| The College Years (2005 - present)
A trip to the music store was what Audio did to get his musical instruments and computer applications created the musical group. formerly known as Samurai Sorcerers now called Audio Rage.
BACK IN TIME on May 8, 2004, Audios band of high school musicians Samurai Sorcerers were the most infamous band in the Bay Area as they played music for gigs across the CITY. Tens of few had stayed at the playground or school talent show to cash in on Audio and Eddie Blackburns Samurai Sorcerers play that show in support of their album Psychotic Love which was due out around Christmas. The album Psychotic Love finally was available through the Samurai Sorcerers and Audios website. The one that started it all! But by the summer of 2005 their fortunes and careers had changed. After 3 years of drug addiction, musical controversies, onstage tantrums and occasional drama, their members began to drift away fast, their co-leader Audio had become bogged down in personal hardships, and The Blizzard of Sound, a collection of rock n roll songs recorded in Eddies house, had been released to mixed reviews and disappointing sales.
The members of Audios band of Samurai Sorcerers what was left of it emerged at Eddies house to begin the band practice. A room with a pool table and two video game consoles, they began to prepare for their next album, which the group expected to release some time the next year. But what was once music and rock ensemble magic quickly began suffering from an illness that has proved fatal to bands from time onwards immemorial: BOREDOM. Mr. Patrick Lew himself tried to hire new musicians by placing ads in the local newspaper, and that proved to be a disaster with bad results. Mr. Patrick Lew (Audio) had appointed himself the leader of the project along with Eddie as well, but Audio didnt seem to know where to lead. As Eddie Blackburn, the bands longtime session/onstage guitarist, thought the starving artists songwriting style along with the procrastinations at band practice fatiguing. Audio also enrolled at City College of San Francisco studying music and media/electronic arts, there was the school where Patrick Lew studied music and electronic arts, and made a concerted most unsuccessful effort to fit in socially with other students. Working a part-time job at a comic book store, he barely had enough money to survive in purchasing new instruments at the local guitar store. He tried his hand going to Skyline College, but got supsended for a FIGHT he had with another kid. An electronica mix called Battle Royale, released on Samurai Sorcerers website, would be the last addition to the original ROCK BANDs catalog. Eddie and bassist Shawn quit the band on August 2005, and so did the Asian girls who played the instruments for the Samurai Sorcerers anime show. Of the founding members and survivors, Audio was just left.
But rather dwell on the past he created the de facto Samurai Sorcerers project: Audio Rage. He did it all with the computer, instruments he got from Guitar Center and sometimes (but rarely) studio musicians hired from a paper ad. He had a few musicians hired for studio time for a short-term job to make Audio Rage and the music come alive, guitarist Mark Hawkins only played a job for ONE DAY in the studio with Audio and the revised band. Audio and a good friend Zack Huang then assembled Audio Rages home and workshop which was the studio became a rockers playground: Two video game consoles, home entertainment system, a huge DVD and record library, state-of-the-art computer applications and equipment and as many as 10 instruments lying around. But Audio wasnt just there for fun and games. Zack stepped in to produce some song ideas in the studio near the end of 2005, and visited the bedroom workshop when Audio and him began talking about the project and music, and insisted his friend Patrick Lew (or Audio) can focus more on composing and playing. At band practice on Dec 22, 2005, Zack and Audio managed to study Audio Rages musical ideas on a notebook and called the first shot the song Asian Woman Blues which became the new revised bands first original song (Mr. Lew fussed over the song so much that, he, Zack and other studio technicians and engineers stayed up until 5am adjusting the music to the one-man bands standards). But it was panned by some critics, while delighted by many others. Another song from the NEW BAND, The Final Hour earned poor reviews and became very quickly forgotten.
