LEWNATIC - THE BAND BIO

LEWNATIC415 is a hard rock band that was created by Patrick Lew Hayashi, who is best known for his indie music career and his work with the Patrick Lew Band and TheVerse. Born to a Chinese father and Japanese mother of mixed descent, Patrick began playing guitar at age 13 when his cousin Andy was living with his family while studying at a community college as an International Student. He began his indie music career in 2001, playing guitar and singing in his high school band, which later would evolve into the Patrick Lew Band. Patrick is also a moderately known influencer, having been making YouTube videos online since 2007 at age 21.

In July 2019, during the second year of Patrick Lew Band’s (PLB) hiatus, Patrick began brainstorming ideas to go “back-to-basics” with his music as a solo artist. 

Much of the 2010s was dedicated to experimenting with many different styles of music (particularly prog-rock and EDM) as a semi-professional musician with PLB. After completing and serving four years touring and recording with the San Francisco shoegaze/post-punk band TheVerse, Patrick Lew was without an active band and left without any musical ideas for the first time since 2013. 

Patrick decided to return to his gritty, abrasive and in-your-face metal, hard rock and garage punk sound for his new idea as a musician and guitarist. For the first few weeks, he asked his friends on his Facebook page about ideas potentially for a new band name for his new heavy metal music project. Initially, the band was known as Lewnatic Park. Shortly after, Patrick dropped “Park” in the band name, concerned that the audience would mistake his new project as a Linkin Park cover band, and out of respect for the band’s frontman Chester Bennington (who died in 2017). He eventually settled on the official name Lewnatic (a spoonerism of his father’s surname “Lew” and “Lunatic”) when pursuing this new music project of his. 

Lewnatic’s sound is best described as garage punk, hard rock, metal. They take some of the heavier and rocking elements from the early 2010s era PLB sound, except very modern. Another way to describe Lewnatic’s music is a modernization of hard rock bands from circa 1992. 

In August 2019, the band Lewnatic traveled to Japan for a week for musical and leisure related purposes. Playing a few very low-key and underground punk shows in Japan. He returned to his hometown San Francisco by the end of month, and began occasionally jamming with Filipino-American rapper A. K.AYE at his home studio.  

Between November 2019 to March 2020, Lewnatic would work with their booking agents Afton Shows and began performing monthly residencies at San Francisco’s historic DNA Lounge. On their December 15, 2019 performance, A. K. AYE made his first live appearance onstage with Patrick at the club. This improvised and spontaneous live performance would become their debut album Brotherhood, released worldwide via CDBaby in early 2020. On March 8, 2020, Patrick and A. K.AYE would perform one more show at DNA Lounge before the COVID-19 pandemic hit worldwide and forced all musicians to cancel their plans and go into complete Quarantine.

For the next two years, Patrick returned to performing, recording and live-streaming webcasts with the Bay Area band that made him sort of famous globally with his cousin Madeline Lew, the Patrick Lew Band.  Embarking on their most prolific stage as artists. By this point, the Patrick Lew Band began receiving recognition and exposure worldwide and online. As bloggers and curators began writing about PLB more positively and they began putting Patrick Lew Band’s music more out there to the public. 

Lewnatic would eventually return from hiatus in early 2022, as COVID-19 pandemic began winding down considerably and quietly in the San Francisco Bay Area. He began working with his booking agents Afton Shows again. The band Lewnatic (sans A. K.AYE) once again performed live music at DNA Lounge on February 20, 2022. 

The band’s live setup and tech rider is based on minimalism and convenience when traveling with Patrick’s guitar rig. Instead of bringing his 50 watt Marshall amp and lots of gear in an Uber ride to venues he’s booked to perform for the evening, most of Lewnatic’s live gear is based off a virtual guitar amp and backing tracks on Patrick’s laptop. Alongside, an inexpensive audio DI box and Fender Telecaster. 

As a live musical act, the band Lewnatic performs a mix of PLB and solo heavy rock inspired material that Patrick created mostly without Madeline and Madoku involved in the Patrick Lew Band. The musical arrangements vary and are different for every performance every night! 

