Patrick Lew Hayashi
(also known as Lewnatic)
Musician, guitarist, songwriter, producer, digital artist
San Francisco, California
Early Life and Background
Patrick Lew Hayashi was born in November 1985 in San Francisco, California, to a Chinese father, Winson, and a Sino-Japanese mother, Winnie. Raised in a multicultural household deeply rooted in Asian-American identity, Patrick’s upbringing reflected both traditional values and modern urban life in San Francisco.
One of the earliest and most formative events of his childhood was the death of his grandfather when Patrick was only four years old. The two had shared a close bond during Patrick’s pre-kindergarten years, and the loss left a lasting emotional imprint that would later influence his introspective nature and creative expression.
Throughout his school years, Patrick often felt like an outsider. He struggled socially, did not fit easily into peer groups, and faced repeated experiences of rejection and alienation, including unrequited crushes and difficulty forming early romantic connections. These challenges were compounded by an undiagnosed disability and autism spectrum condition, which would not be properly identified until much later in his life, during his 30s.
To cope, Patrick immersed himself in video games, rock music, and television, particularly the cable programming of the 1990s such as MTV and Nickelodeon, which became cultural lifelines. Family vacations to destinations including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Canada, Hawaii, and Hong Kong also offered moments of escape and exposure to broader worlds beyond his immediate environment.
Patrick attended Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco—an institution also attended by notable figures such as Wisp and Coco Lee—and supplemented his education by attending Saturday classes at Soko Gakuen Japanese School, reinforcing his cultural and linguistic ties to Japan.
He later enrolled at California State University, East Bay, where he studied philosophy. Patrick graduated in mid-2011 at age 25 with a Bachelor of Arts, an experience that sharpened his analytical thinking and further shaped the thematic depth of his later songwriting.
Musical Awakening and Influences
Patrick’s true calling revealed itself in the summer of 1999, when his maternal cousin Andy, an international exchange student from abroad, came to live with the family while studying at City College of San Francisco. During downtime at home, Andy would play Patrick’s brother’s Fender guitar and amplifier, performing spontaneous riffs inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple.
Witnessing these moments proved transformative. For Patrick, it was the instant when music stopped being something he listened to and became something he needed to do.
Though he took a handful of formal guitar lessons at a mall in Daly City, Patrick was largely self-taught, learning through guitar tabs, online cheat sheets, and relentless experimentation. His musical tastes were broad and eclectic: ’90s grunge (especially Nirvana), classic rock, blues, chiptune music, K-Pop, J-Rock, Visual Kei, and elements of hip-hop and rap all fed into his evolving sound.
At age 15, while attending Wallenberg High School, Patrick formed his first band around 2001–2002, rehearsing sporadically in his family garage. This moment marked the official beginning of his artistic journey—and the birth of what would later become the Patrick Lew Band.
The Patrick Lew Band (2001–2025)
The Patrick Lew Band (PLB) was active on and off from 2001 until July 2025, with Patrick as its sole constant member across a long series of evolving lineups and creative phases.
The band began in high school with Patrick alongside Eddie Blackburn (lead guitar) and Tommy Loi (drums). Over the years, numerous collaborators joined and departed, reflecting both the fluid nature of the project and Patrick’s restless creative drive.
One of the most significant long-term contributors was David Arceo, who joined as drummer in 2006 and remained active with PLB until 2016, anchoring the band through a decade of growth and experimentation.
In 2015, during a turbulent personal period marked by heartbreak, social-media backlash, and emotional burnout, Patrick introduced his male-to-female cross-dressing alter ego, Madeline Lew, into the band’s narrative and performances. Initially controversial, Madeline ultimately became transformative—revitalizing the Patrick Lew Band, reshaping its public image, and bringing the project its first major wave of recognition and momentum.
Madeline later evolved into a virtual avatar and fully digital band member, becoming one of the most distinctive and widely recognized aspects of PLB. This era coincided with increased media attention and critical writing about the band, particularly during the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Between 2018 and 2022, Patrick also played lead guitar in the Silicon Valley-based post-rock band Crazy Loser in a Box, alongside then-partner Madoku Raye, who also occasionally contributed vocals to the Patrick Lew Band.
Loss, Transition, and the Birth of Lewnatic
In 2017, Patrick’s mother passed away—a profound personal loss that led him to place the Patrick Lew Band on hold for nearly three years. During this period, he worked a full-time day job at Pier 39 in San Francisco while continuing to perform guitar for other local bands within the Bay Area live music circuit.
In July 2019, seeking a creative reset, Patrick co-founded a new project called Lewnatic with his friend Ahmed. Lewnatic quickly found footing, playing monthly shows at DNA Lounge in San Francisco and even making appearances in Japan in August 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic soon disrupted these plans, but it also forced a reimagining of Patrick’s artistic direction. By mid-2020, he brought the Patrick Lew Band back full-time with Madeline fully integrated, ushering in a period of long-awaited validation, press coverage, and creative stability.
Lewnatic, Bentley Records, and Digital Reinvention
In 2022, Patrick formally rebranded Lewnatic as a touring, live-streaming, and digital offshoot related to—but distinct from—the Patrick Lew Band. On July 17, 2022, he signed with Bentley Records after being invited to join their roster.
Under the Lewnatic name, Patrick released multiple EPs and singles, as well as the full-length album Starrcade. He embraced the identity of a bedroom producer, guitarist, and online content creator, consciously distancing himself from the traditional rock-band model of relentless touring.
Lewnatic became Patrick’s way of stripping away the emotional and historical weight of the Patrick Lew Band’s long legacy—allowing him to create freely, privately, and on his own terms. This approach better aligned with his introverted nature, shy personality, and desire for autonomy.
In 2023, the Patrick Lew Band was inducted into the Akademia Music Awards Hall of Fame, a milestone that brought Patrick a deep sense of closure and contentment at age 37.
Personal Life and Interests
Patrick’s personal life has undergone significant changes over the years. His relationship with Amanda Lew (Manda Kay) was formally annulled on June 27, 2025, and the two are no longer together. They have since ceased all joint creative projects, including YouTube collaborations, and her digital presence related to Patrick’s career has largely receded.
Patrick is currently dating Karina Ramos, a former Christian rock musician, born in 1979 in New York.
Outside of music, Patrick is an avid video game enthusiast who collects gaming consoles, computer hardware, and accessories. He enjoys building a home-theater experience centered around his Xbox Series S and 4K television, frequently watching anime, professional wrestling, sports, and a wide range of nostalgic programming—including ’90s Nickelodeon, Lifetime movies, Cheaters, Unsolved Mysteries, and content discovered through the Pluto TV app.
He is deeply interested in Asian-American and Japanese culture, enjoys reading magazines related to music, cats, and East Asian topics, and laments the decline of physical magazine shops in San Francisco. Socially, he spends time at malls, bars, live music venues, and sporting events with friends.
Patrick is a devoted cat lover and an unapologetic food enthusiast, with favorites including sushi, Mexican food, Korean BBQ, and pizza.
Legacy
With more than two decades of artistic output, Patrick Lew Hayashi stands as a uniquely modern musician—one whose career bridges garage-band beginnings, digital avatars, internet-based rock projects, and deeply personal reinvention. Through Patrick Lew Band and Lewnatic, he has carved out a niche defined not by mainstream trends, but by persistence, vulnerability, and self-determination.
His story—well-documented across the internet and searchable through the enduring digital footprint of the Patrick Lew Band—remains a testament to survival, adaptation, and the power of creating art on one’s own terms.
