It’s not easy for a Thai rock band to stay at the top of their game and maintain their popularity for 10 years. But Slot Machine is that band. 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.
Open the third eye, the eye of wisdom, and truly see.
Slot Machine is back with their brand-new second English-language album, Third Eye View. The three members, vocalist Karinyawat 'Foet' Durongjirakarn, guitarist Janevit 'Vit' Chanpanyawong, and bassist Atirath 'Gak' Pintong, are more than ready to unveil their gutsy new sound.
After the band’s critically acclaimed first English-language album Spin the World cleared the path to international recognition for the boys four years ago, Slot Machine no longer feels tethered to restrictive songwriting limitations. Earlier, the band released four new English-language singles, 'Know Your Enemy', 'Magic', 'Hummingbird', and 'Bangkok, and three singles in Thai 'Rao Ma Yang Santi', 'Lok Sommut', and 'Plueak'. The new album, Third Eye View, is made up of 14 tracks in English and four in Thai.
'What we want to get through to people with Third Eye View is that we are now wearing the lens of truth - our vision is no longer blurred by prejudice or the humanness of emotions. It is a little bit supernatural, not something people often talk about. The three of us also wanted to put more artistic effort into our music,' said Foet.
In terms of sound, Foet, Vit, and Gak, who call themselves 'the Creators', want to take their listeners into boundless new musical territory in Third Eye View. Bold rock, weird synths, crisp guitar sounds, and Foet's rarely-used baritone are just a few examples of their intention to be more exploratory with their music.
'We want to do something more than just rock. We're looking at a big picture and trying to create a perfect piece of art. We weren’t thinking of commercial success at all when we were making this music,' elaborated Vit. 'This album is an opportunity for Slot Machine to go all out, and to make something that if we were to listen to it 10 years from now, we would still feel strongly about.'
Slot Machine pioneered their place as Thailand's leading rock band, but what is more interesting is how the band defines 'rock'. They see rock as more of a mentality or a soul than a music genre. It is the guts to do something, to rebel against something. 'Is it difficult to break through our image? No, not really. Because once we're bold enough, nothing is actually that difficult,' revealed Gak. Having the courage to make Third Eye View is the best description of the three members' identity, and they are genuinely excited to see their fans' reaction to the “unusual” sounds.
What’s more, Slot Machine had the chance to work with two world-renowned producers: Brandon Darner, (Imagine Dragons), and Justin Stanley, who has worked with legends like Prince, Eric Clapton, and Paul McCartney. Needless to say that this has revolutionised Slot Machine's conceptual and working processes.
The band's determination to express themselves with this album is also reflected in the design of their Limited Edition CD Box Set, which exudes nothing short of delicacy and attention to detail. The artwork is one of a kind and designed by Thailand's frontline graphic designer Supichan 'Odd' Rojvanich, who has been working with Slot Machine since their third album, Grey.
Another equally remarkable component is the cover photo, which is an ambrotype, a photographic process of shooting on a glass plate that is quite rare today. The iconic cover was shot by Chardchakaj Waikawee, the famous photographer whose work is so exceptional and unique that he is acclaimed and recognised by international artists and brands alike.
'This is the nature of Slot Machine. We're full of surprises and we have always been. Repetition isn't our thing. And of course, we want to share this excitement with our fans in Third Eye View,' concluded Foet.
Welcome to the new world as seen from a Third Eye View
brought to you by Slot Machine.
The band’s next adventure involved taking on the international market. Slot Machine’s first all-English album was released in early 2016. Slot Machine has always been willing to take risks, and the band members believed the time was 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 heralded 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.”
Slot Machine released the first single ‘Give It All To You’ from the album ‘Spin The World’ on July 27th, 2015. This first international single of the band was not only been released in Thailand but also in 14 other countries under Sony Music distribution i.e. Australia, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Taiwan.
In August 2015, Slot Machine performed their first international music festival in Taipei at ‘Super Slippa Festival’, sharing the same stage with both Asian & international acts including Magic Power (from Taiwan), MayDay (from Taiwan) and Suzanne Vega (from USA)
Early September, Slot Machine had an opportunity to write and perform a theme song for ‘Hormones 3 The Final Season’, a hit teen series which has been the talk of the town among Thai viewers. The band appeared in the press conference for the series’ brand new season and introduced ‘Yorn (Retrace)’ as the new theme song of the series.
Later in 2015, IOM, the International Organization for Migration has launched a new campaign to prevent human trafficking and exploitation called IOM X . Slot Machine is honored to participate in this campaign, by providing the soundtrack and featuring in IOM X’s Prisana’s video.
Thai Band Slot Machine Brian Christopher
Slot Machine embarked on their first UK tour in October 2015. They performed in Bristol, Brighton and London, where they were embraced by both Thai & English audiences.
In 2016 the band were invited to perform at The Dawn Concert, Taipei’s New Years event organized by Taipei City Government, as well
all the major Asian 2016 Rock Music Festivals,( Japan’s Fuji Rocks, Taiwan’s Super Slippa, Korea’s Jisan Valley & Hong Kong’s Clockenflap) to rave reviews.
