Esteban Flores comments on his TikTok fame, creating with raw emotion for ’Mi Amigo Slow Joy’

#slowjoy #emo #alternativerock

Esteban Flores talks to Dom Smith about the inspirations and ideas behind 'Mi Amigo Slow Joy', alongside the emotional connection he has with the music.

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Slow Joy, the solo project of Dallas based, New Mexican born Chicano artist Esteban Flores, releases his latest single, the urgent and anguished “King Cowboy”.

Along with the single, Slow Joy exclusively premiered the official music video via Under The Radar today, watch HERE. “King Cowboy” is the second track from Slow Joy’s forthcoming new EP Mi Amigo Slow Joy – set to be released on June 7th via Mick Music. He will be hitting the road with his band in June for a North American tour that includes headline shows, festival sets at So What?! Festival in Fort Worth, TX and Ohio Is For Lovers Festival in Cincinnati, OH, and opening for beloved Nashville based American emo band Free Throw in the US and Canada. New single “King Cowboy” looks at the consequences of existing in a capitalist society, including challenging economic realities. The song represents Flores’ foray into telling personal stories from the perspective of a character. “With ‘King Cowboy,’ I didn't want to critique the American Dream in a way that was preachy,” he says. “So I thought it was interesting to put yourself in a character and say, ‘I'm the King Cowboy,’ which is such a ridiculous term to say.” It’s also the second song to be released ahead of Mi Amigo Slow Joy and follows the Foo Fighters-meets-Pixies single “Pulling Teeth,” which was released last month with news of the new EP – listen HERE and watch HERE. The new EP was produced by Mike Sapone (Oso Oso, The Front Bottoms, Grouplove) and follows 2023’s Wildflower EP. Flores first started releasing singles under the moniker Slow Joy in 2020 and by 2022 the project gained momentum via a pair of singles – “Crawling” and “Soft Slam” – that accumulated millions of views on TikTok and secured impressive playlist placements. These early singles featured a sensitive combination of soaring space rock, noisy shoegaze, and dynamic post-rock. Flores originally started writing music to help him process the death of his mother and after his early success, continued to hone his craft. The new EP reflects lyrical and sonic growth that Flores attributes in part to working in the studio with Sapone. In addition, the EP’s visuals and title reflect his Hispanic heritage and culture – something very important to Flores. “Naming it Mi Amigo Slow Joy is like, ‘Hey, this is rock music. It’s serious, and it's important, and it's me.’ And one thing that is me is being a Mexican-American person, and being proud of that culture, and showing it off.” Look for Mi Amigo Slow Joy on 7th June 2024 via Mick Music.