LEWNATIC415 is a heavy punk 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. He is also an online content creator, specificially, his YouTube channel.
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. After parting ways with his previous band amicably,
Patrick started Lewnatic as a personal solo recording project. And
quickly began performing under the LEWNATIC banner once-a-month at DNA
Lounge in San Francisco until the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The band's name Lewnatic is a spoonerism of Patrick's father's surname and "Lunatic."
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 once again performed live music at DNA Lounge
on February 20, 2022.
Lewnatic is intended as the spin-off band and offshoot related to the Patrick Lew Band.
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
spontaenously performed 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! All the musical performances are improvised,
spontaneous, and completely rearranged. Differentiating itself from the
original studio recordings.
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 was released worldwide in April 2022 on Spotify, Apple
Music and everywhere else.
During this same period, Patrick Lew Hayashi also started an Only Fans account to allow fans to have more intimate and personal access with Patrick himself, alongside, Madeline Lew from the Patrick Lew Band.
On July 19, 2022, Lewnatic signed a 1-year record contract with Bentley Records. LEWNATIC released their first album under a record label (and their third LP) titled Rapid Fire worldwide tentatively on August 19, 2022! Featuring six all-new guitar-based instrumental rock compositions with a strong CITY POP and Anime-like theme. The album was briefly promoted by both Bentley Records and Patrick Lew himself on social-media.
Despite placing most of his focus and energy onto his Lewnatic project, Patrick Lew remains sporadically active with the Patrick Lew Band as well.
On August 28, 2022, Lewnatic live-streamed their most recent performance directly through Patrick Lew Hayashi's YouTube channel, performing two rearranged songs off Patrick Lew Band's 2022 EP Pariah Vol. 2 ("Are You Down With Me" and "Love Yourself"). Another virtual concert on his YouTube channel commenced a month later, where Lewnatic live-streamed a cover of the Elvis Presley song That's All Right Mama.
Most of my Lewnatic's virtual concerts are pre-recorded on Patrick's 2017/18 iPad. And edited on iMovie on his old laptop before being posted online. The band's colleague and friend James Conrad also handles videography and photography for the solo project locally in San Francisco.
On September 24, 2022, Lewnatic filmed an MV for their first single off their album Rapid Fire in San Francisco's Chinatown. The music video is currently under post-production and will be TBD for world premiere on YouTube.
Lewnatic also announced plans to perform regionally through their booking agents Afton Shows in the future potentially on occasion.
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!
Equipment & Software Used
DAW: LOGIC PRO, 2012 MacBook Pro, 2014 MacBook Air
Guitar: Fender Telecaster, Epiphone Les Paul Junior
Videography: iPad (5th Generation), iPhone X, iMovie, Logitech HD Wecbam
Synth: Vaies (smartphone apps & Logic Pro)
Mike: Varies (mainly 3rd party brand microphones)
Audio Interface: PreSonus AudioBox iOne
Guitar Sound Source: Marshall CODE50
Guitar Tone Source: BOSS DS-2, SansAmp Acoustic DI
Mastering: Band Lab, LANDR
