Punk band Slaves changed their name to Soft Play

The British punk rock duo, consisting of frontman Laurie Vincent and drummer Isaac Holman, have performed under the name Slaves since the band’s inception in 2012, but have faced backlash due to the name’s historical overtones.

The group, which has been on hiatus since 2018, released a statement announcing their comeback, but before doing so, they said, “We want to touch on something important.”

“When we named our group Slaves, it was purely a reference to the routine of daily life,” they wrote in a post on their new official Instagram page.

“As young men, we reacted to name criticism with fear and protection.

“Feeling cornered, our own pride made us fight for a name we weren’t even sure we wanted. At times it seemed like our band name defined us and we were afraid of what might happen if we changed it.

“However, we now acknowledge that our original intentions do not change the fact that the Slaves name is a problem.

“Today, we believe it is very important that people change and improve, no matter how far they have come.

“The name no longer reflects who we are as a people or what our music stands for. We want to sincerely apologize to everyone we offended.”

While the two acknowledged that people might have “different opinions” about their previous moniker, they expressed their hope that their fans would “accept and respect our decision and not continue arguing among themselves.”

“When it comes down to it, the music and the community surrounding our band matter the most and we don’t want anything to stand in the way of making this community as inclusive as possible,” they wrote.

“Our music is for everyone and everyone.”

The band went on to reveal that they would be performing together again under the name Soft Play.

“We are very happy to be together again and excited about what lies ahead for us,” they concluded.

The duo’s debut release in 2015 Are you satisfied? peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart and was nominated for a Mercury Music Award. Their subsequent albums, 2016 Take control and 2018 An act of fear and love both reached the top 10 of the UK charts.

In 2015, the group participated in Fader an article titled “Why do a gang of white guys call themselves slaves?”

At that time Vincent said Fader that he and Holman were surprised by the criticism of the band’s name. He explained that they were looking for “a rough-sounding word like Clash” when they were trying to come up with a title.

“We just liked that word. We did not try to provoke,” he added.

“Someone once wrote on our Facebook wall: “No one but African Americans has the right to use the word “slaves”.

“Obviously, many words have two meanings – if you said “I feel like a slave at work” or “I am a slave to routine”, this is not disrespectful to the slave trade.

“You have to use words, otherwise you will just be afraid of everything. We already live in a society where people are afraid of how their actions will be interpreted, and this is becoming increasingly difficult.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News and reproduced with permission