Patrick Lew Hayashi (born Patrick Allan Lew on November 15, 1985) is an Asian-American musician, guitarist and YouTuber currently performing, live-streaming, recording, and occasionally touring with the band LEWNATIC. He is perhaps professionally best known for his 22-year indie music career with the Patrick Lew Band (PLB), albeit including sabbaticals. He is also known for his tenure(s) as the lead guitarist for Bay Area bands TheVerse and Crazy Loser in a Box! Hayashi began his 22-year tenure with Patrick Lew Band in 2001 whilst still a teenager attending Wallenberg High School. And spent several years under PLB in the Contra Costa County region performing and recording as a garage band. By 2015, his fictitious cousin and former girlfriend Madeline Lew (his cross-dressing alter-ego) joined Patrick Lew Band, and the band soon was rebranded as a Metaverse-themed project. He eventually went on to achieve great success and prolific level of recognition independently with PLB by the year 2020. In addition, he was inducted in the Class of 2019 40 Under 40 Hall of Fame at his alma mater CSU East Bay as Patrick Lew Band (alongside Madeline Lew), and was the 1st place winner of the July 2016 Akademia Music Award for best experimental rock song, “Game Changer.” Hayashi also performed as a fill-in member for various local bands, such as The Tortured and Pleasure Gallows. From 2015 to 2019 whilst still active with PLB, Hayashi was the lead guitarist for the San Francisco shoegaze band TheVerse. And quickly began playing shows and touring locally with the group, developing a cult following regionally in the Bay Area. During his four-year tenure as a member of TheVerse, they self-released one self-titled EP during 2018. Patrick Lew Hayashi formed his current project LEWNATIC in 2019, originally as a rap-metal duo with his close friend A.K.AYE (Filipino-American rapper). From November 2019 until March 2020, the band Lewnatic had monthly residencies at San Francisco’s historic DNA Lounge. Upon the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band Lewnatic was postponed as Patrick returned to making music and new online content with PLB with Madeline over the next three years. By early 2022, Hayashi relaunched and rebranded Lewnatic as a live-streaming and solo touring experiment, serving as the spin-off to the Patrick Lew Band. Hayashi quickly began creating and releasing new music under this banner. By July 2022, Lewnatic signed a 1-year Artist Development Deal with New York-based label Bentley Records, so far releasing two EP’s and several singles as a signed artist on their active roster. Hayashi also is a YouTuber, having created his YouTube channel and occasionally uploading new content related to his music and life since February 2, 2007. He also made a brief uncredited cameo appearance on Season 4 and Episode 1 of the Amazon TV series The Man in the High Castle, and was previously a former Brand Ambassador for Antennas Direct. Patrick Lew Hayashi is currently in a relationship with aspiring Swedish-American freelance writer and poet Amanda Johanneson. The two originally met on social-media in mid-2021 during the height of Patrick Lew Band’s fame in indie music, and began dating by the end of 2022. Currently, Patrick Lew resides in San Francisco somewhere anonymously in the Excelsior District. He also holds a B.A. in Philosophy from his alma mater CSU East Bay, and works as a grocer at a SAFEWAY store full-time while signed to Bentley Records as a recording artist. Patrick Lew Hayashi is multi-ethnic, born to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother of mixed descent. His main language is English, and he can as well speak some Japanese language. Patrick Lew attended Raoul Wallenberg High School and graduated in 2004, and also graduated from Soko Gakuen Japanese Language School around that same period. THEIR STORY The Patrick Lew Band (PLB) is an Asian-American Rock band which was formed in San Francisco, California by Patrick Lew in 2001. Largely functional as an ‘Internet-based Rock band,’ PLB is renowned for its stunning home recording and occasional live performances. A dynamic fusion of rock, J-Pop, and grunge, PLB stands out with an Asian-American male lead who stands above the rest with versatility and endurance. He is complemented by a cross dressing alter-ego named Madeline, who was indirectly inspired by Hatsune Miku from JAPAN. Patrick Lew Hayashi is a singer, guitarist, YouTuber, and multi-instrumentalist, who was born in San Francisco in 1985 to a Chinese father and a Japanese mother of mixed descent. In 2001, Patrick formed a band under the banner Patrick Lew Band in his hometown of San Francisco, when he was just 15 years old. Most of Hayashi's early years in the indie music circuit were spent playing in a garage band. In 2005, Hayashi was attending City College of San Francisco and was briefly signed to an indie label based in La Jolla, California. Patrick also began using YouTube as a platform dedicated to his life as an artist 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. Apart from Patrick Lew, who serves as the drummer and covers vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, and programming, the Patrick Lew Band (PLB) also features a virtual band member and bassist named Madeline Lew, marketed as Patrick's younger sister. Madeline was created through modern smartphone apps, such as FaceApp and Reface, alongside other digital special effects and sophisticated editing, such as cosplaying. 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. In 2020 and 2021, the band’s momentum continued to soar, as they began 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.’ In 2022, Patrick re-launched a spin-off of the Patrick Lew Band known as LEWNATIC. On July 19, 2022, the eclectic artist signed a 1-year Artist Development Contract with New York based label Bentley Records. He also released his first EP ‘RAPID FIRE’ under the LEWNATIC banner as a signed artist a month later. On September 5, 2022, the Patrick Lew Band released their 12th album ‘Adrenaline’ worldwide on all their platforms. Patrick Lew Band was inducted in the 40 Under 40 Hall of Fame at their alma mater CSU East Bay in 2019, and were the first Japanese-Americans and second Taiwanese-Americans to achieve the honor. They also won the July 2016 Akademia Music Award for the best experimental rock song, "Game Changer." Influenced by Nirvana’s lyrical content, image, and personality, PLB plan to continue making music exclusively as an internet-based Rock band.
MEET THE PLB BAND!
PATRICK LEW (林正道) - lead vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, programming, drummer
MADELINE LEW (林綾香) - keyboards, synthesizers, programming, bass, lead vocals
MADOKU RAYE: lead vocals, composer, keyboards |
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