mxdwn’s best new artist of 2024, Slow Joy, is the solo project name of Esteban Flores whose wistful lyrics are carried by a sound that is hard to fit into just one, or even a couple, of genres, creating his own unique corner of the industry that has seen him thrive. Flores’ 2022 release of Soft Slam gained him fans on TikTok and Spotify with supporters only increasing since.
We had the honor of interviewing Flores, a very down to earth musician who puts the feeling he is conveying in a song above all other elements, making his music relatable, personable and special. There is a lot to learn about Flores, including his surprising upbringing for someone who now has a career in the music industry; what the creative process and emotional release of making music has done for him; how he goes about writing songs for an EP and album; and what has changed for him since 2022.
mxdwn: I’ve always loved New Mexico. It has a vibe that is hard to describe and something that just has to be experienced. How do you think the state and the area has played a role in your sound and music?
EF: Well, it’s where I grew up. It’s a state that really, really has meant a lot to me over the years. I’ve had like an interesting relationship with it. It’s one of those few places where you go to, and it has its complete own thing. I think in relation to the music, it kind of just permeates that way. I don’t think you can kind of point to one specific zone. I think it’s just all-encompassing in like the background that I have and where I came from, and that desolate beauty that exists.
mxdwn: Exactly.
EF: You know?
mxdwn: Yeah, definitely. I saw that you grew up there and I thought that was super cool. I just love New Mexico so much. It does have that desolate kind of feel to it that’s just so unique.
EF: Yeah. Especially the northern parts. You can skip a lot of the southern parts {laughs}, but the north is perfect.
mxdwn: Yeah, it’s so true. I, thinking of it now, I’ve mostly been to the northern parts of it. Who are your influences and are they the same as who you grew up listening to?
EF: No, I wasn’t allowed to listen to music, or a ton of music, growing up. I was like really religious, so my family only let me listen to like Christian music at the time, which was a really weird way to grow up because you kind of just get like lesser versions of the artist that exist, out there. So, I remember I used to go to these like Christian bookstores and grab like a pamphlet and it would be like, if you like Eminem, then listen to these worst artists if you like… {laughs}. Yeah, basically you’re just trading the actual great artists for these kind of lesser artists that were only really there because we weren’t allowed to listen to anything else. I, now in my adulthood, I’ve gotten to go back and listen to music that is more for me, and it’s been really fun to like listen to like Nirvana for the first time and it be for me, and I see it as an adult and I understand it and it influences me as opposed to it just being passed on to me, you know, like most other people with older music. Currently, I’ve been very influenced by, just throughout my life, it’s been Modest Mouse and Kings of Leon and Nirvana and like bands who have just really kind of changed their respective scenes. I’ve also just like really, really recently, been in love with everything that’s coming out of Europe right now. So, I love Fontaines. I love IDLES, like just these bands that are kind of popping up right now, or not really popping up, popping off really right now. And it’s just so fun to see what’s going on over there.
mxdwn: Interesting. Wow. I was not expecting that, you know, a musician who wasn’t really allowed to listen to music growing up {laughs}. That’s an interesting little tidbit, but yeah, I love Nirvana so much.
EF: Great band.
mxdwn: Yeah. Great band. Great band. Have you ever listened to the MTV Unplugged album?
EF: I’ve listened to it multiple times over. It’s fantastic.
mxdwn: Yeah. My favorite. I know it’s not like an album, album per se, but yeah, just the unplugged version of that, like “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” is just like soul crushing {laughs}. I’m a huge Nirvana fan. So, you are very honest and vulnerable with your music. How has music helped you mentally and what has the process and creative release taught you?
EF: It’s kind of helped and hurt at the same time. It’s a really good release, and I think when you’re dealing with really tough, tough issues, you have like a nice release of, at its purest form, you have this release of an emotion and it’s cathartic and it helps out a lot, at it’s not so purest form when you get into the business of everything, you start to get into comparison and chasing things. I never liked any of that. I’ve really worked to like not be a part of that world because it was just so hard on me for so many years. So it’s interesting how it helps. At its purest form, music helps me mentally by just having a catharsis, creating a community of like people who have also dealt with the same things and understand those similar things just from listening to the music. On the other end, the industry can get a little bit, uh, nasty and I don’t love that aspect of it, so that’s kind of hard on me.
mxdwn: Yeah, no, I can totally see that and definitely understand. So, your music seems really well thought out, meaning the lyrics and music complement each other, never overpower one another and really go hand in hand, even if they are contrasting. How do you go about doing that and the way you think about the creative process in music in general?
EF: Um, you have to leave space. I think a lot of artists are maximalist with their music. They just want to put as much counter melodies and things in there. Especially because nowadays you get on a computer and you have an unlimited amount of tracks, so you can record and record and record and record and record and record and eventually, I mean, the human mind can only process so much information, so you’re going to be taking away from other stuff as you add more stuff. I’ve always been a firm believer that the lyrics and the melody are some of the most important things. Like you can have the best sonics in the world and if the lyrics don’t mean anything, and if the melodies don’t carry it, then it’s not really going to impact the same. So, I try to leave as much space for those as possible, and I try to keep it as simple as possible. I’ve often, especially in pre-production, I’ll listen to something without a track on, and I’m like, if I can’t feel an audible difference, then this thing’s getting deleted. So I’m not too precious with little beeps and boops and tracks and things along those lines. I’m very specific about unless this moves the song, then I don’t really care. Because ultimately it’s about the feeling. It’s not about, you know, getting a good guitar tone or anything along those lines.
mxdwn: Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think that makes your music, you know, special in a different way, thinking of it and kind of doing it that way. That’s made it really stand out. Do you have a focal point when creating music such as, I guess you kind of just answered this, but I wasn’t sure, like thinking more about the lyrics or instrumental or message?
