Patrick Lew Band Biography

 Some artists, more than others, remind you of how much there is to discover when it comes to music and art. And you know it now, our redaction's mission is to discover unique creations made by the artists of tomorrow. The Patrick Lew Band, which we have just discovered, belongs to this category.

The band PLB (Patrick Lew Band) is a Sino-Japanese punk rock band from San Francisco, California. They have been active on-and-off from 2001 to the present day. They play and compose a bunch of different styles of music: Rock, Electronic, and Metal mostly!


This is an established group that has been around for over a decade, yet still maintains a fresh sound and youthful enthusiasm. The song combines elements of metal, punk, and good old rock and roll. A good way to describe it would be if you combined heavy metal guitars with old school punk. 


There's some really excellent guitar and bass playing on this track, much more technical and polished than what one normally expects from this genre. This demonstrates the band's experience and professionalism, with the slick solos and razor-sharp timing.

Listening to PLB is the guarantee to be captivated into sensations and to finally plunge into something new. 


Don't waste a second and live the experience right now!


More information about Patrick Lew Band (PLB).

PATRICK LEW BAND BIO 

Music is to the soul what words are to the mind. And "Patrick Lew Band" or also known as PLB is one such amazing music group. Based out of San Francisco, they have roots all across the globe which includes places like Japan and Taiwan. With their mesmerizing music and creative talents, Patrick Lew Band has achieved widespread fame and the love of millions of fans. Dominating the Electronic, rock, and garage punk scene, their music makes you feel alive and overall radiates positivity. The founder of the Patrick Lew Band is a phenomenally talented artist called Patrick Allan Lew who is an Asian American. Passionate and dedicated, Patrick has been evolving and honing his skills, delivering stunning results.

Taking inspiration from legendary music artists like the "The Beatles", "The Rolling Stones" and "The Kinks", Patrick combined his musical talents and created a fresh and unique music style of his own. His creations have a fusion of fire and ice, combining the best of all the musical elements. Music is the shorthand of emotion, and the way Patrick pours out his emotions into melody is remarkable. With peppy and energetic music, Patrick Lew Band is one of the rising talents of the music industry. Creating dynamic and sensational music, Patrick Lew Band has earned a name for themselves, and the love of thousands of fans.



This sensational music band is comprised of some talented and passionate individuals which include Patrick Lew, Madeline Lew, David Arceo, Eddie Blackburn, and Tommy Loi. Together, these musicians combine their talents and create awe-inspiring music. The Patrick Lew Band has a unique style of creating music, and their creations take its audience into a whole new dimension, making them experience pure bliss and nirvana through melody.

Patrick Lew himself is a passionate and talented individual, with a drive inside him that pushed him ahead in life, evolving and growing his skills. Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Patrick had incorporated music into his life since a very young age. The American singer, songwriter, and Kamikaze guitarist is always on the grind, honing and improving his craft. Along with his musical adventures, Patrick is also well known on the internet as an inspiring and talented influencer, with an ever-growing Instagram and YouTube Handel. Patrick is also the first Japanese-American male who is a 40 under 40 Hall of Fame Class of 2019 inductee, at the California State University.



Over time, Patrick has grown and evolved the Patrick Lew Band and their punk rock music has inspired and touched millions of lives. Patrick himself has had a remarkable journey and career being an independent music artist. The music industry is a dynamic and challenging universe, with place only for the best and most talented individuals, and Patrick and his music band have earned a place for themselves with their sensational and addictive music. And as you might have heard, "Music once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies".

The modern era of music has given way to enigmas and artists of all shapes and forms who break the norm of what we have come to expect as far as what an artist truly is. The Patrick Lew Band is one such entity that epitomises the essence of the modern era. A multi-talented Sino-Japanese rock band lead by Patrick Lew, and his alter ego sister Madeline Lew. Patrick was born in San Francisco, CA. The Band is making music that is thoughtful, conscious and driven by a desire to motivate, inspire, comfort and spread love and joy to all those that hear it.

Born to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother of mixed descent, his journey in music really began in 2001 while he was still in high school and eventually playing in various bands. He later attended California State University East Bay in Hayward, CA, and graduated with a B.A in Philosophy and minored in Music Composition. After the creation of his fictional twin sister Madeline Lew through special effects and Photoshop Patrick then transitioned into making his own music with the Patrick Lew Band. It was during this period of evolution that the Band's creativity and undeniable talent began to shine through. They ultimately developed a style of making music that is transparent, daring, full of hope and reflective of their experiences. The band's goal is to become a voice of the Asian-American community and shed light to an underrepresented minority in the American music industry. The band is focused on becoming a worldwide phenomenon and touching as many lives as possible regardless of race, age, religion and sexual orientation. The Band's music is an encapsulation of their thoughts and ambitions, turning pain into purpose and lessons into studio sessions.

Patrick Lew Band has had a vast array of musical influences, however they accredit the pivotal influences in the music to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Miyavi, X Japan, BTS, The Sex Pistols, Oasis, Green Day, Guns N Roses, The Fall, Beyond (Hong Kong Band), Jim Johnston, Jimi Hendrix, Metallica, 2Pac, The White Stripes, The Kinks, Hatsune Miku, Led Zeppelin, Motley Crue, Silverchair, Michael Jackson, Danny Chan, The Velvet Underground, The Clash, B'z, Guitar Wolf, CFO$, Public Enemy, White Lion, and The Faces.. This all culminates in the Patrick Lew Band producing a musical experience that is enjoyable, easy going and fun but still seeks to provoke thought. The Band uses music as a vehicle to express perspectives and tell stories.

