Artist News

Slaves change name to Soft Play

By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 12 December 2022

Slaves have announced that they are changing their name, in response to long-standing criticism of the use of that word as a moniker for a duo consisting of two white men. They will henceforth be known as Soft Play. Not sure if that means they’re also pivoting into making music for children.

“When we called our band Slaves, it was intended solely as a reference to the grind of day to day life”, they say in a statement posted on social media. “As younger men, we responded to criticism of the name from a place of fear and defensiveness. Feeling backed into a corner, our own pride caused us to fight for a name we weren’t even sure we wanted anymore. It felt at times as if our band name had defined us and we were scared of what might happen if we changed it”.

“However”, they go on, “we now recognise that our original intent doesn’t change the fact that the name Slaves is an issue. In this day and age we believe it is very important that people change and make improvements no matter how far down the line they are. The name doesn’t represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer. We want to sincerely apologise to anyone we’ve offended”.

“We are aware that people have differing opinions on the name, we hope you can accept and respect our decision and not continue the argument between yourselves”, they conclude. “When it comes down to it, the music and the community surrounding our band are what matter the most and we don’t want anything to stand in the way of that community being as inclusive as possible. Our music is for anyone and everyone”.

There’s no word on when we can hear their first music as Soft Play, but the implication is that something will be happening imminently.