythm guitar player, Lew’s been able to self-record much of his own music with a larger band sound by picking up the bass and programming some drum and percussion tracks to accompany him. He’s also been able to collaborate with a lot of different musicians over the last ten years, each of them contributing to the library of songs in Heavy Sigma’s arsenal. The legion of talented performers has included drummers David Arceo and Tommy Loi, guitarists Eddie Blackburn and Jeremy Alfonso, and keyboardist Zack Huang. Currently Lew is supported by keyboardist Greg Lynch, bassist David Hunter, and drummer and loving wife, Faith Marie Lew.
Most of Heavy Sigma’s material is instrumental, best described as “garage punk and grunge meets 70’s classic rock.” It has steadily been gaining popularity due to the entrepreneurial efforts of Patrick and Faith Marie Lee. Popular independent music website, ReverbNation.com currently ranks the band as the #1 group on the Punk genre charts from the Contra Costa County section of the Bay Area. Similar distinctions have been earned from the continued success of Lew’s music on other musical websites such as SoundCloud and SoundClick. Full versions of several of Lew’s songs can be found on these sites.
The last few years have seen a consistent string of album releases. 2009 brought about the releases of Curb Your Wild Life and Let it Rise and Against. These were followed up by 2011’s Murder Bay, and the 2012 Heavy Sigma release, Oddities: Studio Demos. And if you want to hear the progression of Lew’s music, you can also find the albums he released with Band of Asians, Band of Asians, Live!, Revenge, and The I Product. All of Lew’s catalog can be purchased through iTunes.
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 he’s 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.
Websites: Reverb Nation - http://www.reverbnation.com/patricklewsband Reverb Nation – http://www.reverbnation.com/heavysigmaband Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/heavysigma MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/patricklewsband Sound Click – http://www.soundclick.com/patricklewband
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The updated work in progress for the album Taiwanese Rebels is on sale.
16 minutes of the new Heavy Sigma album completed. You can buy the work in progress as an MP3 file on the band's ReverbNation page for $1.75
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It's in the past. But it was sure on helluva time.
A local Bay Area post-hardcore band I formerly played rhythm guitar and temporarily pursued a music career in. I've met several close friends and acquaintances during my high school and community college years, and sharing a similar passion and interest for performing and recording rock and roll music, brought myself and my former bandmates together to create one major album in a Daly City recording studio (2006 release "Revenge") and tour with local bands Tinkture and Scarlett Bombs across San Francisco on-and-off during 2007 with KLC Productions. We've attempted many times to land a licensing deal and other musical opportunities as a band at the time, but unfortunately never materialized. The Band of Asians disbanded amicably in early 2008, and I continued my music career and passion for it in other bands and alone since then.
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