Patrick Lew Band currently has 12 official projects in their repertoire namely, Jump! Rattle! And Roll!!! (2006), Let It Rise and Against (2009), Murder Bay (2011), Angry Yellow - EP (2012), Bubblegum Babylon (2015), Oakland (2017), Cold Sirens (2017), History Pt. 1: 2001-2016 Boxed Set (2018), Immortality (2020), Codebreaker (2020), Rolling Thunder (2021) and No Sleep Till San Francisco! (2021). The Band will be releasing more music that will serve as motivation to face the new challenges that every day brings. The ambition is for the music to fully empower the people worldwide and make them have positive vibes all around them. To turn every negative situation into a positive one, and have a good time. Their music will showcase their lyricism in a uniquely constructed piece of musical artistry with a sound exhibits not only versatility and prowess but will surely cement their style and pave the way for the varied expressions of their musical ideas and artistic craft. This is the music that will push the boundaries of our perception as well as inspire and drive us to introspective conversations. It's the music that may not change the world, but can change the people in the world.

Patrick Lew Band (PLB) is taking over!

 Listeners from six continents worldwide have heard my music in PLB (Patrick Lew Band) on both Spotify and Apple Music.

Countries who've heard my band PLB range from the United States, Japan, England, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, Mexico and many more.

The only continent that's missing is Antarctica. Lol.

It's rather strange, overwhelming and yet brilliantly fascinating too. I'm just an average working-class Joe of Asian descent who happens to make music in my own bedroom in this 2-Story family house in San Francisco. And put it out there on social-media.

I live a double life. During the day, I slice meat and make sandwiches for Karen's and the cool people at the grocery store Safeway. By night, I'm pulling a Beatles from circa 1967-70 by locking myself at home. Constantly trying to make new tracks and digital content.

I'm not on MTV. I'm not on the covers of Rolling Stone magazine. And I never really perform live shows outside California typically, aside from a few dates in Japan and Hong Kong from 2 years ago!

A lot of those 30-Something countries from those six continents I've never traveled to or even stepped foot in.

Yet, it amazes me that I kind of now have a global presence with the band PLB. All because of me putting myself out there, and word of mouth online. At the same time, it overwhelms me because I never expected myself to reach this point in my music really. Because not too long ago some time back in the 2000s and early 2010s, I wasn't "ready" yet. It was still a local attraction and hobby for the most part.

Now I'm earning passive income sporadically. Because of PLB royalties. People reach out to me for interviews occasionally on YouTube. The music bloggers online even said better things about Patrick Lew Band that wouldn't have ever happened back in the year 2008 really.

But at the same time, I'm very grateful it happened and I earned it. Even at this stage of my music right now! I mean, I'm pushing 40.

The Patrick Lew Band Story

"Hello! My name is Patrick L. Hayashi. Im a 35 year old Asian-American who is born, raised and currently living in San Francisco, California. Thank you for visiting my page (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, etc etc) and taking the time to listen to my music or watching my videos. I sincerely and definitely appreciate it! I hope that you enjoy the music that I post on here. If there is anything about my work that resonates with you, whether it be the lyrics or the compositions themselves, I am truly grateful and honored that it did. I hope to connect with many musicians and listeners across the world, regardless of musical genre, race, color, creed, sexual orientation or religion. My music is Patrick Lew Band. And right now. You are reading and listening to my story on social-media."

 In 2001, Patrick Lew-Hayashi formed a band under the banner Patrick Lew Band in his hometown of San Francisco, CA, when he was just 15 years old. At the time, Hayashi played guitar and occasionally sang and they had a lead guitarist named Eddie and a drummer by the name of Tommy Loi. Most of Hayashis early years in the indie music circuit was playing in a garage band mostly. In 2005, Hayashi was attending City College of San Francisco and was briefly signed to an indie label based in La Jolla, CA. After he was dropped from his developmental contract with the label, Hayashi decided to book studio time with the help of his friends.