Band practice was fun, but more work followed. Soon afterwards, Audio AKA Patrick Lew created more musical showcase Audio Rage websites via internet or revised the Samurai Sorcerers ones into Audio Rage. Audio burned as many as six CDs on his computer with various mixes of different songs, which he studied. Audio Rages archive of recorded works in his library swelled into include more than 350 digital audio tapes and other media, all ideas of music recorded for Audio Rages upcoming album [we will get to that later] of Audios new music and to label the progress of the songs. The tapes remain in the bedroom's closet. He did pass out the flyers to his one-man band by going to KINKOS to make copies of his websites.
By musical analysis of the work in Audios bedroom, the one-man band kept roughly 12 songs for the A list for the album and another 35 or so in various stages of production on the B list. Audio Rages new album was now going to be called Revenge. The name of the record came from Audios diary of his life and career throughout the 2000s as he went through tons of personal hardships and shortcomings in his musical and school career. Some songs from the album project for Audio Rage (both A and B list musical works) have yet to include vocals/songwriting because of Mr. Lews writers block and his inability to write lyrics or storytelling poetry to sing along to because he felt he wasnt a good singer/songwriter and focused more on playing musical instruments for his group. However the electronic-made instrumentals and band without vocals were actually pretty good. Broken Hearts Become One, War! and others were some of the strongest material Audio has made ever in music.
The process was drawn out even further after Audio (Mr. Lew) hired a new musician DJ and college friend David Arceo whom had prior experience with MIDI and electronica in his musical career. Still Audio seemed to be emerging beyond his garage band dramas out of his past. In early 2006, for what would be the first time since the Psychotic Love tour ended in February 2005, he performs in public, with his community college band of friends at Serramonte Shopping Mall at Daly City. Currently at work on his Audio Rage bands album Revenge in his studio using his musical instruments and computer programs, Audio is still an active musician on the Bay Area local scene and is also in focus of finishing community college.
The Story of My College Life...
School of Audio, the bandname came from Audio as musicians come to the group to help out. His nickname Audio (AKA Patrick Lew) came from his Skyline College friend David "Knuckles" Arceo, whom also plays music with Patrick in his band.
At the time, Audio AKA Patrick Lew was in his then-school band Samurai Sorcerers, which the group members have since on bad terms parted ways. Then, Patrick Lew was starting to discover the complexity and unique ways of making music through a PC computer, digitial recording and music programs. Sometimes, he would place "musician wanted" ads on Craigslist.org to see if anyone can take the opportunity to play music with Samurai Sorcerers inside Patrick's studio or playing music through a gig onstage.
Musician and college kid Patrick Lew spent his school career at City College of San Francisco, studying electronics but not "fitting in" during his first tenure at the college. He was at CCSF from August 2004 through September 2005.
As School of Audio and as a musician, Patrick was doing social activities outside of college by doing gigs and making music on a PC and guitar and having equipment shipped to his bedroom. Patrick had then grew a deep affinity for electronic music, primarily because of his bandmates Eddie and Shawn from Samurai Sorcerers doing an ongoing touring group, Logic's Enemy. He was tinkering and experimenting with computer programming, and played a lot of keyboards. He was probably one of the few musicians to own a limited edition Epiphone Les Paul guitar with the slick 1962 HOT WHEELS Car design, which he bought at Guitar Center for 200 bucks.
Towards the end of that year, Samurai Sorcerers was dead. But Patrick Lew received lots of computer music software from his buddy Zack whenever Patrick dropped by his condo which was a five minute walk to Geneva-Mission where Zack lived. He was traveling a lot back and forth in Asia. Patrick and his friend Zack dropped by many computer and music stores to look for computer applications and musical instruments for Patrick to make his music on MIDI (computer programs) or electric guitar.
The Samurai Sorcerers did not play a gig since May of 2005, and was jamming with each other endlessly with Patrick's friend Zack on keyboards in Eddie's house in the Marina district in San Francisco, which was a 1 1/2 hour MUNI bus ride back to Patrick's house in the Excelsior district in the other side of the city. Patrick, Eddie, Shawn and Zack got together to play music with the typical two guitars, bass, drums and keyboards ROCK ENSEMBLE, but the efforts to create a new album failed for the group as different personalities of band members and etc. Patrick Lew has since been on bad terms with the band's alumni.
