Focus: Slalom D

Who are you and where are you from?
Slalom D, a punk band based in Sunderland and with members from around the North East.

What is it you do?
Write and play our own music, focusing on social issues, local stories and our political interests. We’re loud but musical.

How long have you been doing it?
The band started in 2018, and has been through several lineups. The current lineup was established in 2022.

What inspires you?
Absolutely anything. We have songs about global political events, local landmarks, even graphic novels.

Tell us about your music.
Everything we do is a collaboration with all 5 members of the band. We believe in doing most of the work ourselves and are largely DIY. As we were writing our second album however we decided we needed to work alongside other groups if we were to expand our reach. We’re now very happy to be signed to Serial Bowl, a Sunderland DIY record label which promotes bands worldwide and is a not-for-profit cooperative.

We try to work with North East artists and have made two videos with local cinematographer Gavin Selby, the most recent one featuring local dancer Beth Hunt.

What have you got coming up in the future?
Our latest album is out on vinyl in a few weeks (mid-September 2023), and the cd version and first single and video should be out in August.

And we’re playing one of if not THE largest punk festival in the world in August, Rebellion in Blackpool.

Where can people find out more about you?
The usual socials but mainly Facebook. All our gigs are listed there and you can reach us on slalomd@hotmail.com

We spend our downtime in the Ivy House in Sunderland and the Bunker, our rehearsal rooms. You can generally catch at least one us there.