Most of the time, Hayashi was on the Internet putting his bands music out there. While recording a demo in a local recording studio, the band eventually came up with enough music to self-release a full-length album. On November 15, 2006, which was also Patrick Lew Hayashis 21st birthday, the Patrick Lew Band released their debut album JUMP, RATTLE, AND ROLL on CDBaby. Patrick Lew Band would begin to sporadically play small shows in the San Francisco area by 2007 with a frequently changing line-up. They originally attempted to pitch in with the post-hardcore scene, but the band did not fit in as they were considered too raw, lo- fi and unhinged. Their first single AZN GIRLS was posted online during late 2007, leading to a critical backlash among the band locally and social-media over unbeknownst reasons. Around this same period, the bands chiptune rearranged cover of the Nirvana song Drain You was published on Nirvanaclub.com. By 2008, Hayashi built a home studio and began recording demos rigorously throughout the year. However, an intense backlash over his music and public persona intensified on social-media. By this time, the band had dwindled to Hayashi and his close friend and drummer David Arceo. While attending CSU East Bay to study a B.A. in Philosophy, he rebuilt Patrick Lew Band around himself and Arceo with three of his former toxic friends Jeremy, Greg and David Hunter. During 2009, Patrick Lew Band began making their strides in the regional music scene and on the Internet. Their song Everyone Loves Ashley brought them to notoriety and initial indie-level fame. Between 2009 to 2012, the band would write and record up to as many as 60 songs per year in their home studio. The band was trying their very hardest to land a spot in the major leagues. To have something to fall back on, Hayashi taught himself the fundamentals of the indie music business and being his own entrepreneur in the digital age. During this period, Patrick Lew Band had aborted plans to tour locally. Adding more trouble to the dysfunctional garage band, they canceled an offer to perform a benefit show at UC Berkeley in Fall 2010 because of tensions within the Patrick Lew Band. However, the group would perform live in the Antioch area occasionally during some of 2011 with Hayashi and his former friend/bandmate Greg Lynch on guitar and lead vocals on stage. Some of these performances can be found and since leaked on Patrick Lew- Hayashis official YouTube channel. Between 2009 to 2012, the Patrick Lew Band self-released their music online: Let It Rise And Against (2009), Murder Bay (2011) and the EP Angry Yellow (2012). On February 4, 2012, Patrick Lew Band performed at Dolores Park in San Francisco. After taking a few years away from the music scene and indies because of a failed common-law marriage with his then-partner Faith and very well documented personal problems, Hayashi made his return to music with the Patrick Lew Band by the beginning of 2015. Embarking on their most profitable and memorable run in the indie music circuit. 2015 began with Hayashi being appointed the Ambassador for Antennas Direct. And conducting a televised interview with the 24 HOUR K-POP music TV channel in the San Francisco Bay Area. While maintaining a stabilized indie music career, Hayashi also began working traditional day jobs following his college graduation from CSU East Bay. Working numerous day jobs such as a cashier at Walgreens, a computer sales associate at Best Buy. By this time, the bands line-up had just whittled down to just Hayashi and Arceo. Around this same period, Patrick Lew-Hayashi introduced a crossdressing M2F alter ego by the name of Madeline Lew Hayashi into the band. Created from digital special effects, CGI and Photoshop. In a music marketing storyline, Madelines role in the band is described as, the long lost younger sister of Patrick Lew-Hayashi saving the band from failure and bringing his band and his music back to prominence. Madeline Lews introduction into the Patrick Lew Band as a virtual band member and mascot brought Patrick Lews profitability back to prominence in the music scene and helped Patrick Lew Band achieve publicity and moderate indie-level success that he did not accomplish prior to 2015. The bands drummer David Arceo mutually departed from the Patrick Lew Band in mid-2016 to pursue other life avenues. The success and exposure that the Patrick Lew Band received during this period included a couple music blogs writing about the Patrick Lew Band online and being mentioned on-air on Bay Area rock FM radio station 107.7 THE BONE. The band was mostly recording in their home studio in San Francisco. By 2016, the band launched their own label and multimedia start-up Promisedland. The band was often working on new music in their home recording studio between 2015 and early 2017. The Patrick Lew Band would release their album OAKLAND on Valentines Day 2017. Tragically, Hayashis beloved mother Winnie passed away on April 8, 2017. For most of the year, Hayashi laid low. He returned to the music scene as Patrick Lew Band later in the year, working with booking agents AFTON SHOWS. He and his alter ego Madeline Lew would perform at Brick & Mortar Music Hall on October 8, 2017. By the end of 2017, the Patrick Lew Band no longer was a full-time responsibility as Hayashi began working a stable full-time job at Chocolate Heaven Pier 39. He also began only sporadically making studio recording appearances with the band as he branched his talents to other outlets and playing music with local bands outside of Patrick Lew Band. On March 17, 2020, Patrick Lew Hayashi shocked the world and Internet music community when he randomly announced the return of Patrick Lew Band on his Instagram and Facebook page. And furthered his intentions in the music scene amidst COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Because of his band Benigneglects uncertainty, Hayashi didnt want to not have anything to do during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Advancements in technology and modern formats enabled the return of Patrick Lew Band and helped accommodate their music and band for their audience during Quarantine. Such as live stream concerts and a virtual fan club exclusively through PLBs main hubs online: Facebook, Twitter, IG and YouTube. The return of Patrick Lew Band involved Patrick Lew Hayashi himself and the return of his kayfabe sister Madeline in the bands lineup. Within the next couple of months, a flurry of activity followed. Patrick Lew Band made its first major appearance since their return to music by hosting a series of live stream concerts directly at Lewnatic/PLB HQ on the Covid Concert Series group on Facebook. After a dismal and lukewarm response in regards to PLB in the Covid Concert Series group on Facebook, PLB decided to revert to their YouTube channel for live stream Quarantine concerts and fresh new online content. Between April to July 2020, the band had created and uploaded at least 20 new YouTube videos on PLBs channel. The band was also busy working on new music in their home studio Lewnatic HQ in San Francisco. Rigorously practicing and creating new material. The band would release their first new music of all-new originals and not rehashes/off-cuts since 2017, a three-song EP titled PARIAH on May 1, 2020. Sister Madeline Lew was also involved in many projects outside PLB as well, including making music for a solo EP titled TO THE MOON AND BACK and making amateur JOI videos on Pornhub. During this fruitful period however, the band was not free from criticism, controversy and toxic energies. But to much of the bands relief, this thankfully did not lead to a third social-media backlash for Patrick Lew Band. As the bands circle of stans and numbers in the digital age grew rapidly and skyrocketed during this eventful period since returning. The week after, Patrick and Madeline returned to their day jobs while continuing doing music with PLB full-time. They also occasionally worked with Yandie on new material in separate home studios (SF & San Jose) for their other band Crazy Loser in a Box. On June 13, 2020, Patrick was interviewed via FaceTime with his good friend Howard Billington from the Japanese music scene for their YouTube channel The Baka Broadcast about PLB and the East Asian music scene and community. The podcast real-time interview would be posted a week later worldwide online. During the month of July 2020, Patrick Lew Band was featured on four prolific different music blogs on the Internet. All thanks to the music marketing services with the right middlemen on Fivver app. Currently. PLB is hard at work on some new music and continuing to do their thang in the indie music scene and as prolific online content creators. Theres really only more to come!

