Do bands ever really break up? That’s a question I’ve been thinking about for a while. It’s very common for bands of all levels to take a break from performing and recording. Often, those weeks and months turn into years and, in the blink of an eye, decades. Then, with little or no advance notice, those bands reappear out of nowhere and announce a run of shows or an album, as if they were never gone.
Getting the band back together
After 15 years, Iowa's The Slats is reuniting. The group will be playing three shows this week: at Locals Bar & Stage in Des Moines on Thursday, Octopus College Hill in Cedar Falls on Friday and Warlock Hour Fest 3 in Iowa City. All three shows will benefit the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund.
The Slats was founded by drummer Mark Langgin and guitarists Jon Hansen and Brian Cox while all three were living in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor area. They were most active from 2002 to 2008, and although they all lived in different cities they still toured heavily.
The Slats developed a following not only in Iowa, but across the Midwest. The band has also been a big influence on the current generation of Iowa punk and indie rock bands, and the band members have continued to mentor more than a few musicians over the years.
“Eventually, Brian moved up to Minneapolis, and I moved to Cedar Falls to finish up school,” said Langgin. “And so we were kind of split up that way. But we were touring so much that, you know, it made it a lot easier to stay fresh.”
"We would usually go out for like, two or three weeks at a time and we would just get together probably the day before,” said Hansen. “We’d practice for a day, and then do a two- or three-week tour, and then we'd have a month off and do it again. So that routine is what really kept us in shape.”
While The Slats has played a couple of “reunion” shows since 2008, this mini tour marks the first time the original lineup has played together since 2008 (Hansen wasn't part of the previous reunions). Credit for getting the full band back together is owed to Kane Edwards, one of the organizers behind Warlock Hour Fest. In addition to curating the festival, Iowa City-based Edwards plays in Lipstick Homicide and other area bands, where his musical orbit crossed Hansen's.
“I've recently became closer friends with Jon Hansen after playing in a band together,” said Edwards. “I thought it was a total long shot asking him if The Slats would be interested in playing a reunion show for the festival, but it worked!”
Reuniting to benefit others
Reuniting to benefit the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund is personal for the band members. For Langgin, the reason is right inside his house. And for Hansen, it's about the intersection of the trans and political activism communities with punk music.
"My child is an aspiring young musician and (identifies) as non-binary,” said Langgin. “And the connection between activism and music has been a big part of how I've talked to them about being in a band, and kind of the roots of where I came up in punk and my motivations for getting into music originally. There's just so many kids that they interact with at school that come through our house involved in music here in Des Moines that are regularly just left on the outside. They don't have a place and they don't feel like they live their full selves.”
"The punk and DIY scene that's going on in Iowa City right now, the one that's really kind of like sprung up since COVID, is just a very gender queer and trans friendly scene,” said Hansen. “So that's very much the Iowa City scene. They're very vocal about that right now. My first exposure to political activism was at punk shows, and my first exposure to punk rock was through political activism.”
Don't let it be just nostalgia
For the members of The Slats, the significance of the reunion is more than a nod to nostalgia.
“I think a big motivation for us was to be able for us to get back together and connect personally,” said Cox. “That's a pretty big part of it when we got that offer. And then as we've talked about it, like we don't really want it to be a nostalgia situation. We want to step back out there and have it be like we just played last week, you know?”
Still, they recognize that nostalgia is an inevitable component of getting back together. "We've been hearing from a lot of people that used to come out to shows,” said Hansen. “That's one of the things that's really fun about touring is making these connections with all these people in these different cities and other bands. There's some people from Detroit that might be driving in for some of these shows, people from Chicago, so it's kind of an opportunity to connect with a bunch of old friends too that way.”
“The goal is to melt faces,” said Langgin, as Cox and Hansen chuckled in agreement.
“I know everyone is so excited for their set,” said Edwards. “I think some people might even cry from joy.”
Tickets are still available for Warlock Hour Fest 3 on Saturday. Both shows at Octopus and Locals Bar & Stage come with a suggested cover donation to the Iowa Trans Mutual Aid Fund. Greg Wheeler & The Poly Mall Cops will be playing all three shows with The Slats, with other Iowa bands appearing at individual shows.
