Asian-American rock and roll guitar hero and laptop DJ. Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now? I was born in San Francisco in 1985 to a Chinese father and a Sino-Japanese mother. I began playing the electric guitar when I was 13 years old back in the Summer of 1999. Growing up, I faced a lot of highs and some very lowest of lows. When I was in middle school here in San Francisco. I felt so awkward around everyone! I didn't get the girl at the time, and I was very much alone. I felt a lot of adversity around me with people at the time, but it made me more determined to prove them all wrong, and I can persevere as a prolific Asian-American rock star in my own right.
Around the Summer of 1999, my maternal cousin Andy was living with me to study abroad as an International Exchange Student at City College of San Francisco. Whenever we weren't studying and at home, he began playing my brother's Fender guitar and amp he left sitting in the closet. He would play Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple guitar riffs spontaneously, and that's when I found my true calling in life! I took a few guitar lessons with a guitar teacher at the mall here in Daly City, but was mostly self-taught through learning tabs and cheat sheets for playing music online.
When I was 15 and going to Wallenberg High School, I started my first band, and we sporadically played music and jammed in our garage. Think it was around 2001 or 2002, and that's when I officially began my journey as an artist! That would become the genesis of my music career in the Patrick Lew Band. Chances are high, if you go on your computer or iPhone and Google "Patrick Lew Band," you will find hella information about me and what I do!
In 2015, during a difficult period in my personal life with exes and haters on social-media, I introduced my cross-dressing alter-ego Madeline Lew into the Patrick Lew Band music and story. Dressing as my male-to-female alter-ego also brought my music in PLB our first big recognition and we began gaining momentum.
By 2017, my mom died and I put PLB on hold for the next three years, as I was working a full-time day job at Pier 39 and playing guitar for other local bands in the live music circuit here in the Bay Area. During that period in my life, I created the band Lewnatic in July 2019 with my friend Ahmed at the time. We would play shows once a month at San Francisco's DNA Lounge and also made a few appearances in Japan that August. Then the pandemic hit. And I brought Patrick Lew Band full-time with Madelime involved by mid-2020. And we began gaining all the good things we truly needed that eluded us for so long!
By 2022, I relaunched and rebranded Lewnatic as a touring and live-streaming offshoot related to the Patrick Lew Band. On July 17th that year. I signed with Bentley Records after receiving an email they've offered me to join their roster of talented artists under their label. To date, I released several EP's and singles under the Lewnatic banner with Bentley Records, and one full-length album Starrcade. It's been an amazing experience so far as a bedroom producer, guitarist, garage band, and being an online content creator that's opposite of the traditional rock band that goes on tour and does everything publicly. I'm strictly an Interent-based rock band, and I feel that's my niche and better accommodates my lifestyle and shy personality.
I grew up in the 90's. Initially, my hobbies were pro wrestling, video games, and television. But I always loved rock music. I grew up listening to 90's grunge bands like Nirvana, iconic British rock bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Who. I also loved punk rock, chiptunes, blues music, J-Pop, and rap. I'd say my biggest influence with what I do is Nirvana, X Japan, Beyond (Hong Kong Band), and Yutaka Ozaki. I always looked up to and admired artists and bands that sang from the soul and stood out from the rest, managing to change the game in their own kinda way. I wanted to do that too secretly. I didn't have much in my early years, which a lot of it is very personal to get into. I always was very close to my mother's side of the family, so one Summer growing up, my cousin Andy was living with us going to school here as a foreign exchange student. He would be playing the electric guitar and amp that my older brother Rick stopped playing and left sitting dusty in the closet in our house here in San Francisco. That's when I found my true calling in life, I wanted to be a rock and roller and guitar player! I also learned other areas playing and making music, such as the bass guitar, piano, electronic music (through computer and smartphones), and self-marketing. Then when I was like 15 or 16, I began posting my demos online on some websites and formed my first band. That's what started it for me!
2. What sets your music apart from other artists in your genre?
I do a very genre-bending type of music. It's been described as a dynamic fusion of rock, J-Pop, grunge. It's a hard to label and classify type of sound and style. Early into my music career locally, there was a lot of scene kid bands doing the same formulaic type of post-hardcore type of music. I definitely stood out with what I was doing then. I honestly don't know what sets it apart, but I'm definitely an "alternative" to what was going on at the time. Back then, you didn't see or hear a lot of fellow East Asians integrated into mainstream society. K-Pop idol groups like BTS definitely opened doors for us. Seems like, the more resilient I was and the more focus I put into my craft, that's when all those things I've got came around. The timing was kinda interesting, it all happened during the peak of COVID and #StopAsianHate. I always compare my early 2020s success in music to the Seattle grunge bands from circa 1992, marginalized faces in the music scene and social-media who finally found their way, breaking that forbidden door!