STAY TUNED!

VH-1 BEHIND THE MUSIC: PATRICK LEW BAND (PLB)

HISTORY:

2001-19: PATRICK LEW BAND

In 2001, Patrick Lew-Hayashi formed a band under the banner Patrick Lew Band in his hometown of San Francisco, CA, when he was just 15 years old. At the time, Hayashi played guitar and occasionally sang and they had a lead guitarist named Eddie and a drummer by the name of Tommy Loi. Most of Hayashi’s early years in the indie music circuit was playing in a garage band mostly. In 2005, Hayashi was attending City College of San Francisco and was briefly signed to an indie label based in La Jolla, CA. After he was dropped from his developmental contract with the label, Hayashi decided to book studio time with the help of his friends.

Most of the time, Hayashi was on the Internet putting his band’s music out there. While recording a demo in a local recording studio, the band eventually came up with enough music to self-release a full-length album. On November 15, 2006, which was also Patrick Lew Hayashi’s 21st birthday, the Patrick Lew Band released their debut album JUMP, RATTLE, AND ROLL on CDBaby.

Patrick Lew Band would begin to sporadically play small shows in the San Francisco area by 2007 with a frequently changing line-up. They originally attempted to pitch in with the post-hardcore scene, but the band did not fit in as they were considered too raw, lo- fi and unhinged. Their first single “AZN GIRLS” was posted online during late 2007, leading to a critical backlash among the band locally and social-media over unbeknownst reasons. Around this same period, the band’s chiptune rearranged cover of the Nirvana song Drain You was published on Nirvanaclub.com.

By 2008, Hayashi built a home studio and began recording demos rigorously throughout the year. However, an intense backlash over his music and public persona intensified on social-media. By this time, the band had dwindled to Hayashi and his close friend and drummer David Arceo. While attending CSU East Bay to study a B.A. in Philosophy, he rebuilt Patrick Lew Band around himself and Arceo with three of his former toxic friends Jeremy, Greg and David Hunter.

Amidst the troubled and trying times, Hayashi re-located to Antioch, CA to live with his mother Winnie.

During 2009, Patrick Lew Band began making their strides in the regional music scene and on the Internet. Their song “Everyone Loves Ashley” brought them to notoriety and initial indie-level fame. Between 2009 to 2012, the band would write and record up to as many as 60 songs per year in their home studio. The band was trying their very hardest to land a spot in the major leagues. To have something to fall back on, Hayashi taught himself the fundamentals of the indie music business and being his own entrepreneur in the digital age.

During this period, Patrick Lew Band had aborted plans to tour locally. Adding more trouble to the dysfunctional garage band, they canceled an offer to perform a benefit show at UC Berkeley in Fall 2010 because of tensions within the Patrick Lew Band. However, the group would perform live in the Antioch area occasionally during some of 2011 with Hayashi and his former friend/bandmate Greg Lynch on guitar and lead vocals on stage. Some of these performances can be found and since leaked on Patrick Lew- Hayashi’s official YouTube channel.

Between 2009 to 2012, the Patrick Lew Band self-released their music online: Let It Rise And Against (2009), Murder Bay (2011) and the EP Angry Yellow (2012).

On February 4, 2012, Patrick Lew Band performed at Dolores Park in San Francisco. After taking a few years away from the music scene and indies because of a failed common-law marriage with his then-partner Faith and very well documented personal problems, Hayashi made his return to music with the Patrick Lew Band by the beginning of 2015. Embarking on their most profitable and memorable run in the indie music circuit. 2015 began with Hayashi being appointed the Ambassador for Antennas Direct. And conducting a televised interview with the 24 HOUR K-POP music TV channel in the San Francisco Bay Area.

While maintaining a stabilized indie music career, Hayashi also began working traditional day jobs following his college graduation from CSU East Bay. Working numerous day jobs such as a cashier at Walgreens, a computer sales associate at Best Buy and a local

By this time, the band’s line-up had just whittled down to just Hayashi and Arceo. Around this same period, Patrick Lew-Hayashi introduced a crossdressing M2F alter ego by the name of Madeline Lew Hayashi into the band. Created from digital special effects, CGI and Photoshop. In a music marketing storyline, Madeline’s role in the band is described as, “the long lost younger sister of Patrick Lew-Hayashi saving the band from failure and bringing his band and his music back to prominence.”

