The Ooks’ Patrick Hildebrand Talks Tunes and 1970s Pali Life

The bonfires are one of his earliest memories. Surrounded by flames and family, Patrick Hildebrand remembers the easygoing sounds of ukuleles swirling around the backyard bonfires at his grandparents’ house. Late into the night, the music played on. It has always been playing, for as long as he can remember.

Hildebrand is a musician in the purest form. And true to form, he picked up music for the first time with one thing on his mind.
The ladies.
He was thirteen when girls started to come into the picture.
“I was at a party one time and started playing the guitar. I had three or four girls sitting around me. I figured it out real quick,” he said. “Everybody skateboards, everybody surfs, but not every guy can play guitar.”
Hildebrand grew up in the El Medio Bluffs in the 1970s when it was peace, love, surf and skate in southern California.
Free to roam the streets of Pacific Palisades until his 9-o-clock curfew, Hildebrand would kick and push his way to Art Poole’s or the The Hot Dog Show for a bite to eat. Wind in his is shaggy hair; a five dollar bill burning a hole is pocket.
“I miss the 70s. It was just a really cool time to be a kid. Everything just seemed so on the cusp. Who knew what was going to happen? It was a lot more free and fun around here then,” said Hildebrand. “And I miss the ‘Greeners,’ those over-privileged, dirty, hippie kids that would hang out at the Village Green all day. Those kids had something groovy going on.”
Hildebrand found a way to get his own groovy thing going on – and tip his hat to the carefree ways of the ‘Greeners’ when he and his baby-faced friends formed one of the Palisades youngest rock bands, The Draft.
“We were a mommy-supported band in the Palisades, they were our roadies and our delivery system. For a pre-teen band, we had a solid two-year run playing the elementary school festivals,” he said.
The Draft made a comeback outside Steve’s Deli when the Class of ’86 celebrated their 25th reunion. The band was back together, if just for a night.
Looking for a way to keep the music going, Hildebrand was playing solo shows around the Westside, not searching for success, but for the chance to share his music to anyone who would listen. Then Hildebrand met Charlie Diaz and his ukulele around an open mic in Venice.
As organic as the sound of a ukulele, the pair fell together, playing open mics across the Westside. Requests for cover songs from enthusiastic fans led the two into a creative process that spawned a wild dream. Diaz said he wanted to create his own version of an orchestra.
Like pirates from Venice, he said. And Hildebrand was in.
“It was and still is all about music for the sake of music,” Hildebrand said. “Sure, we try to support ourselves doing it, but that isn’t what we’re about. It’s about making music, trying to have fun and playing good music organically.”
Soon, other musicians wanted to eat lunch with the cool kids and their ukuleles. Appeals to join the band came flooding in and The Ooks of Hazzard were born. While members have come and gone since the band’s inaugural jam session, the heart of the band remains the same.
Hildebrand sticks to production and recording.
Ed Marshal is on booking.
And Diaz surfs.
Today the band fluctuates between seven or eight members including an accordion player by the name of Mrs. Hobbs, a web designer with a daughter on the way to becoming a pro surfer. The addition came after the gut wrenching loss of their original accordion player, Danny Kopel to cancer several months ago. Before his passing, Kopel was part of a happenchance video collaboration the band hoped would help them book more local gigs.
The Ooks uploaded to YouTube their cover of MGMT’s 2008 hit “Kids” the same weekend that MGMT played Coachella, bringing the group worldwide attention. Within three days the video had reached 100,000 views. By the end of the week, those views had tripled.
“It was bizarre. The silliest videos go viral but the music stuff you have to fight a little more for, work a little harder,” said Hildebrand. “It was insane. We were all trying to think of a song to do for a video to get us gigs and Kids seemed to be the best choice because how cool is that to cover a techno song on ukuleles?”
The video now has more than a ½ million views.
Music has flooded every corner and every crack of Hildebrand’s world. Now a father to two, he balances band practice with teaching at Amazing Music, a family shop that’s been an institution in the Palisades since the early 80s.
“I was more resistant towards formal reading, music theory and all that. I think that’s why I do well with the kids who are resisting, because I understand. I sneak it in,” he said. “Having the formal training shoved down my throat as a child just didn’t appeal to me. I was a kid of the 70s with a skateboard and hair down to here. I wanted to be out at Palisades Elementary skateboarding after school.”
Since his elementary days Hildebrand danced between playing guitar, bass and the drums before he entered the ukulele scene and he is adding yet another instrument to the list.
“My new love is the banjo lately, because I’ve been inspired by other people who want to learn it,” he said. “They keep saying it’s on their bucket list and I look at these people and say, we’re far from bucket list days.”
As they stave off the bucket list days, the opportunities keep coming for The Ooks who have played cross-country shows this year, including a Wedding March in the Redwood Forest. There are no limits to what this group might achieve because they have no rules. But they do have songs to share and have released a five-song EP with a full-length album in the works.
The band of writers is focusing on original compositions because while being a cover band has served them well, Hildebrand said The Ooks want to explore the fact they can write music and do it on ukuleles. And why not? For The Ooks of Hazzard, music is something to give away as freely as it has come to them.
“We’re all family men. We aren’t trying to be rock stars, we’re just people playing music for other people” said Hildebrand. “When we play, we give it our all. We’re fortunate to have this really fun hobby that we love and is turning into a really great thing. We’ll ride it as far is takes us.”