LISTEN TO “COMING TO THE NUISANCE” : HERE
“ In contrast with the space-y, almost post-rock sound of the song, Sauerteig’s vocals have a certain early 00s indie feel to them, think Ben Gibbard as a reference point.” - MXDWN
Slow Dakota the project from Chicago (by way of New York and Indiana) based songwriter and label owner Paul Sauerteig has released, “Coming to the Nuisance,” the second single off his upcoming album Tornado Mass for Voice & Synthesizer due out May 1 on Massif Records.
Slow Dakota mastermind Paul Sauerteig, who is a practicing lawyer, was in law school while writing this album was naturally super inspired by his surroundings....the law. “Coming to the Nuisance” is an old legal maxim that means, if you know someone is loud and obnoxious and messy, you can’t move in next door and then sue them for being a loud and obnoxious and messy neighbor. You’ve “come” to the nuisance, and that’s your fault because you knew better. “A song I wrote years ago, and a release date planned months ago – it’s a strange coincidence to release ‘Coming to the Nuisance’ right now, in our current and collective state of crisis,” Sauerteig told MXDWN . “After all, the song is about trying to prepare for a looming, mass disaster. Battening down the hatches. I had global warming in mind, but COVID-19 has stolen the show, I suppose. The song’s narrator is preparing for a disaster that he knows is coming, but no one around him takes it seriously – not even friends and neighbors. I had Noah in mind, from the old story of Noah’s Arc. He was shrugged off by his community, and no one wanted to wrap their heads around the “flood” he was warning them about. I think a lot of people feel like Noah today, for a lot of different reasons, in the bated breath before a lot of different floods.”
The name Slow Dakota comes from Sauerteig's great grandfather who spent final years in and out of hospitals and the occasional psychiatric institute. As his mental health started to deteriorate he began writing letters to The President of the United States, and would always sign them “Yours, Slow Dakota.," although having no relation to North or South Dakota. During one family visit to the hospital when Sauerteig was only 5 or 6, his great grandfather slipped him one of these letters and asked him to deliver it. The letter was addressed to President Lincoln. So, years later, when Sauerteig began releasing music, Slow Dakota felt like an appropriate pen name. Long letters to no one.
Sauerteig’s music is known for blending baroque pop, folk, classical, and electronic influences like Vangelis and Sufjan Stevens. Sauerteig often employs "spoken word" interludes, and his lyrics fixate on myth, rural folklore, and fairy tale. In 2016, he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Sauerteig began releasing music as Slow Dakota from his Columbia University dorm room in 2012. As an undergraduate, Sauerteig pursued Creative Writing and Psychology, and quietly released his first few albums: Our Indian Boy (2012), Bürstner and the Baby (2013), and The Junior EP (2015). While at Columbia, Sauerteig also founded a small record label, Massif Records, to release his own music, and the music of close friends – including the lovely Margaux. Sauerteig spent two years recording in various cities and tapped longtime producer, Sahil Ansari, and legendary mastering engineer, Greg Calbi for Tornado for Voice and Synthesizer. The album, which will be the fourth Slow Dakota full-length album, will be released on Sauerteig’s own label Massif Records this spring.
PR MATERIALS: http://smarturl.it/SlowDakotaPR
WEBSITE: http://www.slowdakota.com/
MASSIF RECORDS: http://www.slowdakota.com/massifrecords
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/slow.dakota