Madeline Lew-Hayashi’s introduction into the Patrick Lew Band as a virtual band member and mascot brought Patrick Lew’s profitability back to prominence in the music scene and helped Patrick Lew Band achieve publicity and moderate indie-level success that he did not accomplish prior to 2015. The band’s drummer David Arceo mutually departed from the Patrick Lew Band in mid-2016 to pursue other life avenues. The success and exposure that the Patrick Lew Band received during this period included a couple music blogs writing about the Patrick Lew Band online and being mentioned on-air on Bay Area rock FM radio station 107.7 THE BONE.

The band was mostly recording in their home studio in San Francisco. By 2016, the band launched their own label and multimedia start-up Promisedland. The band was often working on new music in their home recording studio between 2015 and early 2017. The Patrick Lew Band would release their album OAKLAND on Valentines Day 2017.

Tragically, Hayashi’s beloved mother Winnie passed away on April 8, 2017. For most of the year, Hayashi laid low. He returned to the music scene as Patrick Lew Band later in the year, working with booking agents AFTON SHOWS. He and his alter ego Madeline Lew would perform at Brick & Mortar Music Hall on October 8, 2017.

By the end of 2017, the Patrick Lew Band no longer was a full-time responsibility as Hayashi began working a stable full-time job at Chocolate Heaven Pier 39. He also began only sporadically making studio recording appearances with the band as he branched his talents to other outlets and playing music with local bands outside of Patrick Lew Band.

The Patrick Lew Band would officially become discontinued on June 8, 2019. One day following Patrick Lew-Hayashi receiving the 40 Under 40 award at his alma mater CSU East Bay. He would become the first major Japanese-American male to receive the high honor.

LEWNATIC/BENIGEGLECT (2019-2020)

Following the disbanding of Patrick Lew Band, Hayashi kept a low-profile. Instead, focusing on his day job as a chocolatier at Pier 39 and courier work.

On July 2, 2019, Patrick Lew-Hayashi announced worldwide through a press release that he would be pursuing a solo career under the name LEWNATIC. And was going “back to basics” as an artist. Focusing less on adhering to the traditions of the music industry and placing more emphasis on passion: “making metal music and putting it out there for everyone and living a more simple life.”

Intense guitar session videos were immediately filmed on his phone and posted all over Hayashi’s social-media accounts (ex. Facebook, Instagram and etc) as a buildup to an actual home studio recording.

He explained the second breakup of Patrick Lew Band: “I started Patrick Lew Band. I ended it. Simple as that.

The real reason? I felt I've done that all I could creatively with PLB. And made all the impact I needed to and desired. And it was one of those grandiose ideas where it became a boring exercise to make sophisticated rock music where it didn't go as far as I would have liked it to.

I've said to myself before, "once the PLB runs out of creativity and becomes in danger of becoming a caricature of its former self. That was the time to pull the plug on Patrick Lew Band." Plus I've made all that impact I've needed to with Patrick Lew Band in just almost 20 years but not the way I wanted it to be.

Rather than spare myself more trouble trying to push PLB to major league status. I've went the other route as a solo artist where I just wanted to be free from the anxiety and stress and play music as a labor of love rather than pressure and push myself to become the G.O.A.T in rock and roll.”

The band Lewnatic was intended as a born-again Japanese punk rock and thrash metal outlet for Patrick Lew-Hayashi. The image of the band was directly inspired by Japanese rock star Miyavi Ishihara and the Korean boy band BTS. The band’s name initially was Lewnatic Park, which was suggested by Hayashi’s close friend Rob Silver as an anagram of his birthname. The band’s name would eventually be shortened to LEWNATIC as Hayashi didn’t want the music business and the audience to mistaken the new solo project as a Linkin Park tribute band and out of respect for LP frontman Chester Bennington, who passed away in 2017.

To avoid compliance and patent issues, the band is sometimes known as LEWNATIC (JP) to avoid confusion between other bands and YouTubers on the Internet with the same band name or username. To distinguish the differences between Patrick Lew-Hayashi’s music from YouTubers or any bands or music artists with the same name.

Hayashi found out that he was going to Japan for the first time with his father and the rest of his family to serve his mother Winnie’s final purpose that Summer. He decided when he was going to be in Japan to busk as an artist or do open mics with his new band LEWNATIC. His first trip back to his native Japan also changed him greatly as a person and also helped repair some fractured relations with his father that’s been going on since the passing of his mother Winnie.

He came back to a hero’s welcome locally and at his day job at Chocolate Heaven Pier 39.

On September 6, 2019, Hayashi and Fil-Am rapper and friend A.Kaye performed an in-house live show at Patrick’s home recording studio. The performance has since leaked online on social-media.

While working with the band Crazy Loser in a Box sporadically in his home studio via online collaboration between himself and his one-time flame Sigyn for a new album. He decided to drop his first major release with LEWNATIC via digital distribution online. A two-song EP titled “The American Nightmare” was self-released on CDBaby and digitally distributed on streaming apps such as Spotify and Apple Music.

