DUNNVILLE—Levi Passmore has made quite a name for himself in just 18 years on the planet so far.
Locally, he is known as the entrepreneurial young owner of Passmore’s Diner in Dunnville. Online, under the moniker ‘Leviathan’, he is known to millions around the world for his song ‘Chug Jug With You’, a Fortnite parody with over 39 million views on YouTube and 27 million listens on Spotify.
Writing the song at just 12 years old, Passmore had no idea how far it would reach or how long the song would remain popular, leading to Passmore’s first big public performance at The Streamer Awards, a ceremony celebrating “the best of live streaming” held at The Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on February 17, 2024.
We caught up with Passmore for an update on the diner, his performance, and what it felt like to perform the song live in LA.
“Things have been going incredibly, we’ve been really busy,” said Passmore on his diner’s success nearly a year after first opening thanks to the funds raised from the song. “During the lunch rush especially, we’re always completely full. We recently did a free pancake breakfast, no catch, just for everyone who came in before 9 a.m.”
He still can’t quite believe the amount of attention ‘Chug Jug’ has brought him over the years: “My whole thing was let’s just make a stupid song, it’s not going to go anywhere, it’s just something for me and my friends…. I never thought I’d be performing it in Hollywood. It was very surreal.”
While Passmore has performed live before, including impromptu performances at Dunnville’s annual Mudcat Festival, this was his first time on such a big stage.
“It was very new for me,” he said, noting that in addition to the 4,000 in attendance at the event, up to 600,000 people were viewing the live stream. Additionally, a video of the performance posted to YouTube by Passmore has since accumulated an additional 90,000 views: “It was really crazy, the amount of impressions it got.”
While Passmore’s anxiety was high leading up to the performance, once there he found himself feeling much more comfortable than he thought he would.
“I walked in and they escorted me to this dressing room that had my name on it, and brought me up a charcuterie board and a mini fridge and said ‘this is all yours’. I think how well I was treated there helped to take some of the stress off, knowing they wanted me there.”
Further bolstering Passmore’s confidence was the fact that a local audience had gathered at the diner to watch him perform on a projection screen, set up by his parents.
“I wanted to bring as much of Dunnville as I could with me,” said Passmore, adding that the chain he wore around his neck during the performance was made by Rich from LVW Creative Barracks. “Having that element of people in town helping me out was really important to me.”
He said that every time he thinks the song has reached the natural end of its lifespan, it keeps finding new audiences.
“I still have money coming from the song being on Spotify, YouTube, and the radio. That money helps pay off the diner, which helps me feed people here,” he said.
So, what’s next for Passmore?
“I’m going to wait and see where the wind takes me,” he replied, before throwing out a teaser sure to get his online fan base excited: “I’m thinking of doing another song.”
