By Mimi Chen
Self-described “troublemaker” Simon Tam calls himself that because of the tussle he once had with the US Patent and Trademark Office which took him all the way to the Supreme Court.
Now for his troubles, his bass guitar and other memorabilia will be exhibited at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
His reaction?
“I mean, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is very cool. Cause for any musician, that’s like, there’s a certain status. There’s history and everything.” he acknowledged.
Among the items he’s donated to the Hall are:
- Acoustic bass guitar used during Tam’s Slanted book tour
- Custom-designed bass guitar that the group gave away to a bullied kid (but used art to find their identity and empowerment before they moved to Japan during college)
- A custom jacket belonging to Tam that was used in a few photo and video shoots, was later replicated for a character representing him in an opera he wrote
- The only vinyl record of The Yellow Album (their third full length) to exist (it was a test copy)
- Multiple copies of our albums, including The Band Plays On
- For their library, a fully recorded digital copy of our opera and our Taiwan Tour film is available for viewing
- A copy of our trademark registration
- An assortment of merchandise, news articles, etc.
The road to the Hall of Fame started when Tam, a founder and bass player for the band The Slants was told he could not register the band’s name due to the Lanham Act, an act that prohibits a trademark that could “disparage…or bring…into contempt” any “persons, living or dead.”
He reacted by filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for keeping the band from registering its name. A landmark decision in 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the members of the Asian American rock band The Slants have the right to call themselves by the so-called “disparaging” name due to their goal of turning what many deemed a negative slur against Asians into a positive.
Because of the Slant’s notoriety, not only with the Supreme Court but also with Asian American music history, Tam now finds himself the subject of requests from numerous museums wanting to showcase The Slants with their various moments in time.
When approached by a museum as to whether he would be willing to “share” something with the museum’s community, he said he’s been obliging all the requests.
”I’m like, well, I have this huge archive of stuff, media clippings, documents, that sort of thing. And then I have a fair number of music instruments that I’m not using regularly. So I was like, sure, I’m happy to loan or donate.”
“I think over the past year or so, we’ve been opening up exhibits where different people can engage with artifacts from the band, like my music instruments and that sort of thing in a number of places across the country. “added Tam.
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And the requests have been rolling in. So far, the clamor for exhibits include displays at The First Amendment Museum, The National Constitution Center, The Wing Luke Museum, and The Songbirds Museum. The Portland Chinatown Museum is also due to open soon.’
The exhibits actually take different perspectives of the band’s place in history, from either the historical event provided by Tam’s spar with the Supreme Court to their singular Asian American identity of the band as a groundbreaking musical act in the US; these museums are all showcasing memorabilia and guitars from The Slants.
“But I think the one that is probably most meaningful to me is the Songbirds Museum in Chattanooga. And that’s because it, one, used to have the largest collection of vintage guitars in the world,” he said.
But second of all, it’s “because their mission is really, really close to my heart.” he revealed. “The mission of songbirds is to empower every young person with the ability to play music. So, they have a “guitars for kids” program where kids who can’t afford music instruments can get a guitar or drum set and start learning on the instrument.”
Also apparently, kids are allowed to play the guitars and instruments on display. Noted Tam, “you can actually play guitars owned by BB King and Dolly Parton and other folks. And my bass guitar that was custom made for me. And that to me is a much more important legacy than it just being on a wall or in a storage room somewhere.”
Nowadays, the former frontman confirmed that even though the Slants have hung up their touring instruments and are all busy with various projects, he is now dedicating his time to The Slants Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to help other Asian American artists with missions that resonate with other like-minded non-profits.
Apparently for the last two years, Tan and the Slants Foundation has been working on a program called Asian Pacifics, where they fund 10 artists to write a song about a social justice cause they are passionate about and where they try to partner these artists with a non-profit that is working on an issue they care about. He said that they also work with the nonprofits to create a kind of partnership or campaign with both the artist and nonprofit.
When asked to identify a few of these up and coming, Tam said “We have folks like an emo pop punk artist named Darro, who we’ve been working with for some time, but also a lot of folks who are new to us, like this Taiwanese songwriter, Kai Tea.”
He continued, “We have Lowhi who’s like, he does like R&B, lo-fi and works a lot with a Chinese American rapper, Jason Chu. So we have all kinds of artists who are working on any number of causes.
Tam stated that he’s been excited about the new direction of his musical career. He said, “it’s just really exciting because it just shows the diversity of our community, because these people are all over the country who are all doing different types of music and they’re all choosing causes that they’re passionate about, but they’re all like different causes too. So, it’s really exciting to see how all of these things impact, you know, AAPIs in a way that maybe people traditionally don’t see as impacting us.”
Artists who are interested in The Slants Foundation program, can apply thru their website here: The Slants – Our Foundation.
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Tam’s one shot at fame is using a racial slur on himself which gets him attention from white people. He should change his name from Tam to Tom as in Uncle Tom.