He also began working with booking agents Afton Shows again on the side. LEWNATIC performed their first show in the Bay Area at San Francisco’s historic DNA Lounge on November 3, 2019. A video of the live performance has since leaked online, especially on YouTube.

On December 15, 2019, fellow Fil-Am Bay Area rapper A. Kaye officially joined Lewnatic (JP) as the band's newest member onstage during their gig at DNA Lounge. This live performance would be released worldwide on CDBaby and streaming apps as the band’s first proper LP titled Brotherhood. A concert video of the performance has since leaked on MyAfton’s YouTube channel!

In early 2020, the band Lewnatic changed their band name to Benigneglect. Also A.Kaye and Patrick Hayashi rebranded Benigneglect into a rap-metal duo. They began working on demos at Lewnatic HQ (Patrick’s home studio) in February that year. The band was tentatively scheduled to perform at DNA Lounge again on February 9, 2020, but “pulled out” due to health reasons. Benigneglect then-rescheduled their canceled DNA Lounge gig to March 8, 2020 instead. 

The band performed at DNA Lounge on March 8, 2020. A week later, the band went into a sabbatical and hiatus as both Hayashi and A.Kaye were more interested in pursuing solo projects outside the band amidst COVID-19 pandemic. 

RETURN OF PATRICK LEW BAND (2020-PRESENT)

On March 17, 2020, Patrick Lew Hayashi shocked the world and Internet music community when he randomly announced “the return of Patrick Lew Band” on his Instagram and Facebook page. And furthered his intentions in the music scene amidst COVID-19 pandemic and worldwide lockdown as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Because of his band Benigneglect’s uncertainty, Hayashi didn’t want to not have “anything to do” during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Advancements in technology and modern formats enabled the return of Patrick Lew Band and helped accommodate their music and band for their audience during Quarantine. Such as live stream concerts and a virtual fan club exclusively through PLB’s main hubs online: Facebook, Twitter, IG and YouTube.

The return of Patrick Lew Band involved Patrick Lew Hayashi himself and the return of his “kayfabe” sister Madeline in the band’s lineup.

Within the next couple of months, a flurry of activity followed. Patrick Lew Band made its first major appearance since their return to music by hosting a series of live stream concerts directly at Lewnatic/PLB HQ on the Covid Concert Series group on Facebook. After a dismal and lukewarm response in regards to PLB in the Covid Concert Series group on Facebook, PLB decided to revert to their YouTube channel for live stream Quarantine concerts and fresh new online content. Between April to July 2020, the band had created and uploaded at least 20 new YouTube videos on PLB’s channel. 

The band was also busy working on new music in their home studio Lewnatic HQ in San Francisco. Rigorously practicing and creating new material. The band would release their first new music of all-new originals and not rehashes/off-cuts since 2017, a three-song EP titled PARIAH on May 1, 2020. Sister Madeline Lew was also involved in many projects outside PLB as well, including making music for a solo EP titled TO THE MOON AND BACK and making amateur JOI videos on Pornhub.

During this fruitful period however, the band was not free from criticism, controversy and toxic energies. But to much of the band’s relief, this thankfully did not lead to a third social-media backlash for Patrick Lew Band. As the band’s circle of stans and numbers in the digital age grew rapidly and skyrocketed during this eventful period since returning. Tragically, Patrick and Madeline’s pet cat Jinks passed away on June 20, 2020. The week after, Patrick and Madeline returned to their day jobs while continuing doing music with PLB full-time. They also occasionally worked with Yandie on new material in separate home studios (SF & San Jose) for their other band Crazy Loser in a Box.

On June 13, 2020, Patrick was interviewed via FaceTime with his good friend Howard Billington from the Japanese music scene for their YouTube channel The Baka Broadcast about PLB and the East Asian music scene and community. The podcast real-time interview would be posted a week later worldwide online.

During the month of July, Patrick Lew Band was featured on four prolific different music blogs on the Internet. All thanks to the music marketing services with the right middlemen on Fivver app. The band performed their first major live stream concert through their booking agents AFTON SHOWS on July 26, 2020. However, technical difficulties and failure to adapt to new technology within a short space of time led to a very lousy live performance from PLB. Fortunately during the following Sunday evening on August 2, 2020, Patrick Lew Band’s latest single, the Madeline Lew Japanese sung track “Nothing Stands Our Way” was played worldwide on Internet alt-rock radio station Shady Pines Radio based in Portland, OR. Another track, “Across The Borrowed Times”, pulled off Madeline Lew’s solo EP TO THE MOON AND BACK, was also broadcasted by Shady Pines Radio a month later.

To make up for their dismal June 26, 2020 live stream concert, PLB broadcasted a free live stream concert inside their home studio in San Francisco on their Facebook page on August 5th.

PLB would begin work with their good friend and indie filmmaker James Conrad for their first major music video for their comeback single “Good Morning Miss Bliss”, filming sequences in various San Francisco neighborhoods in August and September 2020. The video footage being used for the promo is currently in possession and in post-production video editing at Lewnatic HQ and is set to world premiere on PLB’s YouTube chanel on Patrick Hayashi’s 35th birthday on November 15, 2020. 