An exciting live act, Slot Machine have in 2017, already rocked audiences in North America with Live Nation's 'Asia On Tour' trek . 'Asia On Tour' featured Miyavi from Japan, Slot Machine from Thailand and Kiha & The Faces from Korea - 3 renowned artists who represent a new wave of Asian music.
Now, fresh from playing a major concert at Bangkok’s Impact Arena, where the band delivered an exhilarating performance to an ecstatic hometown crowd, they will turn their attention to shows in Japan & Korea. To coincide with their trip to Japan, Nippon Columbia will release a new Slot Machine song called “Ex-Aid”, especially written by the band for the Kamen Rider TV series.
Now, on the back of recording a new theme song for Kamen Rider TV series, which has recently been released in Japan by the Nippon Columbia label, Slot Machine returned to Tokyo for a stand-alone show, with rising Japanese band “I Don’t Like Mondays”, at SHINJUKU ReNY on December 18th.
While touring, Slot Machine won’t let their fans wait long for new music. The band will release “The Land Of Himmaphan” (from their album “Spin The World” ), with an animation visual from “The Mothership” concert. The song tells a story like a folk tale, with a boy as the protagonist, full of imagination and mystery on a journey through Himmaphan, a mythical forest.
Speaking of animation, Slot Machine are also featured in the latest animated Thai movie called 'Legend of Muay Thai: Nine Satra'. The band wrote the main theme of the movie called 'Tar' (meaning 'Challenge'). Lyrically, the song is about fighting the challenges in life. The song released on December 7, 2017 and the movie premiered on January 11, 2018
Later, the band released the final track of the album ‘MRT’. The melody of the song evokes the feeling of traveling on a train in Bangkok at night. The music video features footage from the band’s homecoming “The Mothership” concert in Bangkok.
In 2018, Slot Machine then went on to work with two outstanding US-based producers: Brandon Darner (Imagine Dragons and The Envy Corp) and Justin Stanley (Beck, Prince, David Bowie etc.), and released the first new English single 'Know Your Enemy' which was selected as the theme for the ROV World Gaming Championships. The second single, Hummingbird, was released in July 2019 to great critical acclaim.
“Slot Machine - The First Contact” 10 Anniversary Concert
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.
Slot Machine were again nominated for Best Southeast Act at the MTV EMA’s in 2014– and in the same year released their fifth album, ‘Rainbow’, produced bytalented Australian producer, Daniel Denholm. The album included the hits ‘Rung’ (Rainbow)and ‘Khloem’ which had over 100 million hits on YouTube.
Following on the success of ‘Cell’, 2013 was Slot Machine’s golden year. They werenominated for the ‘Best Southeast Asian Act’ at the MTV Europe MusicAwards, 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.
AWARDS
2019
2019 Group of the Year
Nine Entertain Awards
2018
Best South East Asian Act
MTV Europe Music Awards
2017
GOLD RECORD - GQ MEN OF THE YEAR
2016
ASIAN PERFORMANCE
CLASSIC ROCK AWARDS
VISUAL & POPULAR CULTURE AWARD
PRUDENTIAL EYES AWARDS
2015
[NOMINATED] 'BEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN ACT'
MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS
2014
[NOMINATED] 'BEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN ACT'
MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS
2013
[NOMINATED] 'BEST SOUTHEAST ASIAN ACT'
MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS
2012
BEST GROUP ARTISTS
9 ENTERTAIN AWARDS
BEST GROUP ARTISTS
SEASON AWARDS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
‘CELL’ - SEASON AWARDS
2011
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
‘CELL’ - CHANNEL [V] THAILAND AWARDS
BEST STYLE ARTIST
THE GUITAR MAG AWARDS
BEST STYLE ARTIST
THE GUITAR MAG AWARDS
BEST GROUP ARTISTS
KOM CHAD LUK AWARDS
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
‘CELL’ KOM CHAD LUK AWARDS
2010
RECORD OF THE YEAR
‘CHAN CHAO’ (Goodbye) FAT RADIO AWARDS
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY MUSIC VIDEO
‘CHAN CHAO’ (Goodbye) - CHANNEL [V] THAILAND AWARDS
2007
SONG OF THE YEAR
‘PHAN’ (Yesterday) - SEED AWARDS
Thai Band Slot Machine Machines
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.
Thai Band Slot Machines
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)
Thailand’s leading Rock Band Slot Machine, with 6 albums already to their credit, are creating a buzz worldwide with the release of their first all English album ‘Spin The World’, produced by Grammy Award winning producer, Steve Lillywhite.
Thai Band Slot Machine Jackpots
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-titled debut album in 2004 featuring a hit single‘Ro’ (I’m Waiting For You).Followed by ‘Mutation’ in 2006, produced by Scott Moffatt,former member of Canadian 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 were chosen as the opening act for Linkin Park’sBangkok concert in front of 30,000 fans.