Patrick Lew Band (PLB)
Patrick Lew Hayashi has been active both locally and online in music since 2001. He was playing in various short-lived local bands in San Francisco before he pursued his music 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.
Patrick also began using YouTube as a platform dedicated to his life as an artist/musician and in general on February 2, 2007. After several years, his YouTube channel reached a respectable amount of recognition on the Internet. As of today, there are 400+ uploaded videos on his YouTube channel.
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, Danny Chan, B'z, 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.
After a few home-recorded and professionally made albums between 2006 to 2012, the former band considered transitioning from an online collaboration to performing in live venues and recording at home as a local rock band.
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 recordings.
The Patrick Lew Band as we know it started in 2015 as a personal 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.
Despite some of the hardships and negativity that Lew has encountered during 2015 and some of 2016 related to detractors on social-media, 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. Regardless of what people thought of him in the past or present, Lew had enough music to release a full-length album. The loss of his beloved mother and a scabies scare temporarily prevented Lew from touring and promoting his new album .
But with the blessings of positive outlooks and putting himself out there, Lew began working with promoters Afton to handle the booking for live local Patrick Lew Band shows. The Patrick Lew Band was booked to perform at the Brick & Mortar in San Francisco, California on August 6, 2017. 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 cosplay alter-ego Madeline Lew (marketed as Patrick's cousin) as a full-time member on Halloween 2015.
Originally. the Patrick Lew Band unofficially disbanded by the end of 2017. As Patrick began playing with other local bands. Most notably, performing and recording with TheVerse and Crazy Loser in a Box. Madeline shifted her attention as mainly as a V-Idol and influencer during this period.
The band just returned to full-time status in 2020. And they 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 an estimated 51 different countries worldwide on Apple Music/iTunes. Subsequent reviews and press regarding PLB have been positive.
From 2020 onward since returning to pursuing their passion for making music, the Patrick Lew Band (PLB) decided to transition their project into an exclusively Internet Only type of band.
Since 2020, PLB has been featured in numerous blogs and digital music magazines online. While Lew maintains his citizenship and residence in San Francisco, the band also began gravitating their musical focus to "break into" the music scene worldwide.
2020 and 2021 also saw the band continue and sustain their momentum as a Internet-based rock band. Conducting a few Livestream concerts on social-media, and gaining new legions and generation of followers. The band also released several albums during these two years respectively on iTunes and Spotify, including their first live album IN YOUR HOUSE! Rumors began to swirl in mid-2021 regarding the Patrick Lew Band's future online. However, the PLB released more new music going into the year 2022 online.
The band PLB remains active on social-media and as an Internet-based band!
