Lewnatic In The House!

 Patrick Lew Hayashi (Lewnatic) is a YouTuber, guitarist, singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and bedroom producer from San Francisco, CA. 

Born to a Chinese father and a Sino-Japanese mother in 1985, Hayashi began playing guitar at age 13. Whilst in high school, he began posting his home demo recordings online under various names. By 2006, he began a semi-pro indie music career under the once reviled, but now so-called prolific Patrick Lew Band. He has an extensive back catalog with his musical work with PLB, consisting of 13 full-length albums, one live album, and several EP’s and singles. A year after making his semi-pro debut in the Internet music scene and locally, he began uploading videos on YouTube. 

Hayashi is also renowned for his cross-dressing male-to-female alter-ego Madeline Lew in the Patrick Lew Band, who is also a virtual band member and avatar in PLB. Which began his road to success in indie music, after several years of false starts and deeply intense setbacks in his life. 

By Summer 2019, Patrick Lew Hayashi formed Lewnatic with Filipino-American rapper A.K.AYE in the Bay Area music scene. Originally a rap-metal duo, Lewnatic quickly began playing live residencies at San Francisco’s famous DNA Lounge once-a-month until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. 

The project’s band name Lewnatic was derived from his father’s surname and the word “Lunatic.”

A few years later during 2022, Hayashi relaunched the band Lewnatic as a “stripped down” touring and live-streaming experiment, as a spin-off related to the Patrick Lew Band. He quickly signed with the New York City based Bentley Records on July 19, 2022. Recording and releasing three EP’s under the Lewnatic banner during 2022 and 2023 while signed to his record label. Lewnatic’s 3rd album STARRCADE was launched worldwide on July 26, 2024 on all the music streaming apps and websites.

With influences such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Green Day, Guns N’ Roses, Oasis, X Japan, The Beatles, and many other iconic rock bands from yesteryear, Hayashi’s introspective lyrics, and fiery yet manic guitar skills are always showcased in his compositions. With themes of alienation, resilience, and self-empowering identity.  Lewnatic’s compositions are very much a blend of pop-metal, 90’s grunge, and classic rock. Lewnatic’s music is based on a simple basic setup: a Fender Telecaster, 50 watt Marshall amp, and a laptop showcasing a wide array of digitally edited and arrangements consisting of beats and instrumentals on the AUX cables.

Since an early age, Hayashi had an obsession of becoming a prolific East Asian musician and making cool music. He sings, raps, plays lead guitar, bass, and uses AI-generated rock instrumentals that are digitally edited, and mixes the majority of his ideas. He has toured all across Northern California with various local punk bands, and his music has reached 60 countries globally online in six continents through social-media.