"You ever been beaten down by life after 30 years? ... That's the genesis of Slow Joy. It's just emotionally driven lyrics and things that make sense really loud."

In this episode, we sit down with Esteban from Slow Joy at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago to discuss the reality of tour life and the release of his deluxe record, A Joy Even Slower. Bridging the gap between the Myspace era and today's alternative waves, Esteban breaks down how growing up in the Dallas music scene influenced his unique sound—a mix of "hot and sludgy" shoegaze and anthem-heavy emo.

We explore his deep love for Taking Back Sunday (specifically the Louder Now era) and the cinematic history of the "The Ghost of You" music video. Esteban also opens up about his vocal evolution, moving from trying to emulate Midwest emo tappies to channeling the raw power of Joe Talbot from Idles and Citizen. Whether you are a nostalgic millennial or an emo revivalist, this conversation connects the history of the genre to its exciting future.

Key Topics & Timestamps:

• Introduction: The reality of tour life and the "Venn Diagram" of sleep vs. food
• The Emo Check: Why Taking Back Sunday's "Makedamnsure" is the perfect song
• Fun Fact: How the director of "The Ghost of You" went on to direct Spider-Man
• Defining the Slow Joy sound: "Life beating you down"
• Deep dive into the deluxe album A Joy Even Slower and Modest Mouse influences
• Touring with The Academy Is... and the kindness of 2000s legends
• The Texas Scene Report: Dallas, Denton, and the "sludgy" shoegaze sound
• Vocal techniques: Channeling Idles and Citizen vs. Midwest Emo math rock
• Where to find Slow Joy online

Guest/Band Links:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/SlowJoy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slowjoy.official
• Official Website: https://www.slowjoymusic.com/

Episode Highlights:

"I'm not cool enough to do the shoegaze thing. So I just kind of live in a world where you sing like these bright, cool melodies and then do that melodic rock stuff."

"I'm just gonna do my best Joe Talbot impression... that 'tough guy' voice thing that I do. Everybody is like, 'Oh, that's like Citizen.' And I was like, 'No, I'm actually just trying to do Joe [from Idles].'"

"You can do two things half-a**ed... or I'm gonna do one thing at a time. Especially when you get into those punky, newer tracks."

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It was never just a phase. We connect the Myspace era to today's waves.