(guitar playing) - My name is Jacob Slade, I'm from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

(guitar playing) I am really influenced by a lot of classic rock guitarists and so I like adding in a little bit more complexity into the guitar parts.

(guitar playing) The structure of the music is very pop oriented, and then I think I draw from other genres like folk, rock, indie, all of that to sort of make the pop music a little bit more interesting.

♪ I concede each piece of me ♪ ♪ Consolidate remaining energy ♪ I got my start of music playing drums when I was five or six years old.

I got a drum set for Christmas, always used to love playing with my dad.

He played guitar back in the day and we would jam together.

Fast forward to when I was 13 or so, I picked up one of his guitars and started playing and just absolutely fell in love with it.

Everything since taking drum lessons when I was really little, has been self-taught.

♪ It helps to turn away from things ♪ ♪ Take a break and ignore the pain ♪ ♪ But avoidance is temporary ♪ I have a lot of different influences and enjoy writing and recording a lot of different music.

So I think that it lies somewhere between indie rock, some hints of folk music, singer-songwriter, just always trying to blend the different influences that I have gathered throughout the years and put them into a cohesive sound, has been something that I've strived to do in terms of finding my sound as a solo artist.

♪ Slow it down ♪ ♪ You never wanna know exactly how I feel ♪ ♪ I've tried before and realized it's worth it to reveal ♪ I very much write from a place of talking to this other person, but I think oftentimes, whether I intend for it to be or not is sort of me talking to myself.

So I always try to look at it from the perspective of what are people gonna feel when they listen to this?

It is finding a way to weave in your unique experiences with very generally relatable topics that people can connect with.

I think in Milwaukee it is a really cool scene because there's a real environment of inclusivity here.

Everyone is very supportive of each other, and I think that musicians see their success, but also the success of others as success for sort of the collective whole.

(guitar playing) I love the sort of stripped back sound and hearing how bands do it differently.

The intimate setting is able to illuminate some of the complexities that I put into it, in the instrumentation as well as in the lyrics, and I think it's just a good opportunity to really hear the good essence of the songs that you write.

I hope people are able to just hear them and enjoy them in a stripped back setting.

(gentle guitar playing)