Interview ~ The Slants: November 10, 2007
PMX Los Angeles, CA
Do you crave new music that isn't a cookie cutter replica of everything else that is out today? Then look no further! The Slants is a powerful and brilliant band with a bold sound that will melt your face clean off.
Mixing electronic dance with rock, this unique blend of music is very rightly dubbed "Chinatown Dance Rock." Whoever said that it's all been done before obviously hasn't heard of The Slants.
Be sure to watch the video footage of this interview, too! (Check the Videos section of the website)
Who are The Slants?
Aron: I’m Aron. I do the vocals.
Simon Young: I’m Simon. I’m the bass player.
Johnny: Johnny, the guitarist.
AC: I’m AC. I play drums.
Gaijin: Gaijin, keyboards.
Jen Cho: Jen Cho, keyboards.
Is Gaijin your real name?
Gaijin: It’s my stage name. (laughs)
Why the name Gaijin?
Gaijin: Cause I’m the only white guy. (band laughs) Seemed fitting.
The sound has been described as “china town dance rock.” Did the sound just evolve this way or did you guys decide, “Hey, we wanna sound like this!”
Simon: Um, well originally Michael and I got together and we both have a common love for bands like The Faint–
Aron & Gaijin: Gaijin.
Simon: I’m sorry, Gaijin. (laughs)
Gotta use the stage name.
Simon: We both have this tremendous love for synth pop. A lot of us grew up with that. And we decided that’s kind of where we wanted to go. And as we started writing songs it just kind of went in that direction. As we got along with Jen and Aron and brought different people in, the sound kind of took its own shape. Aron and I brought a lot more of a punk rock feel to it. Jen added like, talent, so we actually sounded good. (Band laughs) Gaijin made it a lot more dancey. And then we got AC and Johnny a little bit after that.
Wow, so what’s the history behind this band? How did you all meet?
(pause)
Gaijin: Craigslist. (Band bursts out laughing)
Aron: I just saw a newspaper ad that said asian singer wanted. I hadn’t been in a band in a year and I was itching for something. It’s horrible when you’re not being creative. And I started sewing and doing stuff like that, but I just really wanted to find a new project. And when it’s an asian singer wanted it’s perfect because I kind of fit the singer part…
Uh huh. And...
Aron: And the asian part.
Simon: Kind of. (Aron bursts out laughing) So yeah, we just kept putting out ads. I’ve known Johnny for a really long time as well, and he replaced our old guitarist who was also a good friend of Gaijin. So as far as the guitarist goes, it’s all been people we knew. But other than that everyone kind of came on board through ads and things. Except for AC. He just showed up one day.
AC: I just showed up on the front porch and said “Hey I wanna drum.”
Really? You guys didn’t know him beforehand?
AC: Well, through the grapevine kind of.
Simon: He plays in this other awesome band called The Gentry. We already knew who they were, and he was looking for another band. One that was a lot better. (Band laughs)
AC: Oh hell no!
JC: Gino’s gonna kill you.
Simon: Better looking? (Band laughs) No, we love Gino and The Gentry. They’re an awesome band, and so we already knew that AC could bring the rock. We kind of knew him by reputation and figured that within one practice he’d be able to take on the role as the drummer which he pretty much did. He learned the record by listening to demos of it and came in and started doing shows with us a few days after.
And so there’s six of you now! Are you open to adding new members?
Gaijin: We’re talking to an accordion player. (Band laughs)
Aron: No, if it came about that something happens and we wanted to add something it’d be fine. But I think six is a perfect number for us right now. We’re sounding great together this way.
Jen Cho: We went through a lot of line-up changes. And in the past couple of months have finally gotten settled into something we’re happy with.
Gaijin: This line-up as it is has only existed for seven or eight weeks.
Simon: Yeah, since late August. And the important thing is that we really get along well. That’s the problem with a lot of bands. They end up breaking because they hate each other, can’t stand being in a band together.
And you would all say the symmetry between you guys is good.
