Catch The Pink Hawks


Gene Davis, DDN Staff Writer
Thursday, January 1, 2009



The Pink Hawks make jam bands look lazy for falling back on any kind of song structure.
The experimental band has no songs rehearsed going into a show, preferring instead to make everything up on the spot. The result can be hit or miss depending on the concert, though the shows are always daring and interesting.
Yuzo Nieto, who founded the band along with Mike Neff, said he enjoys the possibilities that unrehearsed music provides.
"Whatever emotional state you are in at the time, it feeds into the performance," he said. "The music that ends coming out is some of the most innovative stuff out there."

Final lineup?
The Pink Hawks have had a revolving cast since the band formed in 2006. However, Yuzo said the band has finally settled into a solid lineup, which he thinks will produce positive results.
"We've developed a more solid sound," he said. "It's more synchronized now and more together."
'Very therapeutic'
The Pink Hawks is one of several projects that Nieto plays in. Pee Pee and Yuzo Nieto and the Hand That Rocks the Dreidel are more traditional outfits in the sense that they play established songs. And while the other two bands will likely find more success as a result, Nieto said Pink Hawks will always be dear to him.
"I like the Pink Hawks because it's so cathartic to play the music," he explained. "It's very therapeutic."

Divisive band
Not everyone will enjoy the Pink Hawks. The band's shows usually result in half the people leaving the room while the remaining audience moves closer to the stage with intense interest in where the music – which often resembles an acid-induced freak out — will go.
"I just like playing what I like to play, if people feel challenged by that then that's fine," said Nieto. "I'm just trying to play things from my heart."