Patrick was looking for a girlfriend at the time, but was unable to find a romance partner he was searching for during that life experience. In terms of being a college student and musician, he played music in his garage band Audio Rage and began purchasing instruments and PC applications from his trip to Guitar Center after school.
In October 2005, he went to Skyline College for school and jumped ship to their community college for a little bit instead. Around the same time, Patrick formed his one-man "virtual" musical group Audio Rage (or School of Audio).
In September 2005, Samurai Sorcerers was dead. But Patrick Lew received lots of computer music software from his buddy Zack whenever Patrick dropped by his condo which was a five minute walk to Geneva-Mission where Zack lived. He was traveling a lot back and forth in Asia. Patrick and his friend Zack dropped by many computer and music stores to look for computer applications and musical instruments for Patrick to make his music on MIDI (computer programs) or electric guitar.
Patrick filled out an online application to resurface his college life at Skyline College from the San Mateo community college county. Although he signed a long-term contract with the community college on October 6, 2005 on campus, he would not make his college debut at Skyline until January 2006. The thing off was spent on artistic and creative interests like playing music in Audio Rage and traveling with his family in Hong Kong. He also took time off to "romances" with his girlfriend he met at his musical performance Yoshiko and others he met online. Patrick kept busy, purchasing computer applications to "make music" at Best Buy and paying a visit to the music store for Christmas.
When Patrick Lew went to Skyline College, debuting at this school on January 17, 2006, he seemed to not go anywhere for the next few days. All that changed when he formed a clique and social network of friends at Skyline he called "School of Audio Rage" which included classmates and musician friends in the family. Some of his best friends here were Anthony, David, Shannon (his Valentine), Myra and etc. This clique and gang of Skyline friends became the elite of the college campus and it propelled Patrick Lew to main-event status at Skyline. While his grades were decent enough, his non-stop social life at Skyline in the school's cafeteria was legendary.
Usually on school campus, Patrick and his School of Audio Rage played music by bringing their guitars from home to school to play some rock & roll or even teach the clique how to play music better on a six-string axe. After school, life was all about hanging at Serramonte Shopping Mall. Patrick had a romantic rendezvous with his classmate Shannon Mifsud which became gossip in various Audio Rage's website and on school.
David Arceo, Patrick’s best friend nowadays, gave him his nickname Audio after his musical group School of Audio Rage. David joined the band in April 2006 during a band practice at Patrick’s house and using the computer and some computer programs like “Band in the Box 2005” to create music.
But fun at this college campus would be met with such pleasure. Patrick and his best friend David attended a local rap concert held at Skyline College's theater on February 19, 2006 which included well-known Bay Area hip-hop musicians and performers. Patrick's last hurrah at Skyline College was a rock & roll film festival held privately at the school on March 3, 2006, with Skyline's group of musicians and school rebels School of Audio Rage attending for the moviefest.
His last day as musician/artist student at Skyline College was on March 10, 2006 as a school cop told him privately, he was fired from the college for a backstage college campus fight with a student at Skyline named Aaron Cheng for hazing and blackmailing him in public at the college cafeteria. Leaving Patrick to end his college career and tenure at Skyline on very bad terms.
Sadly, Patrick’s secret romance and close friendship with his best friend at Skyline, Shannon ended in bitter acrimony for personal reasons.
As embarrassing as it was, Patrick had a fun college career and tenure at Skyline for school, only to be publicly fired. He did manage to promote his music at Skyline College in the cafeteria by playing music for gigs and invited some of his musician friends at Skyline to create the SIDE PROJECT, Band of Skyline Asian Musicians, as a tribute to Patrick’s life at that school.
He has since went back to City College of San Francisco for school and education career a happier and stronger young man.
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