During the end of March 2022, Lewnatic began recording their second album Strictly Prohibited at their home studio in San Francisco. On one of the new upcoming tracks “As Gritty As I Want To Be,” Patrick’s relative Madeline Lew makes a guest appearance as a lead singer. The music creation for the entire album was finished in less than a week reportedly, and is currently pending to be released worldwide on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube through their distributor CDBaby online. 

Lewnatic is set to perform a virtual concert inside their rehearsal space. Which is set to world premiere on Patrick Lew Band’s YouTube channel on May 1, 2022 at 7:15 PM (PST)! 

The main motives for doing the band Lewnatic is to have fun, play heavy music and not take life and music in general so seriously. And the occasional punk rock show, whether it be a webcast or at the local dive bar! A lot of musical ideas in the studio that was omitted from PLB will be compiled exclusively for the band Lewnatic in the near future! 

PLB (Patrick Lew Band) Press Biography

PATRICK LEW BAND (PLB) is an Asian-American rock band formed in San Francisco, California by singer, guitarist, YouTuber and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Lew Hayashi (born Patrick Allan Lew; November 15, 1985). 

The band PLB was previously known under various guises and pseudonyms. They were previously a dysfunctional and inconsistent type of local punk rock band (with 4 or 5 members previously) before becoming the solo project of Patrick Lew. In addition to guitar and vocals, Lew plays all or most of the instruments on the records. Since 2016, the band PLB is largely an Internet-based rock band from San Francisco and mostly participates in home recording and occasional live performances locally. 

The band also features a virtual band member and bassist named Madeline Lew, marketed as Patrick's younger sister in storyline. The band's bassist Madeline was created through modern smartphone apps such as FaceApp and Reface. Alongside, other digital special effects and sophisticated editing such as cosplaying as her character in the band. 

He is currently an unsigned independent musician but he is distributing his music through his own label Lewnatic Records. Since mid-2020, the Patrick Lew Band (PLB) has expanded and reportedly reached 51 countries worldwide on the Internet in the modern era of Internet indie music, despite having very little or no mainstream presence, marketing or promotion from the media. Most of PLB's credentials came thanks to the Internet through bloggers/curators and digital music magazines writing about the Patrick Lew Band.   

THE HISTORY

Patrick Lew Hayashi has been active locally and online in music since 2001. He was playing in various short-lived local bands in San Francisco before pursuing his music in general with the Patrick Lew Band worldwide. He originally started his main YouTube channel and began uploading his homemade videos related to his life and his music on February 2, 2007. Patrick attended Wallenberg High School in San Francisco, graduating in 2004 after being held back one grade while in elementary school. He also attended Soko Gakuen Japanese School, and graduated and got certified around the same time he graduated from high school. He later attended CSU East Bay, graduating with a B.A in Philosophy and Music Composition in 2011. He began playing guitar at the age of 13 through his older cousin Andy, whom was living with his family at the time in San Francisco while attending a community college as an International Student.   

Patrick was born on November 15, 1985 to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother of mixed descent. He mostly grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. His upbringing was rather tense and unstable, but Patrick often maintains that he had a happy childhood for the most part. To make up for his problems during childhood and while going to school, he turned to rock music, video games, professional wrestling and TV shows for comfort. And he often traveled with his family for vacations in foreign countries (such as Hong Kong) and other places common with tourists, such as Las Vegas and Hollywood. 

The Patrick Lew Band was previously an inconsistent would-be punk rock band between friends and former schoolmates. They performed under many "guises" such as Famiglia, Samurai Sorcerers, Band of Asians, Dexter Rotten, Patrick and Greg Blues Band and so forth. The band PLB was evolved and rebranded from these previous short-lived local bands around mid-2008 via the band's MySpace blog. 

Patrick also began using YouTube as a platform dedicated to his life as an artist/musician and in general on February 2, 2007. Although, it would take several years for his YouTube channel to reach a small dose of recognition on the Internet. As of today, there are 400+ uploaded videos on his YouTube channel since he first created his account back in 2007.  

