Esteban Flores of Slow Joy Goes Under the Probe

Slow Joy is the solo project of Dallas-based, New Mexico-born Esteban Flores. When Esteban started releasing singles under the moniker Slow Joy in 2020, it didn’t take long for his music to gain momentum. Two 2022 singles, “Crawling” and “So Slam,” really connected with fans thanks to his unique combination of soaring space rock, noisy shoegaze, and dynamic post-rock. “I only shared my music because I wanted people to hear it, not because I was trying to get a career,” Flores says. “Lo and behold, the universe then let me have a career out of it.”

Despite this initial success, before the release of Slow Joy’s debut EP, 2023’s Wildflower, Flores was unsure whether he wanted to continue doing music, but ”once it clicked in my head that it wasn’t a pursuit, it was an art project, I realized, ‘Oh, okay, this is the music that actually matters to me.’”

Slow Joy’s new EP Mi Amigo Slow Joy dropped June 7th, 2024 via Mick Music. Fans got their first taste of what was to come with the release of the Foo Fighters-meets-Pixies single, “Pulling Teeth,”  which features crisper arrangements. While the Wildflower EP had Flores dealing with his mom’s passing and looking at external influences impacting his life, Mi Amigo Slow Joy has him turning the lens at himself and looking inward.

And what better way to look inward than to go Under the Probe with Music Fiends! Check out Esteban’s responses to our probing questions below:

1. Music Fiends: If there was a time machine and you could travel back to anywhere at any point in time, where/when would it be and why?

Esteban Flores: 1992, 1996, and 1964. ’92 to watch Nirvana Play Reading Festival, ’96 to watch Oasis play Knebworth, ’64 to watch The Beatles play literally anywhere.

2. Music Fiends: Tell us something your parents grounded you for when you were a kid?

Esteban Flores: tbh I was such a rule follower I never got grounded for cool reasons. It was usually something lame like bad grades.

3. Music Fiends: If we were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, who are three people you’d want on your team?

Esteban Flores: My Wife, a zombie apocalypse survival expert, and Jerry Seinfeld

4. Music Fiends: If you could choose a superpower, what would you pick?

Esteban Flores: Teleportation – IMAGINE how much easier a tour would be if you could teleport from your home to the venue and back again every night.

5. Music Fiends: What music do you have on heavy rotation lately?

Esteban Flores: Fontaines DC, Idles, and Oasis (im in a british phase rn)

\\ Watch the video for “Pulling Teeth” below  //