Welcome to Slot Machine family
Slot Machine music is conceptual art and it’s been this way for a long time.
Hello Slot Machine! How are you? It’s a pleasure to interview you. How has the pandemic been taking you all this time?
GAK: It was hard for everyone during Covid-19. As for us, we’d preferred being at home to going out, so it was all good. I spent most of my time making demos and meanwhile Vit and Foet had their own business to run.
According to its bio, the band was born in 2004, so it is already 18 years of trajectory, something that is easy to say but it is not. How did the idea of creating the band come up?
GAK: Foet and I have been friends since high school. We’ve been performing music together since 15 years old. We released our first album when we were 18 and Vit joined us on the second album.
Who are its current members?
GAK: The recent members are Foet (vocals), Gak (Bass) and Vit (Guitar). There are three of us.
What would you mention as your main influences?
GAK: Nu metal had a big influence on our music from the start and bands like Korn, Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit inspired us a lot. Later on, we listened to many British bands like Radiohead and Oasis and they had a great impact on Slot Machine’s music.
How would you define your musical style?
GAK: Media tends to label our music as alternative rock, but in our opinion, it’s more like an experimental kind of music. We treat and create our music like an experiment, so there’s always something new and different to the point that it can hardly identify it in just one specific genre. But if you ask me, I’d say “experimental alternative rock” at this point.
So far the band has released 6 albums (7 albums actually), being “Third Eye View”, from 2020 the most recent one.
GAK: “Third Eye View” is Slot Machine’s best album in my opinion. Each song in the album is different from the others and they will make you question if they are really from the same album. That’s why I said it’s experimental. We wanted to make an album that is like doing an experiment that is beyond everybody’s expectations. We had an incredible opportunity to work with great people like Brandon Darner, a producer who worked for Imagine Dragon, for a week, and also Justin Stanley who worked for Prince, Eric Clapton and other big names, for another week. We spent time together with them in Karma Studio and it was so intense that we even completed a song in one day every day during that time. We even took some old demos that we worked on more than 10 years ago when we were so young and so brave and then listened to them again and again before putting some new ideas in them and recreating new outstanding pieces of music. It was so satisfying.
How many songs does it include?
VIT: There are 14 songs and 4 of them also available in Thai version.
Any audiovisual material?
VIT: There are 5 music videos from this album Know Your Enemy, Magic, Bangkok, Hummingbird and Thai version MV for Tomorrowland.
We also release Third Eye View Live Session which we picked 6 songs from the album to perform & publish on YouTube.
Regarding its promotion and diffusion. How did you promote it since it coincided with the year of the pandemic?
VIT: It was a very difficult time to do the promotion. However, there were times that we held FB & YouTube Live to connect with our fans online and sometimes we even invited some of our staff to share their working experience with fans online, so they knew more about the working process for our show.
As I said before, so far the band has released 6 albums [7 albums], 2 of which are in English. The first one “Spin The World” from 2006 and the second one “Third Eye View”.
What motivated you to release two albums in English, 14 years apart each? Has this allowed you to have a greater visibility at an international level?
VIT: Our songs are the main factor that introduces us to international fans. As for me, when the audience has seen our show, the feedback is always beyond expectation.
Regarding the lyrics of your albums. Because from now on you can consider me a fan of yours.
What inspires you to compose your songs? Do you try to transmit any message?
VIT: Pretty much everything that you can think of. Our creativity in making music is not only inspired by music that we’ve listened to, but also by everything surrounding us. There was one song in which we just simply picked up a 9V battery and used it to play with a guitar to see how it was. It worked. If you want to know what it sounds like, please listen to the song “75%”.
Now it’s the moment I’ve been waiting for!
I think that, just by mentioning the song, in English and Thai version, “Free Fall” / “Phiang Wai Chai” everything has been said.
Did you ever think that you would have the level of worldwide visibility that you have right now, since you have been discovered in countries as far away as Mexico and others in Latin America?
FOET: We’ve never thought that the songs would reach Latin American fans. There are so many factors to think about such as the language barrier and also distance as we live so far apart. So I’m so thankful to Latin American fans for the love they have for the series and our songs too. I’m so happy that we get to know each other and some fans even flew over just to see our show. We can’t thank you enough for your support and hope that we’ll meet everyone there in person one day.
Do you think that Slot Machine’s collaboration with “KinnPorsche The Series” has marked a before and after for the Thai music industry, both for you and for other music genres?
FOET: Before being a part of KinnPorsche The Series, we had opportunities to tour many places like America, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Australia, England, and such, but never in the Latin America region. After the release of “Free Fall” and “Phiang Wai Chai”, we finally made it and met our fans there. Knowing that our music has reached Latin American fans is refreshing and beyond our expectations. We’re so happy.
If you had to mention what has been the key to the worldwide success of this track, both in English and Thai, as both videos exceed ten million views on YouTube, what would you say?
FOET: The key factor that brings success to both the series and the songs should be how everything fit together perfectly. The series itself has a dark tone of mafia vibe with action and romantic elements in it, meanwhile, Slot Machine is a rock band with a unique direction of look and style which complements the series so well, so It’s a perfect match. It’s just no one would expect it to be this successful. I’m so thankful to those who come and watch our MVs as it has increased the number of views drastically.
Back to the band. I know that you have been currently engaged in “KinnPorsche The Series World Tour 2022”, through several countries in Asia, where you have even played on stage with part of the cast of the acclaimed series.
What has it been like to be part of this experience?
How have you felt so far?
FOET: It was a blast being able to join the KinnPorsche the Series World Tour because we got to meet new fans in many countries. We had released 2 English albums which led us to international fans before, so this made us feel like we were back on track again. Covid-19 had stopped us from doing everything, so it’s so refreshing to be back and things turn out to be better than we thought as it has reached to global scale. I look forward to seeing everyone soon.
How have you been received by the public in each show you offer?
FOET: We have received good feedback so far and we have to give credit to the series too as it is a huge success. Fans love the series, so they love the songs “Free Fall” and “Phiang Wai Chai” which can be labeled as the anthems of the series itself too. I’m so thankful and because of it we could travel the world and get to meet new people. They are super nice to us and the feedback is so good that we can’t find any better word than thank you, thank you and thank you.
Besides this tour as part of the series. Do you have any other tours or presentations already planned for the band?
FOET: As mentioned earlier, before touring with KinnPorsche the Series, we had already released 2 English albums, so we have planned everything. We hope to see everyone more and more in the future. Slot Machine’s solo concert is already being planned, so please stay tuned. We hope to see you all at our concert.
What other plans do you have for this year or next year? Can we expect a new album?
FOET: We planned to release a new album within the next year. Four singles have already been released, so please check them out through our social media & YouTube. Although they are in Thai, it seems fans have received them with such a warm welcome. Some of our lovely fans even took the songs, “Chai No Chai”, “Farway”, “Phiang Wai Chai” from KinnPorsche the Series and “Muen Lan Kham (Marry Me)”, and translated them into their languages. The concept for this new album is mainly about matters of mind in multidimensional aspects. Slot Machine music is conceptual art and it’s been this way for a long time. Please look forward to the new album and please also listen to our previous work especially new fans to get to know us better. In 2023, I believe fans will get to see us more all through the year with the big solo concert at the year-end. Welcome to Slot Machine family.
Follow the band at:
STREAMING:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3I5dS4U
Apple Music: https://apple.co/36dJBE4
