Modern Baseball

Modern Baseball was an alternative-rock band formed in Philadelphia by high school friends Brendan Lukens and Jake Ewald. ∙ The band started out in 2011 by playing house parties around Philadelphia’s Drexel University. ∙ Old-school word-of-mouth—via modern internet music platforms and websites—helped build a fanbase for their 2012 independent debut album, Sports. ∙ The 2014 video for the angry anthem “Your Graduation”—from the group’s sophomore album, You’re Gonna Miss It All—has more than 9 million views. ∙ Holy Ghost—split between songs addressing the death of Ewald’s grandfather and tunes about Lukens’ struggles with mental illness—reached No. 53 on the Billboard 200 in 2016. ∙ Many of Modern Baseball’s videos were helmed by Kyle Thrash, who went on to direct clips for such punk bands as Every Time I Die and The Menzingers. ∙ In 2017, the band backed noted outsider singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston—one of their influences—on the Philadelphia stop of his final tour.