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Slaughter Beach, Dog is the solo project of American indie rock artist Jake Ewald, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

History
Ewald originally built himself a reputation for himself during his time with Philadelphia indie rock band Modern Baseball. He experienced writer’s block whilst writing new material, and remedied this by creating fictionalized characters and situations to centre his songwriting around. Over time, the project became a medium for music deemed unfitting for Modern Baseball, and an enjoyable exercise in songwriting for Ewald. He has described the earlier phases of his writing as being freeing and less demanding on him as an artist, and that the process has made him excited about making music once more.

Following the release of Modern Baseball’s 2016 LP Holy Ghost and the announcement of an indefinite hiatus, Ewald began to dedicate more of his time to Slaughter Beach, Dog, making it his primary artistic focus. Having spent the early years of his adult life on tour with the band, Ewald returned to his home in Philadelphia to finish college, with enough financial and creative freedom to begin a new musical undertaking. Feeling as if he was hitting a wall creatively, Ewald began to have difficulty drawing inspiration from his life and felt as if he had a lack of material. He recruited former bandmate Ian Farmer of Modern Baseball as both the bassist and producer for his new project.

No longer dealing with the stresses of being on tour, Ewald aimed to craft his songwriting in a way that reflected maturity. In contrast to the strictly personal nature of his songwriting for Modern Baseball, Ewald focused this time on the individual stories of his characters in the fictional town of Slaughter Beach, while still incorporating some facets of his own youth as well as the idiosyncrasies of his everyday life after touring. Through the process, Ewald created a fictionalized version of himself to place into the narrative of Slaughter Beach, allowing him to write in a way that reflected many of his own views and emotions. The end product was material that was still personal, but contained enough of Ewald’s own invention to be characterized as different from what listeners had heard so far. Eventually, the project grew from being a small undertaking to a reputable musical act. No longer locked to the content of his own experience, Ewald was able to simplify the writing process for himself, and the diversity of his musical repertoire grew. He cites his newfound musical goals as being conducive to the success of his new project, and that the freedom he gave himself allowed him to access facets of his creativity that he had not used prior.

Ewald initially remained quiet about Slaughter Beach, Dog, keeping it out of the public eye and off of social media, occasionally playing songs at small shows in Philadelphia. He later decided to emotionally invest more into the project after receiving positive reception from listeners, one of which being fellow indie rock artist Harmony Woods (Sofia Verbilla), as well as her father and producer, both of whom emphasized their enjoyment of Ewald’s new material.

The 2014 EP Dawg and 2016 LP Welcome were released with Philadelphia DIY label Lame-O Records to mostly positive reviews, which critics praising Ewald for attempting to widen the breadth of his musical abilities on the latter. Soon after, Ewald and Farmer, along with Cameron Boucher of Sorority Noise, founded their own recording studio, The Metal Shop, in Fishtown. Ewald used an empty space he found on Craigslist to build the studio. Through his new studio, Ewald independently released the 2017 EP Motorcycle.jpg and LP Birdie, both to positive reviews. Critics have called the former “confident and assured,” and a “charming and capable release.” In regards to the latter, critics have cited Ewald’s sonic diversity and “masterful songwriting” as selling points.

In reference to Modern Baseball’s hiatus, Ewald cites fatigue, burnout, and mental health issues as being contributing factors. With Slaughter Beach, Dog, he states that his main goal is to keep the project as enjoyable as he can for himself, for as long as possible. He has reportedly enjoyed the level of creative control he has experienced so far, and is working on respecting his gut instincts and avoiding taking on overwhelming amounts of work with his approach to this project.

Musical style
Slaughter Beach, Dog has been called a “tempered-down,” more intimate version of its predecessor, Modern Baseball. Ewald’s songwriting and composing has been grouped with genres such as indie rock, emo, and folk. Listeners have described Welcome as sounding more akin to Modern Baseball releases, while some songs off of Birdie represent a more significant change in sound. The record’s first single, “Gold and Green,” takes inspiration from country and folk music. Positive reception has been attributed to Ewald experimentation with new, more intricate soundscapes than his previous works. The project incorporates an acoustic-based foundation in stark contrast to Modern Baseball’s pop punk sound, but with the same “punchy lyrics.” Praise has been given for Ewald’s ability to still generate melodic compositions, and many have cited the disappearance of distortion-heavy punk conventions as being beneficial to his re-establishing himself as an artist. The change of direction is also present in his vocal delivery, which has moved from raspy yelling to softer tones, incorporating the use of deadpan, spoken word elements.

Ewald’s songwriting makes use of storytelling techniques, the lyrical and thematic content of which has been described as more introspective and contemplative than Ewald’s previous works, examining the mundane aspects of life, as opposed to Modern Baseball’s humour and brutal honesty. Common lyrical themes of Slaughter Beach, Dog thus far include existentialism, nostalgia, loneliness, addiction, and death.

Ewald has cited John K. Samson of The Weakerthans and David Bazan of Pedro the Lion as musical influences and his favourite songwriters, drawing inspiration from their transitions from musical ensembles to solo projects. He describes his own sound as being quieter, more reserved and restrained, and “less rockin’,” and a reflection of his more recent musical tastes.

Studio albums

 * Welcome (2016)
 * Birdie (2017)

EPs

 * Dawg (2014)
 * Slaughter Beach, Dog on Audiotree Live (2017)
 * Motorcycle.jpg (2017)