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Slow Dakota is the recording project of PJ Sauerteig. Despite his prolific output, Sauerteig is a very reclusive musician; he has never toured and has only ever played a handful of live shows.
His 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.
Raised in the cornfields of Indiana, 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 critically acclaimed Margaux.
Sauerteig first gained recognition with The Ascension of Slow Dakota (2016) – a haunted, cerebral blend of folk, classical, and spoken word. Shortly after, Sauerteig matriculated to NYU School of Law, where he released a pair of EP's (Rumspringa and Suite for Voice and Ukulele), and a handful of standalone singles (including the poppy Gardener in Rain and trauma-soaked Doom). By day, Sauerteig remained a full-time law student. He worked with PEN America for 1st Amendment freedoms and worked to end solitary confinement at Rikers Island.
This year, Sauerteig is preparing to release his fourth album – Tornado Mass for Voice & Synthesizer. Mass is an hour + of music Sauerteig has been tweaking since 2017. He enlisted longtime producer, Sahil Ansari, and legendary engineer, Greg Calbi, to flesh out songs straddling folk (Nick Drake, Sufjan Stevens), electronic (Arcade Fire, Genesis), and classical (Steve Reich, Wendy Carlos). Sauerteig will release the album on Massif Records.