Currently. PLB is hard at work on some new music and continuing to do their thang in the indie music scene and as prolific online content creators. There’s really only more to come! Patrick Lew Band was even tentatively booked to do an American live tour promoted and hosted by one of Patrick Hayashi’s American musician pals up in Vietnam some time in 2021! After a lengthy three-year hiatus, despite its bleak tone worldwide, 2020 remains not only PLB’s big comeback but it also is Patrick Lew Band’s best year in the music scene since 2012 at least! It was truly a resurgence for Patrick Lew Band in music. There’s only more to come! Pat’s vision for PLB is to keep doing what they’re doing and become bigger, better and badder than ever in rock, K-Pop and J-Pop music! Lol. 

Watch out people. It ain’t over until the BBW lady sings. The PLB is back in action and coming to town!

NON-MUSIC RELATED

Outside of music, Patrick Lew-Hayashi has also acted in community theater and made a cameo appearance in Season 4 and Episode 1 of Emmy Award winning TV series The Man in the High Castle. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from California State University, East Bay and currently works a full-time day job at Chocolate Heaven Pier 39 as a Supervisor. He has also worked in tech for three years as a visual merchandiser and has an extensive work resume outside of the indie music industry.

"Awards and Accomplishments received by Patrick Lew..."

1. One Time Hall of Fame Inductee - CSU East Bay 40 Under 40 Class of 2019 as a member of Patrick Lew Band and as a solo artist. 2. Interracial Dating Grand Slam Champion

He has romantically dated every major ethnicity from the opposite gender: White, Black, Asian, Hispanic.

3. Celebrity Endorsee with Antennas Direct

4. The first male 40 Under 40 Hall of Famer of Japanese descent at CSU East Bay.

Patrick Lew just got interviewed in Japan. It's now posted on YouTube!

My podcast interview with the Japanese music scene has been posted! Filmed on June 13, 2020 through video chat. It was just posted last week on Saturday!

WATCH NOW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIBdcMbgxLk

Upcoming Recurring Patrick Lew Band Live Tour

Patrick Lew Band is doing a recurring tour amidst COVID-19. We're gonna be pre-taping our live musical performances at Lewnatic HQ in front of a tiny or no live audience and broadcasting it live on #YouTube!  House Show Mania is real indeed for the PLB!  Patrick Lew Band is doing the 2020-21 In Your House Tour. It's going to be almost like them pre-taped #WWE pay-per-view events at the performance center. But edited and polished up for live broadcast! Lolz. Like a lot of bands during #COVID-19 pandemic. We've been stuck at home, unable to play shows outside the live venues. It's back to Square One for PLB. The garage band days all over again! But with today's technology, I'm gonna try and make it interesting. It's not gonna be for everyone! But it gives us plenty of shit to do.  The tour dates are TBA. Best way to know what's up is keeping tabs on Patrick Lew Band's social-media!  #STAYTUNED

Patrick Lew Band's Plan: 2020 Onward

The plan For PLB going into 2020 onward. Relaunching a rock and roll mom-and-pop brand.

The rebuilding plan... 

 1. Start by keeping it as a Patrick Lew solo project. 

 Like how it was after my good friend David mutually departed Patrick Lew Band in mid-2016, the PLB was mostly a Patrick Lew solo project from there. With the introduction of a "crossdressing" alter ego introduced into the band as a "virtual" band member and mascot named Sister Madeline Lew, ever since David left the band on good terms to pursue other life avenues...It gave Patrick Lew Band more creative freedom to be what was intended to be. Like the social-media presentation, the music and etc etc. 

Even before David's departure from the drum kit, Patrick Lew Band was a dysfunctional and derelict type of garage band. Where toxicity and polar opposites in creative direction, relationships and different goals for the band tore it all apart. 

The 2015 return of PLB was mostly seen more as a "reboot" of the entire band rather than a band reunion with all former members. With Patrick Lew as the bandleader and primary composer of the band, it gives the PLB more opportunity to be themselves and enough creative and personal control over the music and the brand. 

 2. Taking the band off the road. 

 Unlike Patrick Lew's branching out towards his work with other bands such as TheVerse, Pleasure Gallows and Benigneglect, which were based mostly on live shows and performances. Like The Beatles, very few people have actually witnessed Patrick Lew Band live and onstage. 

Also, Patrick Lew Band was one of those acts in the indies that didn't really enjoy touring as much for different reasons. So with that being said, the concert timeline of PLB is very limited and sporadic/intermittent. However, with improvements and advancements in technology...Patrick Lew Band made most of their impact as a home recording band, putting it up online and digitally distributing all the full-length albums, EPs and singles on Spotify, Apple Music and our YouTube channel. 

With difficulties seizing bookings outside of Afton with Patrick Lew Band, and other personal difficulties in the live aspects as a solo act. Patrick Lew Band only prefers a limited amount of tour dates annually. Patrick once said, "he can't do more than 4 shows per week for a myriad of reasons. Aging and health related being one of them." He also said that doing less shows enables him to perform his best onstage. 

And that being said, less is more for the fans. Quality over quantity. With COVID-19 pandemic still in full effect, like a lot of other bands using live streaming as a source of keeping their audiences up-to-date. Since bands aren't allowed to play mass gatherings at live venues amidst the pandemic, a lot of bands are now utilizing live streaming of in-house performances to sustain themselves. 

