I first saw the ‘comic book action punk band’ Peelander-Z (from the Planet Peelander) back in 2006. I’ve seen some colors come and go, different people dress up as bowling pins and cosplayers sliding into themselves at human bowling.

I’ve seen 200 people with varying degrees of musical skill join the band with instruments from a suitcase (and even the bands’ gear) playing a cacophony of noise that can only be described as a beautiful mess. Broken English punk chants ‘Mad Tiger’, ‘Medium Rare’ and my favorite ‘So Many Mike’ are on cue cards for the audience to sing along to, while squid and other Kaiju monsters make their way through the crowd. For the introverted nerd or geek, there was finally a punk band that could being you out of your shell.

The band feeds on this kind of happiness as well.

Lead by Peelander Yellow and his partner Peelander Red, a Peelander-Z show is like being in a Japanese comic book with action lines and full page spreads. The show is, by Yellow’s definition, “10% music and 90% theatre”. (Though you will be hard pressed not to be singing these songs to yourself days after a Peelander invasion).

Filmmakers Jonathan Yi and Michael Haertlein explore the relationship between the colorful band members in Mad Tiger, debuting in New York on May 6th. What started as a music documentary became the story of a relationship between two friends who are as close as family can ever be, and how Peelander-Z can navigate change.