Slot on the war

Slot Band's Stance on the War in Ukraine

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the band's musicians did not speak out directly about their civic stance. Nevertheless, they published generic posts opposing war and hinting at the totalitarianism of the modern political system (later deleted):

Hello, SLOT here. We simply want to support everyone who is currently suffering from decisions made by politicians. We have always been and remain against war in any of its manifestations. In any territory. We are not politicians and express no stance other than the desire for a complete cessation of armed hostilities against all living things.
P.S. We are disabling comments to prevent unnecessary aggression.
Nookie. Cache. ID. Nikita. Vasya. Anton. Lesha

Against the backdrop of the ongoing f***-up, where the boundaries of humanity and freedoms are being erased, we are creating a space where everyone has a choice and the opportunity to influence reality. This space is our «METAMETAL» concerts. Here, everything is decided exclusively by you: what the performance setlist will be, what the stage looks like, how Nookie and Cache will look, what overall dress code you choose for yourself, and much more...

In February 2024, the band began facing the cancellation of scheduled concerts across Russian cities. According to the publication Meduza, "Slot" was included on the list of banned musicians. This list included opponents of the so-called SMO in Ukraine and those who had not clearly stated their position.

Then came another shocking piece of news — on April 4, 2024, Daria "Nookie" Stavrovich announced her departure from the band "Slot". The lead singer's departure was linked to concert cancellations and her refusal to bow to the system, which Daria later confirmed in an interview with Ganz Music School. While Nookie was unwilling to abandon her anti-war stance and was prepared to fight for the band's creative expression, the other members of the group decided that this path was not for them.

On April 15, 2024, Igor ("Cache") Lobanov gave an interview to "Radiotochka NSN", stating that the band wanted to keep working, and that the time for "apoliticism" had passed:

We see the response, that people need us to be here. Abandoning them is betrayal, that is not our story. We were always apolitical guys, but you cannot do that now — you have to choose where you are and who you are with. This does not just apply to music or one single band; we have to unite here, within our country, that is how we will survive. You have to stand with your own people, that is the only thing possible, everything else is an abstraction.

On July 26, 2024, in an interview with NSN, Lobanov stated that no one had yet invited the band to perform in the "new" Russian territories:

When the first festival in Crimea took place, we went there. Our story is human, existing within a political framework, but politics doesn't dictate it. More calculating bands realized that going to Crimea meant losing Ukraine, and Ukraine is a bigger feeding trough than Crimea. But we went to Crimea because there are people there who want to see us, and accordingly, we want to perform for them. Nobody has invited us to the new territories yet; we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Predictably, in November 2024, the band "SLOT" performed in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region for Russian military personnel, so to speak "boosting troop morale".

Everything fell into place: it is clear why Nookie, who held an anti-war stance, left the band. Meanwhile, Lobanov and the band "SLOT" in its new lineup officially sided with the aggressor, endorsing the war in Ukraine.