 To keep the budget tight and ensure Patrick's long-term health won't be affected by doing too many live appearances outside the studio, Patrick Lew Band has announced the recurring In Your House 2020-21 Concert Tour. Which is basically going to be pre-taped live performances at Patrick Lew's home recording studio in San Francisco, and with advancements in technology and digital video editing, edited and polished as a presentable and passable concert video and instantly premiering them on YouTube, typically at 4 PM on Sundays. 

 To keep up with frugal cost-friendly ventures and to avoid long-term risk factors with Patrick Lew Band, touring will be limited to sporadic appearances annually. Expect at least 5 In Your House concert videos to be uploaded yearly on Patrick Lew's YouTube channel. 

 3. Ability to branch out. 

 Patrick Lew Band returned to the music scene on March 17, 2020 via Instagram and Facebook post. Unifying both Lewnatic and Patrick Lew Band into one, well, Patrick Lew Band. 

However, like wrestlers who are not exclusive to WWE but contracted to other promotions like AEW, which enables wrestlers to work with other organizations in affiliation. Patrick and his alter ego Madeline will not just be exclusive to just Patrick Lew Band. 

Since the end of 2017, PLB drifted into doing one-off and very sporadic appearances. 

All because of Patrick branching out to playing with other Bay Area bands such as TheVerse, Pleasure Gallows, Benigneglect, Crazy Loser in a Box...And there's probably going to be more bands that Pat will play guitar or bass with in the future. 

Patrick personally doesn't enjoy touring as a solo act, but enjoys touring and playing shows with other bands. It usually takes the pressure, stress and anxiety away from him as a solo live performer and enable him to focus on his main strengths as a musician, playing the guitar. 

He won't necessarily be a bandleader, and he definitely wasn't in TheVerse. But he will be able to take the pressure off by stepping down from that bandleader role and focus more on playing the guitar or bass in the band. Patrick also thinks it's important to play with other musicians. Thinking, it's always more fun to do it that way. 

However, any band outside of Patrick Lew Band and its 2012-2017 stop-gap band Steel Lions will not be exclusive to his record label Lewnatic Records. It also increases the prolific nature and qualities of Patrick Lew and adds more credentials in his music. 

 4. Keeping it real.  

Patrick Lew feels Patrick Lew Band should remain an independent rock act away from the major labels and music industry sharks. And he is perhaps right about that. 

After many years of playing with PLB, he's realized that Patrick Lew Band is too raw, experimental and not as accessible for Top 40 rock music platforms and all audiences. If this were wrestling, Patrick Lew Band would be equivalent to Impact Wrestling or MLW. Whereas, TheVerse was PG Era WWE and Pleasure Gallows was CZW. 

While the Patrick Lew Band of today isn't necessarily garage band quality music, the music of course has gotten a little more sophisticated and now has better studio production...Yet, it still has that raw sound. Patrick Lew Band's music was always based on passion and emotions. 

The music itself is very unconventional, so not a lot of mainstream music fans will buy into it. 

Patrick Lew Band's music is equivalent to indie wrestling or the glory days of the original ECW like playing punk rock at bingo halls or dive bars. 

With advancements in technology, the production values are not necessarily lo-fi but it's passable enough to be considered "almost" professional sounding. 

 Patrick wants PLB to be authenticity and passion. Not mainstream popularity. 

 5. Increased Online Content. 

 Chances are, if you go on one of Patrick Lew Band's music pages online. There's about 270 tracks on that website directly from Patrick Lew Band! 

PLB launched their YouTube way back on February 2, 2007. But it would be over a decade before increased and more qualitative content and videos would be posted and accessed through their YouTube channel. Alongside, the number of social-media followers increased, but the larger numbers only began becoming more prominent following PLB's first visit back home to Japan last year. 

Right now, there's 457 YouTube videos under Patrick Lew Band's YouTube channel. Patrick Lew's personal Instagram was created some time on August 2014. There is now almost 15,000 posts and photos under his account on Instagram since the first day it launched! 

 Even on streaming apps like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube...Patrick Lew Band has nine full-length albums you can listen to or cherry-pick the songs out of like a personal playlist. According to YouTube, there's at least 170 tracks associated with Patrick Lew Band that can be streamed that has seen worldwide release on digital music platforms. 

 The increase in content is intended to build a legacy, impact and perhaps gain more new fans and listeners by having as much content available as possible. 

 Recently, Patrick Lew Band has released a few EPs and two full-length albums as of 2020. New music from PLB will continue to be released on streaming apps like Spotify through PLB's main distributor CDBaby.com on behalf of Lewnatic Records. Whereas, Patrick Lew Band will be releasing and posting their B-list material or C-list material albums on their Bandcamp page as a digital download.
A new album for Patrick Lew Band is rumored to be in the works right now at Lewnatic HQ. But as any other PLB record before, it's going to be an unpredictable surprise and will take some time. Studio autonomy, playing with other bands and Patrick's meticulous attitude when it comes to making new music being the reasons. In short, it will take awhile perhaps. The increased content available for PLB is like the Library of Congress or an artist exclusive Sirius XM station. The purpose behind it is to take it worldwide, see what comes out of it and build a legacy and make an impact.

LINK: facebook.com/patricklewband