After a few home-recorded demo albums between 2006 to 2012, the former band talked about making their band to transition from being an online collaboration to becoming in between a live performing and home recording local rock band. However, tensions flared within the band over creative and religious differences. Lew wanted to take his band and put it out there to see where the band's music would go, whereas the other band members were uninterested in pursuing a secular area in the music business. 

The idea eventually was abandoned, and Lew was dealing with a loveless relationship with his former fiancee which affected and drained him mentally. Having played in the indie scene in many failed startup bands and false starts for over a decade, Patrick Lew seemed to have lost his passion for music. When his relationship with his then-fiancee ended, Lew decided to rekindle his passion for playing music and doing home recording. 

The Patrick Lew Band as we know it now started in 2015 as a home studio project where Lew would write songs or compose instrumental ideas and post them on social-media to see what comes out of it. 

Having learned the hardship and frustration of getting his music out there in various platforms in the "commercial" and traditional music industry. Lew created his own indie label and named his home recording studio LEWNATIC which foresees the releases of Patrick Lew Band related material through different platforms such as digital downloads, CDs and etc etc. 

Despite some of the hardships and negativity that Lew has encountered during 2015 and some of 2016, the Patrick Lew Band maintained consistency and was experiencing a very creative period in their indie music career. By July 2016, the Patrick Lew Band won an award for Best Experimental Rock Song with the Akademia Music Awards. Lew also pursued side-projects and worked with other local musicians. 

Lew also began expanding PLB to where he originally wanted. And he self-released a few EPs with the Patrick Lew Band through Bandcamp, Soundcloud and other sites. Having enough music to release a full-length album regardless of what people thought of him in the past or present day. The loss of his beloved mother and a scabies scare prevented Lew from touring and promoting his new album temporarily. 

But with the blessings of positive outlooks and putting himself out there. Lew began working with promoters Afton to handle the booking for live Patrick Lew Band shows locally. The Patrick Lew Band was booked to perform at the Brick & Mortar in San Francisco, California on August 6, 2017 originally. Even local hard rock radio station 107.7 THE BONE marketed the show. Low ticket sales however pushed the show to October 8th that year, which Lew performed a stunning and blistering five-song set at the venue. A recap video of the show can be found on Lew's YouTube channel. 

Also, the band introduced long lost sibling Madeline Lew as a full-time member on Halloween 2015. (SEE BAND BIO INTRO). And has remained a mainstay in the Patrick Lew Band since. 

The band just returned to full-time status in 2020. And reached potentially prolific status with their music and brand in the indies and on social-media with what they do. Recent years proved to be very prosperous and helped the Patrick Lew Band reach new heights. Since then, the band's music has reached thousands of listeners in estimated 51 different countries worldwide on Apple Music/iTunes. And subsequent reviews and press regarding PLB (Patrick Lew Band) has been more positive. By this stage, the band PLB has been featured in numerous blogs and digital music magazines online since 2020. And the band also began gravitating their focus in music by attempting to "break into" the Japanese music scene and Japan, while maintaining their citizenship and residence in San Francisco. 

Patrick and Madeline Lew of the band PLB's main goal as artists is to bring their unique music worldwide without any limits or anything else holding them back. And present something positive to the world, the music scene and the Asian-American community!   

With the recent release of Patrick Lew Band's latest music Rolling Thunder through CDBaby, Spotify, Apple Music and other platforms. And Patrick Lew is currently working full-time at Safeway outside of the music and entertainment industry. But Patrick Lew Hayashi plans to accomplish more with what he is set out to do with his music! 

MUSICAL INFLUENCES

The Patrick Lew Band is largely influenced by the iconic Seattle grunge band Nirvana. Other key influences in the band and their music ranges from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Yutaka Ozaki, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Oasis, Miyavi, Guns N Roses, X Japan, Beyond (HK Band), Hatsune Miku, BTS, Jim Johnston, Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Nine Inch Nails, The White Stripes, Green Day, Blink 182, The Fall, The Sex Pistols and many more. 

The Band:

Patrick Lew - lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, slide guitar, piano, programming, drums, percussion. 

Madeline Lew - keyboards, synthesizers, bass, lead vocals, programming, turntables. 

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