Punk Rock Musician, Guitarist, Crossdresser, Virtual Rock & Roll Legend, Millennial, YouTuber, Gamer, Myth Maker. 🎸 💻  🎮 📼 📖

📊 Quick Facts: Patrick Lew / PLB / Lewnatic

Full Name: Patrick Allan Lew Hayashi (林 正道 / Masamichi Hayashi) 

Stage Name(s): Patrick Lew, Lewnatic, The Kamikaze Guitarist

Born: November 15, 1985 (San Francisco, California, USA)

Origin / Hometown: 

Excelsior District, San Francisco, CA

Antioch, CA

Alma Mater:

Raoul Wallenberg High School (Class of 2004)

Soko Gakuen Japanese School (Class of 2004)

California State University, East Bay (B.A. in Philosophy, Minor in Music Composition, 2011)

Musical Instruments:Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Bass, Keyboards/MIDI Programming, Lead Vocals

Primary Gear: Fender Telecaster, Fender Jaguar, Zoom G1X FOUR Multi-Effects Pedal, Marshall CODE50, Boss DS-2 Pedal, Logic Pro, PreSonus Studio One Pro, iPhone 13 Pro (for lo-fi video/art direction)

Genres: Alternative Rock, 90's Grunge, Punk Rock, J-Rock, J-Pop, Electronic Rock, Pop-Metal

Years Active: 2001 – Present (Guitar career initiated in summer 1999)

Associated Acts:

Patrick Lew Band (PLB) (2001–2025)

Lewnatic (2019–Present)

Crazy Loser in a Box! (2018–2022)

TheVerse (2015–2019)

Creative Co-Stars: Madeline Lew (Virtual Bassist, Persona, & Digital Alter-Ego; introduced 2015)
Record Labels: Bentley Records (Signed 2022), Statue Records (2005), Lewnatic Records (Independent

)Major Hall of Fame Inductions:

🏆 CSU East Bay 40 Under 40 Hall of Fame (Inducted 2019)

🏆 Akademia Music Awards Hall of Fame (Inducted 2023)

Official Contact: plewhayashi@gmail.com

📖 Artist Biography: The Evolution of a San Francisco Trailblazer

Early Life and Musical Awakening (1985–2000)

Born in November 1985 and raised in the vibrant cultural landscape of San Francisco's Excelsior District, Patrick Allan Lew Hayashi grew up in a multicultural Asian-American household. The son of a Chinese father, Winson, and a Sino-Japanese mother, Winnie, Patrick was constantly immersed in a unique duality of East Asian pop melodies and Western rock energy.

Navigating youth with a deep creative focus, Patrick found solace and deep connection in 1990s cable culture, television, and alternative rock music. His life shifted permanently in the summer of 1999 when his cousin Andy stayed with the family while attending City College of San Francisco. Watching Andy perform spontaneous electric guitar riffs inspired by the heavy distortion of classic rock became Patrick's definitive musical awakening. By age 13, he picked up a Fender electric guitar, completely teaching himself the instrument via raw experimentation, chord structures, and guitar tabs.

The Era of the Patrick Lew Band (2001–2025)

At age 15, while attending Raoul Wallenberg High School, Patrick formed what would become his landmark musical canvas: the Patrick Lew Band (PLB). Beginning in his family's garage between 2001 and 2002, PLB spent over two decades as a staple of the underground DIY internet rock scene. The brand was officially coined on MySpace in July 2006, marking an era of prolific digital output.

While early configurations featured live collaborators like high school classmates Eddie Blackburn, Tommy Loi, and longtime drummer David Arceo (who performed with the band from 2006 to 2016), Patrick remained the sole permanent mastermind and principal songwriter. PLB's signature sound mixed raw grunge grit inspired by Nirvana and Pearl Jam with the high-octane melodic hooks of J-Rock and J-Pop.

In 2015, during a period of creative and personal burnout, Patrick introduced a theatrical, cross-dressing alter ego into the band's lore: Madeline Lew. Serving as a vital creative mechanism to process trauma and explore cultural dualities, Madeline quickly grew from a performance identity into a permanent virtual band member, fictional bassist, and digital icon across YouTube and TikTok. Following a brief hiatus to honor the memory of his late mother, Winnie Lew, who passed in 2017, Patrick re-stabilized PLB as a global internet project. In recognition of over two decades of raw independence, the Patrick Lew Band was formally inducted into the Akademia Music Awards Hall of Fame in 2023. In July 2025, after achieving ultimate artistic validation, Patrick retired the PLB moniker to shift his full attention toward modern horizons.

The Rebirth as Lewnatic and the Japanese Market (2019–Present)

Co-founded initially as a live experiment in 2019 with local appearances at San Francisco's legendary DNA Lounge, Lewnatic has emerged as the definitive solo era for Patrick Lew Hayashi. Transitioning fully into an independent bedroom producer, digital creator, and multi-instrumentalist, Patrick utilizes Lewnatic to merge cyberpunk aesthetics, 90's alternative rock, and vintage 8-bit/chiptune vibes into dense, concept-driven records.

In July 2022, Lewnatic signed a distribution deal with New York’s Bentley Records, unleashing the breakthrough EP Rapid Fire, which earned critical acclaim as a featured rock selection on Top Music Japan. Operating from his home studio in San Francisco while balancing a grounded full-time career at Costco, Patrick has built an expansive digital catalog including the studio albums Starrcade (2024), Persona//Overflow (2025), and the highly-anticipated 2026 tour de force My World, My Rules.

Co-starring the virtual bassist Madeline Lew to signify the Japanese rock elements of his identity, Lewnatic actively delivers bilingual flair, heavy guitar tracks, and digital-native art concepts designed explicitly for a global and Japanese-focused audience. Celebrating 25 years of continuous recording output, Patrick is set to release the milestone anniversary single "20 Years Later" in July 2026, solidifying his legacy as an uncompromising, fiercely authentic independent rock trailblazer.

💿 Key Studio Discography (Lewnatic Era)

• My World, My Rules (LP, 2026) – Featuring hit tracks "Takedown", "AZN Pride!", and "Control Your Narrative"

• Fate Is in Our Hands (EP, 2026) – Featuring "Rude Mood" and "Brain Rot"

• Persona//Overflow (LP, 2025)

• Overture (EP, 2025) – Featuring "The Garden of Echoes (In Memory of Winnie & Faith)"

• Starrcade (LP, 2024)

• Rapid Fire (EP, 2022)