3. What was the inspiration or story behind your latest project (album, single, or EP)?
I released the latest Lewnatic album Starrcade in July 2024. It was a collection of all the best songs curated from the three EP trilogy ("Rapid Fire", "Getcha Mood On Right", "The Lost Souls") that I released with Bentley Records in 2022 and 2023. I was sort of aiming for the sounds that inspired me from my youth, such as Grunge and 80's Hard Rock. But modernized and updated for this decade, without sounding dated whatsoever. All the music I make is done directly at home. I use AI music generators on my computer shamelessly, to create the backing track, then I plug in my guitars and keyboards onto my laptop and began laying down all my guitar and piano/synth parts. Sometimes. I add my own vocals and lyrics to my songs i write but sometimes don't need it always. My mindset is, "A great piece of rock and roll music doesn't always needs lead vocals." I'm not a very good singer, so seems like, what I conjured up sounds fine the way it did pretty much. I think so, at least! But yeah, I was just aiming for a rock and roll type of record with Lewnatic, angsty yet hella moving and grooving.
4.Can you tell us about a standout moment or achievement in your career that you’re most proud of?
I think with Madeline, my cross-dressing virtual avatar in my music career between 2015 to 2024, done a lot of wonders for me. It literally saved Patrick Lew Band and my public image from going down the toilet in general, and on social-media. And brought back the momentum that Patrick Lew Band needed so desperately, after a few of my exes broke my heart pretty bad. And the haters too, on social-media. Then 2020 hit, a lot of press began writing about PLB extensively. If you Google "Patrick Lew Band" or look at my Link Tree page, you will know! Signing with Bentley Records was awesome too. They were the only label that basically gave me a chance with my music, and allowed me fully to be who I truly am. I also liked how the label gives me the freedom to do my music under my own time, energy, and effort, and that I don't have to tour or play shows constantly too! Especially when putting my music in Lewnatic out there too. I'd say, when Patrick Lew Band was inducted in the Akademia Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2023 at age 37, that was what made me very content and happy with how everything turned out for sure!
5. What has your journey with Bentley Records and their music tech platform BentleyRecords.io “The Future Label” been so far?
So far, so good! It helped me broaden my knowledge about being a musician online in the modern era. And they gave me many resources to help me find some useful things to know about in the music industry. They were also very supportive, and accommodated me very well. Their mental health program for their artists helped me out a ton too, I battle mental health issues, and it always isn't easy being an artist in this cut throat business who struggles with what I have, but everything they done for me was wonderful and accessible for Lewnatic and my musical endeavors.
6. How do you connect with your fans, and what role do they play in your artistic journey?
I think my fans are awesome. They've done so much for me and my music too. The real people who stuck by me and Lewantic and Patrick Lew Band since the beginning. They also been very supportive of my relationship with my long-time girlfriend and fiancee Manda Kay, she is a YouTuber as well like myself! If my audience, no matter how big or small, weren't there, I'd be stuck in the ancient jurassic timeframe where a garage band be playing music only in their basement, but have no platform (Internet) and tools (computers and smartphones) to get it out there, unless I was signed to like a big-shot record label or playing shows outside a lot back then! Despite my checkered relationship with social-media as an artist and as a person, it gave me the opportunity to level up with Lewnatic. And also helped me find my fiancee Manda Kay too.
7. What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry, and how do you see it evolving in the future?
Well! I definitely see the music industry being more democratized and more inclusive, all because of the Internet. The traditional music industry and major label system isn't always necessary for artists, doors will open for all artists, rappers, and bands, all because of the Internet and new platforms being made for distribution and getting it all out there. So, you will see more people like me, making a name for themselves outside of the mainstream and top 40 scene, all while remaining mostly independent. It's hard to say, I don't have a crystal ball and I ain't a psychic, but I guess that's what may happen. It will definitely become more diverse, inclusive, and democratized.
8. Are there any upcoming projects, collaborations, or events you’re excited to share with us? How do you balance staying true to your art while navigating commercial success?
I am just trying to live as comfortably as possible, I am a very shy and introverted type of person. I find the whole Internet-based rock band lifestyle and career choice as very rewarding and accommodating for my personality and current life. I wanna continue making bangers in my bedroom, continue making YouTube videos with my girl Manda and my friend David Arceo (former Patrick Lew Band drummer, c. 2005-2016), and just live my life as positively as I possibly can. Away from all the negativity and roadblocks. Past, present, and future. Life's too short. I wanna make the best of it always! I think for me, I may not tour or play shows outside, but I may do more virtual live-stream concerts on Patreon or YouTube, like a V-Tuber for sure! I wanna make all that rock and roll music going forward, but experiment more too.
9. What advice would you give to aspiring artists looking to break into the industry?
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Oasis, Green Day, X Japan, Beyond, Yutaka Ozaki, Metallica, Blink 182, Box Car Racer, BTS, Miyavi Ishihara, The Rolling Stones, Silverchair. Underground on, mainstream off! Support all diversity and inclusivity for all marginalized voices and faces! |
