Slaves

Jonny Craig, who had previously fronted Emarosa and Dance Gavin Dance, launched the experimental post-hardcore band Slaves in 2014. Guitarists Christopher Kim and Alex Lyman, bassist Jason Mays, and Tai Wright—formerly the drummer for Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows—rounded out the initial lineup. Only eight weeks after Craig revealed the project’s formation, the group landed a contract with Artery Recordings. Even before issuing any recordings, they secured a full U.S. tour; shortly afterward Mays departed for health reasons, leading Craig to enlist Andrew Mena as a temporary replacement on bass. Six months into the band’s existence, Slaves issued their debut full-length, Through Art We Are All Equals, in June 2014; the guest-laden set highlighted their soaring, ethereal approach. Their second studio album, Routine Breathing, followed in 2015, the same year Colin Vieira came aboard as the new bassist. After a Santa Cruz, California concert on April 10, 2016, the members declared the band finished, yet Craig stated the following month that Slaves would carry on. By 2018 the roster had settled around Craig, Vieira, and guitarist Weston Richmond, and the trio delivered their third long-player, Beautiful Death, on the Sony subsidiary The Orchard.