The Slants is an American dance-rock band composed entirely of Asian Americans. The band was formed in Portland, Oregon, by Simon Tam in 2006. The band went through a number of early lineup changes, but had a core lineup for its albums and tours by 2009 consisting of Aron Moxley (vocals), Tam (bass, keys), Jonathan Fontanilla (guitar), and Tyler Chen (drums, backing vocals). After experiencing some transitions, the core lineup consisted of Tam, lead singer Ken Shima, and guitarist Joe X. Jiang by 2015. The band's name originates from an effort of reappropriation and was the source of a protracted legal battle that took them to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Matal v. Tam.
Influenced by 1980s bands such as Depeche Mode and New Order, as well as modern acts such as the Killers and the Bravery, the Slants refer to their sound as "Chinatown Dance Rock". The band have released five studio albums, two EPs, and a feature-length film, The Slants - Taiwan Tour. The group performed across four continents, including special tours with the Armed Forces and performing at Taiwan's Spring Scream festival.
The Slants are deeply involved with the Asian American community and racial justice work. This includes raising money for causes such as funding research into disparate rates of cancer for Asian American women, bridging divides, fighting bullying, and building community centers. In 2018, the band launched their own nonprofit organization (The Slants Foundation) to support other artist-activists working to address racial inequities.
In late 2019, the band took an indefinite hiatus from live touring to primarily focus on their nonprofit work. The group continues to compose music and perform, but only for special events to raise money for charitable causes.
Formation and name
The band was originally formed after posting ads to local classifieds, Craigslist and online ads. The process took two years to finalize the initial line-up. Over the years, the lineup has evolved with different members stepping into the role, all with the common thread of identifying with Asian American culture.
Speaking on the band's name and the sources from which it was derived, founder/bassist Simon Tam stated that, "['The Slants'] sounds like a fun, '80s, New Wave-kind of band. And it's a play on words. We can share our personal experiences about what it's like being people of color—our own slant on life, if you will. It's also a musical reference. There are slant guitar chords that we use in our music." The band's name also serves as a reference to the band members' ethnic identity (see epicanthic fold).
Supreme Court case
Due to the connection between the Slants' name and the use of "slant" as a pejorative in relation to Asian people, the group's efforts to register the name as a trademark were the subject of a protracted legal debate. After the band's request to register their trademark was first denied in 2010, they unsuccessfully appealed to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In December 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a previous ruling that upheld the United States Patent and Trademark Office's rejection of the band's application by striking down part of a law that allowed the government to reject trademarks it deemed offensive or disparaging to others. The majority opinion stated, in part, that "[w]hatever our personal feelings about the mark at issue here, or other disparaging marks, the First Amendment forbids government regulators to deny registration because they find speech likely to offend others." The case was later heard by the Supreme Court of the United States in Matal v. Tam, who ruled unanimously in the band's favor. Tam explained that while the First Amendment should protect the band's right to use the name regardless of their reasons, they had chosen the name in order "to undercut slurs about Asian-Americans that band members heard in childhood, not to promote them."