EF: Yeah, I mean, it’s more about the feeling than anything else. I think words are how you paint the feeling, then the music is how you underscore it. You can kind of get artistic with it where like, you think like a “Hey Ya!” where the words are not matching the feeling of the song. And that’s an artistic choice itself, but also more often than not, you have this underscore to move the listener to feel the way that you are feeling when you’re creating that piece of art. I think that’s really my thing, is like everything has to serve the feeling that I have in that moment, that I’m trying to convey to the listener.
mxdwn: Gotcha. Yes, you’re very good at doing that.
EF: Thank you.
mxdwn: Yeah, of course. Was “4U” you written with it being the EP’s opener in mind?
EF: No, actually. I try to write an insane amount of music, usually double just depending on how many songs. I just did an album and I think I wrote like 40 songs and song ideas leading into it, and it’s the same thing with the EP. I had written just an insane amount of music, and then whittled it down to the four best ones. So, it really wasn’t until after I finished all the songs that I picked the track order. Sometimes I’ll make like intro tracks and things that are meant to be a little moment like that, but that’s usually pretty late into the process. With an EP being so small, I wasn’t thinking about it specifically being an opener. I was just trying to write a great song.
mxdwn: Wow. That’s very interesting because it’s such an opener song, perfect for one. I’m very surprised, so I’m glad it worked out that way.
EF: Sometimes that’s just how it goes.
mxdwn: Yeah, definitely. That’s nice. “Pulling Teeth” brings back your more dreamy sound. What prompted you to go that way with the song?
EF: I mean, the song went that way {laughs}. Yeah, that song was a song that was like, you didn’t have to make a lot of decisions, it did what it was going to do by itself. I didn’t have to like decide, I think this should do this, like the chords moved it in this way, the melodies moved it in that way. It just landed in a perfect straightforward rock sound. I like when songs do that, when you don’t really have to fight with them. They just button up really nicely.
mxdwn: Definitely. It is definitely one of those songs that just flows and is amazing just the way that it came out.
EF: Thank you.
mxdwn: Yeah, of course. “Lay Me Out, I’m Out of My Mind” was a perfect choice for a closer too for the EP and showcases kind of all the sounds used, not just in this one, but past releases as well in a very harmonious way. Is this something we’ll see more of in the future?
EF: Yeah, I think. I think that song was really one of those bigger returns to that like shoegazy kind of form. I tend to dance in and out of that circle, so I’m sure it’ll come back.
mxdwn: Yeah, I kind of realized that as I was listening to it and listening to everything, you do return back to it. I like that. I like how you don’t just kind of, you know, stick to one sound, in a song even. You just kind of, like you said, you just kind of go with how it feels. I think that it really, like I said, it makes your music stand out in its own very unique way that I feel like not every artist can get a grasp on, if that makes sense.
EF: Thank you.
mxdwn: Yeah, of course.
EF: No, it’s mostly because I’m not cool enough to stay in one genre.
mxdwn: {laughs}.
EF: Yeah, I’m not cool enough to be a shoegaze person. I’m not cool enough to be an emo person. I kind of have to just dance between all four of ’em and collect a little community of people like me who just don’t fit in.
mxdwn: And that’s totally okay, and it really works for you {laughs}.
EF: Thank you.
mxdwn: How was working with producer Mike Sapone on Mi Amigo Slow Joy?
EF: Amazing. He’s one of the best guys on the planet. He instantly welcomes you in and makes you feel like he’s a part of your family and doesn’t push too hard, but also pushes you in a way that you feel like you’re making an actual record. I think that was the first time in my life that I was like, oh, this is real. This is like a real album, or this is a real EP. And I think you could hear it in the music.
mxdwn: Yeah, definitely. I think so too, and I would a hundred percent agree with that. And that’s nice that there’s that balance of pushing you, but not too hard because I’m sure there’s some producers out there that push way too hard and [that] probably affects the music and the artist, like you said earlier, just the industry in general can be hard.
EF: I’ve ran into not hard enough, honestly. I think that’s the biggest thing is there’s just a lot of people who don’t want to step on toes and don’t want to ruffle feathers, but at a certain point, like why are you here if you’re just going to do it my way anyway, you know? Mike has done a really good job at really pushing me to step outside of my comfort zone.
mxdwn: That’s good. That’s awesome. What has changed for you when making music or thinking about it since the release of Soft Slam in 2022.
EF: Um, there’s more things involved, there’s more people involved. I have to be very aware of the fact that this is like a career for me, and there are people who really, really care about this so it makes me care about it even more. And if you’re not careful, it kind of turns into pressure, but I try really hard to just keep it at a level of reverence because if it matters to even one person, then it has to matter to me. As time has shown since from that time till now, it’s mattered to a lot more people than I ever dreamed. That is really just when I’m writing, I have to have that reverence of like, I’m not going to just, you know, pretend like this doesn’t matter, I have to let this matter to me.
mxdwn: Well, that’s awesome. I love that. It’s been really awesome talking to you and congrats on being our best new artist of 2024. It’s well deserved.
EF: Thank you so much.
mxdwn: Yeah, of course. I can’t wait to see what you do in the future and also good luck.
EF: Thank you so much. Thank you for taking the time.
mxdwn: Yeah, of course.
All photos by Mehreen Rizvi
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