Saturday, 6 February 2010 - 8:01pm

I had a chance to catch up with Simon Young, bassist and bandleader from Portland Chinatown dance-rock band The Slants, who talked about putting together an all-Asian synth-pop band in the Northwest, playing Anime conventions, and being banned from a venue for fire breathing on stage.


Isamu Jordan: You call your musical style "Chinatown dance-rock." What does that mean to you?

 

Simon Young: "It's a fine-tune capture of what we're doing musically and the overall concept of the band. Chinatown is not just Chinese people, there are a lot of difference people pf Asian descentvcoming together and that's how it was with this band. "

 

IJ: Tell us about your newest album, "Pageantry?"

 

SY: "It's our third release and second full length. Our last album, 'Slants Slants Revolution Remixes' was aimed at dance clubs. From the second we started working on this one it was a lot more rock and roll and pop and less keyboard. Our first one, "Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts" was like a synth-pop band, like Depeche Mode or New Order.  We've taken those influences and brought more of a rock and roll edge. The drums are live drums -- the first album didn't have a lot of that. Our singer, Aaron, quit smoking, so the vocals are stronger and the whole album gelled more because we've had more time to develop our sound."

 

IJ: The first album was made when you were relatively young as a band?

 

SY: "I'm still proud of the first album. We played our first show and three months later we put the album together and released it. We didn't have time to develop the songs as much as we wanted to. We actually wanted to try more things -- after we put out album I definitely wanted to come back to it from a punk rock background. The  live show is more energetic, it's more like  punk rock with keyboards, and the album is a little softer and polished. We wanted to combine those elements so it's more like our live show,  still with smoother sounds reflective less of the 80s and of our own sound."

 

IJ: How do you start an all-Asian dance rock band in the Northwest?

 

SY: "It wasn't easy. The idea started in my head a couple years ago, watching kill bill and the scene with the Crazy 88s. I thought it was awesome. An Asian band based in America is something you don't see a lot of. So I starting putting up posters and taking out classicied ads and eventually the right people started coming along. We've been through a lot of people, like ten have come and gone."

 

IJ: So, you were banned from a Portland venue for breathing fire?

 

SY: "When we used to do it more often, I made the club aware, this was  all before the law changed. It was completely acceptable Our singer would do a few seconds of fire breathing on stage and the manager freaked out. He was yelling at us in front of audience, we just cut it and packed up and left. We ended up going to a bar down the street. But it was hit in the press within a day had two clubs going you can come and play so it worked out in our favor." 

 

IJ: What's your view on any controversy that might ensue from your band's name?

 

SY: "I didn't think it was controversial at the time. I thought it was funny. It's common thing Asian people share and The Slants is a cool name. It's not always the first thing people think of and then they see us  see and it's kind of funny, they're afriad to ask us about. I always thought it was amusing and the Asian community really responded to it. Having slanted eyes isn't something we're ashamed of, it's beautiful. There are 130 distinct cultures with their own identities and heritage that goes back 1000s of years not. It's not a blanket cultlure. The only people who thought it was controversial are non-Asian people getting concerned with being politically correct. They did a piece on us on NPR with this huge focus on trying to change meaning and make it positive, like "queer," was derogatory way to address gay community but most people think it's the proper term now. We're trying to take it make it something to be proud of."

 

IJ: Anime conventions vs. Rock clubs, which do you prefer to play?

 

SY: "I would say there is nothing like playing an anime convention. We love doing it. The kids are absolutely crazy. The crowds are really genuine. Sometimes in a club,  where in front of poeple that are not really familiarl with our music and they just seem jaded. Like they stay in back of the back of bar. At the anime conventions they want to be entertained. They're up front jumping up and down. Watching them is one of the reasons we enjoy playing the anime conventions." 

 

IJ: Tell us about your newest album, "Pageantry?"

 

SY: "It's our third release and second full length. Our last album, 'Slants Slants Revolution Remixes' was aimed at dance clubs. From the second we started working on this one it was a lot more rock and roll and pop and less keyboard. Our first one, "Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts" was like a synth-pop band, like Depeche Mode or New Order.  We've taken those influences and brought more of a rock and roll edge. The drums are live drums -- the first album didn't have a lot of that. Our singer, Aaron, quit smoking, so the vocals are stronger and the whole album gelled more because we've had more time to develop our sound."