The Slants: Yeah.
Aron: Me being the leader and them falling behind me, it’s perfect. They follow well behind me.
Simon: We’re all asian so as long as we have rice…
What about Gaijin?
Gaijin: Well the album is Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts.
Aron: He’s got the heart.
Gaijin: So half the album is dedicated to me! (Band laughs)
Jen Cho: (Laughing) Gaijin probably knows more about asian culture than the rest of us, cause he’s like, you know, really into it. And we just kind of… are it.
Aron: (Laughs) There’s word for that.
Simon: Yeah, he’s asian on the inside. (Band agrees)
Gaijin: I’m like an egg. White on the outside but there’s yellow inside. (Band laughs)
Then there’s the name. The Slants. How did you come up with that name?
Simon: We all walk crooked. (Laughs) Actually, we were sitting and talking about what kind of features asians share and someone said slanted eyes. We thought hey that’s a perfect name, The Slants, because it doesn’t really sound like something that’s asian right off the bat but it actually is. So that’s kind of how it came about and yeah, it goes really well with everything, and it’s kind of catchy.
Have you received any controversy about the name?
Simon: Quite a bit.
Gaijin: Mostly from white people. (Band laughs)
Aron: The asian community has loved us and they’ve reached out to us and done a lot for us cause we’re not afraid to talk about it. The opening dialogue, if I bring it up, “Hey, we’re asian, we love it. Here’s our music. You wanna dance with us? Here it is.”
Simon: Rather than being ashamed of who we are we’re proud of it. Yeah we have slanted eyes, so what? When I started the china recruit for the band I used to get a ton of hate mail for it. And people would say like, “If I ever see you around town…”
Aron: “I’ll gouge your eyes out!” (Laughs)
Simon: They thought I was racist for wanting an asian band. So I would kind of get back at them and say, hey, are all girl bands sexist? Are these political or Christian bands fascist?
Aron: Dropkick Murphys’ Irish.
Simon: Yeah, it’s something we share in common and we’re proud of that. And besides (gestures to Gaijin) we’ve got someone who isn’t even asian.
Gaijin: I’m the affirmative action requirement. (Band laughs)
Lets talk about music! How did you get involved in music?
b>Simon: Personally, I grew up always wanting to do music for my entire life. Its been involved with me in some way, shape or form since I was about two.
Gaijin: Same for me.
Aron: I grew up singing and learning the French horn and trumpet throughout high school and junior high. I can blow a lot of wind pretty much is what I’m trying to say! (Band laughs) And this is my third band too. All of us have been in bands before this.
Gaijin: Yeah, we’re all definitely musicians at heart.
What inspires the songs?
Gaijin: Pain and suffering…
That’s such an emo answer!
Simon: Usually how most of the songs started is I’d go over to Gaijin’s place and we’d play around with something. And if it sounded cool we kept it and worked on it. And if not, we left it. But as far as lyrics go, that’s mostly Aron’s doing.
Aron: I just sit back, drink a bottle of wine, and lyrics started coming out and whatever came to me I wrote it down.
PMX isn’t the first convention you’ve played at. You played at Kumoricon too.
Gaijin: Yeah, as a group we’ve only played at one other convention and that was Kumoricon.
How was that?
Simon: It was awesome.
Gaijin: Yeah, it was pretty much amazing.
Jen Cho: It was a lot of fun. Everyone there was just so excited and so happy to be seeing us. And they’d come up to our table and get really excited. We did autographs for I don’t know how long, it was like… four hours?
Gaijin: Four hours altogether!
JC: We signed so much stuff!
Gaijin: Playing a convention is a whole nother beast than playing any other venues.
I’m curious about that. How does it compare?
Gaijin: When you’re playing local venues you’re playing usually to indie kids who are kind of shoe gazers maybe. They just don’t seem to get into it as much. The kids who come to these conventions are very sincere I think. They’re very genuinely interested in what we’re doing and that’s really great.
