Slot Machine

It’s not easy for a Thai rock band to stay at the top of their game and maintain their popularity for 10 years. And they continue to grow, becoming better musicians, expanding their horizons and gaining new fans by the day. Slot Machine started off as a group of high school boys competing in national music contests. Since their teenage days, they have gone through stylistic changes and seen the transition from the cassette age to the digital music age. The one thing that has remained constant is their devotion to music. Slot Machine released their self-title debut album in 2004 featuring a hit singles ‘Ro’ (I’m Waiting For You). Followed by ‘Mutation’ in 2006, produced by Scott Moffatt, former member of Canadian boy band The Moffatts. Scott added a new element to their music, and the album produced two megahits: ‘Phan’ (Yesterday) and ‘Kham Sutthai’ (Song for U). Shortly after the release of their second album, Slot Machine was chosen as opening act for Linkin Park’s Bangkok concert in front of 30,000 fans. In 2008, the band released their third studio album, ‘Grey’. It was a more challenging album featuring a more experimental sound on songs like ‘Fan’ (Dream) and ‘Rue Du’ (Grey Sky), but fans embraced the band’s continued musical evolution and their outstanding live performances saw the band continuing to grow. However, it was their fourth studio album ‘Cell’ in 2011, which really shot Slot Machine into the stratosphere as one of Thailand’s greatest rock bands. The Montonn “Jay” Jira-produced set was named ‘Album of The Year’ and the group was pronounced ‘Best Group Artist’ in numerous media awards. Hit tracks from the album included ‘Chan Chao’ (Goodbye) and ‘Phra Athit Songklot’ (Golden Age). Following on the success of ‘Cell’, 2013 was Slot Machine’s golden year. They were nominated for the ‘Best Southeast Asian Act’ at the MTV Europe Music Awards, and their ongoing work with MTV on the network’s Human Trafficking Awareness concerts culminated in the band performing on the same stage as Jason Mraz at the MTV EXIT LIVE IN MYANMAR charity concert held to raise awareness about human-trafficking at the People’s Square, Schwedagon, Yangon, before 70,000 people. Slot Machine was again nominated for Best Southeast Act at the MTV EMA’s in 2014 – and in the same year released their fifth album, ‘Rainbow’, produced by talented Australian producer, Daniel Denholm. The album included the hits ‘Rung’ (Rainbow) and ‘Khloem’ which had over 62 million hits on YouTube. At the end of 2014, Slot Machine celebrated their 10th anniversary by performing a live concert - ‘Slot Machine – The First Contact’ at Impact Arena, Thailand’s largest indoor concert venue with a capacity of 15,000. And now, the band’s next adventure involves taking on the international market. Slot Machine’s first all-English album will be released in early 2016. The move might seem like a big gamble, but Slot Machine has always been willing to take risks, and the band members believe the time is right. With the help of six-time Grammy Award-winning producer, Steve Lillywhite who has worked with U2, The Rolling Stones, The Killers and 30 Seconds to Mars, the album heralds a new chapter in the band’s career. Slot Machine vocalist Foet shared his experiences working with the legendary producer: “We have worked with foreign producers before but Steve was different. He has worked with the world’s biggest bands. It was an amazing experience for us to work with him. He saw us performing live and wanted to work with us! Steve is very easy to work with and he made us all feel at ease. The one-month period flew by so quickly. At first, we planned to work on just four tracks, but before we knew it, we had completed the entire album.” The album was recorded in a productive one-month burst at Karma Sound Studios. Steve Lillywhite shared his views on seeing the band live for the first time, “I was amazed by both their musical talent and the age of their audience, who, for a rock band, were young. It’s my rule that I must see a band perform live first before deciding whether to work with them. Slot Machine impressed me. It was great to see the young audience enjoying their music. It’s new to me. I thought I could help the band reach another level.”
“We rarely see the real band these days. The four of them have different characters but when they’re together, they are great. They have a singer who has a unique voice, with music that is intelligent and hard-hitting. Gak, the band’s bassist, talked about his expectations on their first English album: “We want to challenge ourselves and see how far we can go. We believe in our music. Thai culture and Thai food are well-known across the world and I think we can make Thai music international, too.”
Support the band on their new and exciting journey. The first single ‘Give It All To You’ is out on 27 July, from their upcoming album ‘Spin The World’.