The Slants
rock band and nonprofit organization
The Slants are 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, until the band retired from touring in 2019. 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.
The public source identifies “The Slants” as rock band and nonprofit organization. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Slants, rock and band.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7764740. The first chronological checks are 2006, 2009, 2015 and 2019.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Slants” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.