Simon: I think a lot of people who attend the venue shows are afraid, and trying to pretend that they’re cool. We play for bars all the time, and its been really different playing in this band than all my other bands because people actually come up to this one and dance. But most of the time when we go to shows in Portland in LA, most people are just sitting around with their hands crossed – even if they like the music, just because they don’t want to look stupid by dancing or getting into it. But at conventions people go all out.
Do you think it’s more because they’re into the Japanese culture?
Gaijin: More than that, part of going to a convention like this is having the opportunity to kind of get a little wild and get outside of your shell and be really passionate about what you’re into.
Aron: And you’re already dressing up sometimes you know? So you’re getting out of your shell a lot easier that way. You’re with other people who want to do the same thing, to celebrate anime culture, asian culture, Japanese culture. So it’s a lot easier I think for kids to get into it.
And how has the fan reception been so far?
Gaijin: Pretty impressive all things considered. We’ve only been playing gigs since May.
Simon: May 31st.
Gaijin: Yeah, so pretty much June. So its been… not very long. And to be signing autographs three months after your first gig, for four hours at a time, is insane.
Aron: Even at our adult shows too, its been really weird.
Gaijin: Our “adult” shows? (Band laughs)
Aron: Bar shows, clubs, 21 and over venues, it’s weird when an adult comes up like “Can I have your autograph dude?” Here I understand because the kids are excited. But it’s weird to have it at just a regular, over age club. So as far as reception goes, we’re being received really well.
I understand PMX kicks off a national tour for you guys?
Simon: Not really a national tour. We’re playing all over the country for the next year or so. After PMX we’re gonna go to the Whiskey a Go Go in Hollywood, play that, and then we’re gonna drive straight home and do a few shows in the northwest. We’re actually going to do another west coast tour in March. But as far as a national tour goes, we go home often, and we’ll fly out to places—
Aron: We’re flying to New York in January.
Simon: We’ve got two more conventions in January, but we’re just gonna play those, go home, and play our normal schedule.
What’s a place you’re really looking forward to playing at?
Gaijin: Whiskey a Go Go.
Aron: I’d have to say Whiskey because it’s so legendary.
JC: I can’t wait to play the bay area actually because that’s where I’m originally from. Most of my friends haven’t seen the band yet live. And it’s just gonna be awesome to go home and invite them all out, and…
Gaijin: Melt their faces. (Laughs)
Simon: I love southern California because that’s my hometown. But I’m also looking forward to San Francisco cause I’ve been trying to go there for the last ten years and every trip I plan to go there it gets cancelled for some reason or another. So hopefully I’m finally gonna be able to play there. That, and anywhere we get to fly to, like New York or Texas.
Gaijin: Yeah, looking forward to New York.
Simon: Usually it’s only anime conventions that have the luxury to fly us out. At this moment in time we can’t do a full US tour. So if people want us to play a single event they’d have to help us out in getting there.
What do you guys ultimately want to achieve as a band?
Gaijin: I’d settle for fame and fortune! (Band laughs)
Simon: I think we’d love to do this all full-time for a living whether it’s on our own, which is what we’re trying to do now, or with a label. Personally I don’t care whether we get signed or not because we seem to be doing just great without a label. We’re doing everything a label would do but on our own, and we have plenty of support for it. All of us love traveling and I think we want to see the world. We’d love to do an Asia tour next year or the year after.
Got anything to say to your fans?
Aron: Without you guys we’re nothing. So we appreciate you guys digging it, and hopefully we’ll see you at a show dancing soon.
Jen Cho: Yeah, I’d have to say our fans are probably the best fans in the world.
Gaijin: Rock off and fuck on.
Simon: We love them. We love you!
Johnny: Stay slanted!
interview by Sarah and Kei
Thank you to The Slants for allowing us the courtesy of interviewing them, Alex Steninger for hooking us up, and AC for providing the audio footage.
links
The Slants Official Website
The Slants Official MySpace
The Slants Live Report PMX 2007
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