Eyes on the “inter” prize, Slot Machine is ready to pay off
Just how hot is Slot Machine, Thailand’s hottest rock band? Since late September the quartet has been maintaining a gruelling 24/7 schedule, playing everywhere but also doing nightly “homework with their teacher”
Singer Karinyawat “Foet” Durongjirakan, bassist Atirath “Gak” Pintong, guitarist Janevit “Vit” Chanpanyawong and drummer Settharat “Auto” Pancgchunan have been holed up at Karma Sound Studios, housed in a luxury residential complex in Pattaya, where famed British bands the Libertines and Jamiroquai earlier recorded.
The Slots are still working on their first full-length, English-language album, “Spin the World”, which is due to hit the stores and airwaves sometime in the next few months. We got the first preview in October when the single “Give It All to You” was released to a warm reception both at home and abroad.
Response has been keen in Taiwan and most recently Singapore, where the band was named the best Asian act in the “Visual and Pop Culture” category at the Prudential Eye Awards, which promote contemporary art. Fans gave it all to “Give It All to You” on YouTube, where it’s had more than 250,000 views, and the latest single, “I Know I Know” is fast catching up, topping 165,000 views despite just coming out on January 28. The Thai-language version, titled “Khon”, has capped them all with 4.7 million views.
Besides giving their homeboy fans a taste of the new material on a national tour, Slot Machine and producer Lillywhite – who’s previously worked with U2, Talking Heads and Peter Gabriel – are deep into post-production on the album.
Lillywhite happily sets them free to go out and play the music – he’s evidently enjoying life on the Thai coast – so if you haven’t caught them lately, they be playing in Chiang Mai on Friday, Nakhon Ratchasima on Saturday and Chiang Rai on February 27. For more dates, keep your eyes on the “slotmachine” page at Facebook.
It’s hard to believe that these are the same guys who emerged in 2004 with the self-titled debut album, but it was a dandy piece of work, with the great tune “Ro” (“I’m Waiting for You”). The follow-up CD was recorded with a Canadian producer, so hints of international stardom were already in the air a decade ago.
Then they warmed up the audience for Linkin Park in Bangkok, and meanwhile the awards started pouring in – song of the year, record of the year, best group, a nomination as best Southeast Asian act, and finally the best “contemporary art” band in all of Asia.
Successful gigs in Laos, Myanmar and New York and a sell-out show at Impact Arena last year proved to be the final incentives to “go inter”, and their label, BEC-Tero Music, agreed to put them on the launch pad. Prepare for take-off.