 

IJ: The first album was made when you were relatively young as a band?

 

SY: I'm still proud of the first album. We played our first show and three months later we put the album together and released it. We didn't have time to develop the songs as much as we wanted to. We actually wanted to try more things -- after we put out album I definitely wanted to come back to it from a punk rock background. The  live show is more energetic, it's more like  punk rock with keyboards, and the album is a little softer and polished. We wanted to combine those elements so it's more like our live show,  still with smoother sounds reflective less of the 80s and of our own sound."

 

IJ: How do you start an All-Asian dance rock band in the Northwest?

 

SY: "It wasn't easy. The idea started in my head a couple years ago, watching kill bill and the scene with the Crazy 88s. I thought it was awesome. An Asian band based in America is something you don't see a lot of. So I starting putting up posters and taking out classicied ads and eventually the right people started coming along. We've been through a lot of people, like ten have come and gone."

 

Thee Slants were scheduled to appear tonight at Empyrean Coffee Hoouse, 171 S. Washington Street, the show has been canceled.

Friday, 5 February 2010 - 9:24am

The Anvil Experience

Wednesday, 3 February 2010 - 1:01pm

Just a quick headsup, tonight's regular jazz night at The Swamp has been moved to The A Club, in the old Casbah space.

Tonight's show features Don Goodwin's group highlighted by Todd Delgiudice on saxophone and Brian McCann on bass. Also, Goodwin's younger brother Scott will be sitting in on drums, along with Bob Rees on percussion. It'll be like a mini-Beecraft reunion (or Mama's Dogma for you old school onion heads).

The Swamp's jazz night shows have been relocated to The A Club for at least the next three Wednesdays.

Wednesday, 3 February 2010 - 11:56am

Here's this week's top five club picks from The Som Show, as appears in the Entertainment Spokane weekly e-newsletter.

Tuesday, 2 February 2010 - 7:10pm

This update was posted seconds ago on the Facebook event for the protest planned for Friday at Sunset Junction (it comes from the event creator, Ben Cater, former owner of The B-Side):

Tuesday, 2 February 2010 - 5:40pm

Here's a link to the Facebook event post for the protest that was planned on Friday at 3 p.m. at Sunset Junction. The event was canceled in response to news that broke on The Som Show tonight that music is OK at The Swamp, according to its

Blogs Archives

January 29, 2010 - 10:11am
January 27, 2010 - 11:54am
January 25, 2010 - 11:32am
January 22, 2010 - 2:37pm
January 21, 2010 - 10:46am
January 15, 2010 - 6:26pm
January 15, 2010 - 3:11pm
January 13, 2010 - 11:31am
January 12, 2010 - 12:54pm
January 11, 2010 - 12:31am
January 10, 2010 - 12:29am
January 8, 2010 - 1:38pm
January 6, 2010 - 10:34am
January 1, 2010 - 3:25pm
December 31, 2009 - 10:15am
December 30, 2009 - 11:42am
December 27, 2009 - 7:33pm
December 24, 2009 - 2:06pm
December 22, 2009 - 1:45pm
December 21, 2009 - 1:14pm
December 19, 2009 - 5:30pm
December 19, 2009 - 2:14pm
December 18, 2009 - 1:19pm
December 18, 2009 - 11:47am
December 17, 2009 - 10:22am
December 16, 2009 - 10:36am
December 15, 2009 - 7:53pm
December 15, 2009 - 7:05pm
December 15, 2009 - 2:33pm
December 15, 2009 - 2:11am
December 13, 2009 - 11:15pm
December 11, 2009 - 12:19pm
December 9, 2009 - 11:14pm
December 9, 2009 - 11:32am
December 8, 2009 - 3:25pm
December 7, 2009 - 11:27am
December 5, 2009 - 10:54am
December 4, 2009 - 4:03pm
December 3, 2009 - 11:05am
December 2, 2009 - 12:51pm
December 1, 2009 - 12:18pm
November 30, 2009 - 10:51am
November 28, 2009 - 12:12pm
November 28, 2009 - 11:42am