Conversation with Slacker

Excerpt from transcription, audio

recorded on Saturday, May 10, 2025

Ameer: Okay, if you could all introduce yourselves.

Chris: Hi, my name is Chris. I play drums in Slacker.

Rory: Hi, I’m Rory. I play bass for Slacker.

Hyder: Hi, my name is Hyder. I’m the singer in Slacker.

Jonas: I’m Jonas. I’m the lead guitarist of Slacker.

Daniel: I’m Daniel. I’m the other lead guitarist for Slacker.

Ameer: How did the band start?

Chris: So me, Daniel, and Jonas all went to middle school together and learned guitar around the same time. We were like, “Fuck it, let’s make a band.” I learned how to play drums, and we started as a shitty cover band for a couple of years. But during our senior year, on the day of, Jonas met Hyder and Rory.

Hyder: Yeah, so Jonas was in my second-period wrestling class. He asked me if I wanted to go see his band after school and practice with them. I was walking with my friend Rory to the gas station after school, and I wasn’t going to do it at first, but then I was like, “Yo, Rory, you wanna go see what these guys are about?” So we went. I had been singing and he played guitar for me at a talent show and stuff, so we decided to check it out. And now we’ve got this.

Chris: And, you know, cut to nine months later—we’re here. So I guess it all worked out pretty well.

Ameer: How did each of you individually get into the scene?

Chris: Rory is definitely the most “scene” person out of all of us.

Rory: Well, I took Jonas and Hyder here to see Sunami for the first time at The End, and that’s how it pretty much started.

Chris: Yeah, before Slacker, I guess we were more casual observers of the scene. I don’t know if that gave us any more insight, but it’s good that we’re finally in it. There are a lot of great bands in the scene right now.

Ameer: What was your inspiration for the band when you were just starting out?



Daniel: It was everywhere. We all like different genres. Jonas and I, when we started, were really into heavy metal. Chris is the jazz guy. And Rory—he’s like a basket case. He loves everything. Hyder is really into grunge. Or, well, I don’t know exactly.

Hyder: I like nu metal.

Daniel: Like, Deftones, basically.

Chris: I guess more like alternative metal.

Hyder: Yeah, some stuff like that.

Daniel: But yeah, we hit a bunch of setbacks because we didn’t know what we wanted to be. I remember being like, “Yo, let’s play some Van Halen,” and then others wanted to play black metal. But you know, we just played enough, and I think we kinda found our style. I don’t know, that sounds kinda pretentious, but we found our sound, I guess.

Chris: I think that was the best thing for us. It would’ve sucked if we were all like, “Oh yeah, let’s be exactly this band.” Because we came up with all our own ideas and stuff, it kinda melded into something very strange, but strange in a good way.

Rory: We are a beautifully confused band.

Hyder: Yeah, it’s just so much confusion, but that’s the beauty of it because we can make something out of that confusion. That’s what we are, I guess. We don’t really know.

Ameer: Do you guys have any thoughts or plans to branch out musically? Or are you happy with how you sound now?

Rory: See, these three guys are going to college. They’re gonna leave me and Hyder. So, I guess we’ll see. But for now, I have a side project that I’ve been wanting to work on, and I think Chris has one too.

Hyder: That’s the thing — we kinda have a clock. Once these three guys go to college, there won’t be any more Slacker. So we’re trying to get our album out and get our name out there, so we can leave something in the Houston scene. That’s what we’ll be happy with. And then whatever goes from there — these guys come back from college, who knows?

Ameer: So, where do you guys want to see the band in the next couple of years?

Jonas: Honestly, I’d be happy with like 10,000 listeners on Spotify.

Rory: I’d be happy if we just have something released, you know? Play some shows, have some fun. That’s what it’s all about.

Hyder: Yeah, like I said, leaving a lasting image. Maybe we’re like Panchiko — our stuff blows up and we come back. That’s the dream. But really, just something. We want something to be there so people remember and still listen to Slacker.

Daniel: Yeah. I mean, I think my only real hope is that maybe ten years from now, I'll be walking down Houston with a Slacker shirt on. Some dude would be like, “Oh, I used to go to that when I was in middle school.” I'd be like, “Hell yeah.”



Chris: We’re very happy with how far we’ve gotten, considering everything. But it’s just total domination. I think everybody would want that. Nobody wants to not rule the world, I guess.

Ameer: So you guys are talking about wanting to put an album out and all that. Do you have any future plans you can share?



Hyder: We want to get a tour for this album. Our album is basically going to be—well, I want everyone to speak on it because everyone has their own vision—but I think it’s going to be a kind of combination of all our ideas put together. It’s like a farewell album, kinda—not really farewell, but closure, I guess. We want to tour for that album before we have to disband inevitably. But it’s not goodbye—only “see you later.” You know? Never goodbye.

Chris: Yeah, getting that done first and foremost is the biggest thing we can do. After that, if we could tour Austin, San Antonio, Dallas-Fort Worth, that’d be fucking sick. But as for the big thing—Slackerfest, or I guess Slacker Funeral, whatever name sticks—that’s the big goal. Just making one show the biggest it can be and giving the best experience before we all fuck off for ten years, right? That’s the big thing.

Rory: Yeah, I think it’s gonna be like a collection of our musical ideas since we’re all very musically different, like Daniel said. I don’t know if it’s our final statement, but if it is, then it will be. If we come back in a year or two, maybe we’ll make another EP, play some more shows. We might relocate to Austin or something since some of us are going to college up there. We don’t know yet, but the goal is to make the album fun to listen to.