Shanghai Metro Temple Selfish Health (Toxic
Gabe Allen BandWagon Magazine
When someone close to you is constantly in crisis, you can spend all of your energy on that person without even realizing it. Years go by in the blink of an eye and suddenly you realize it’s been a really long time since you had the space to work on your own shit. That’s when it’s time to make a break for it, and focus on yourself — at least that’s the story behind “Selfish Health (Toxic Pain),” the latest single from Shanghai Metro Temple.
The Denver-based group has spent the last few years gigging around the metro area with setlists that mix ‘70s and ‘80s covers with original tunes — they even made it to the semifinals of Bandwagon’s Battle of the Bands last year. But, “Selfish Health (Toxic Pain)” is the band’s first release featuring lead singer
Pain)
Jasmine Maletta. The band brought her into the lineup in October, shortly before the battle of the bands. Her powerful voice soars over the track echoing Pat Benetar or maybe even Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon.
“Toxic pain pulls my heart back to the same,” she belts over the chorus. “It’s time for selfish help, or else there is no change.”
The song starts off as a straightforward power ballad before sliding off the rails with a speedy, overdriven guitar solo. From here the band breaks out their glam chops — Maletta uses every ounce of breath in a half ad-libbed reverie over chugging power chords.
The end result is a heavily nostalgic throwback to the slower songs from the ‘80’s hair metal era — with a modern selfhelp twist.
With the addition of Maletta, Shanghai Metro Temple seems to have hit its stride. Her powerful vocal delivery elevates the earnest power ballad format that the band is known for. One thing is for sure: this song was meant to be played live. Shanghai Metro Temple will headline the Mercury Cafe in Denver on Friday, March 29 with support from Stephen Lear Band and Charles & the Oddity.
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EMOTIONAL HONESTY AND UNIVERSAL APPEAL
Esteban Flores, the visionary behind the solo project Slow Joy, stands out not only for his unique blend of grunge, emo, and shoegaze but also for his deeply introspective approach to music creation that is both hauntingly personal and universally appealing to fans of the genre(s).
Hailing from Texas, Flores lives in Dallas, with his wife and his dog, where he has been for the last decade. With his music, Flores has just recently fostered a project that serves as both a personal catharsis and a sonic exploration, resonating with a wider audience then he expected it would through its raw emotion and authenticity. This unique fusion, coupled with the project's inception rooted in personal loss and therapeutic discovery, paints a vivid picture of an artist dedicated to exploring the depths of the human experience through music.
“IT’S REALLY A SOLO PROJECT. A
LOT OF THE HOMIES WILL JUMP IN AND PLAY WITH ME BUT IT’S USUALLY A REVOLVING DOOR BECAUSE EVERYONE IS EVERYWHERE. I HAVE GUYS IN NEW YORK, GUYS IN L.A., GUYS OVER HERE IN TEXAS… WE ARE KIND OF ON THE OLDER SIDE, SO IT’S HARD TO GET SOMEONE TO DO ALL OF THE THINGS.”
Contrary to how he may feel, Flores, 31 at the time of this interview, is still a relatively fresh face on the scene. In just a few short years, Slow Joy has garnered millions of streams across Spotify, Instagram, and TikTok, enabling Flores to dedicate himself to music full-time for the past year or so. Having spent his high school years in various bands, he once doubted his prospects in the music world. Flores, who had always aspired to achieve the success of the bands he idolized, found himself grappling with the realities of adult life in his 20s.
The journey of Slow Joy began in a moment of profound personal crisis, following the loss of Flores's mother. Music, once a central pil-
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lar of his life, had been relegated to the background as the realities of responsibility and grief took hold. “My mom had just died, she left behind two of my sisters and they were both in school. I had to get the real job… It’s just one of those things where life caught up to me and I can't keep doing this chasing the dream thing. It was then that I was just kind of done with it. I wasn’t going to do music anymore.” It was during this period of introspection and sorrow that a therapist suggested music as a means to process his grief. This advice led Flores down a path of self-discovery and artistic rebirth. "So I started music again but with no hope of anyone ever seeing it," Flores recalls, marking the beginning of Slow Joy as a project defined by its commitment to authenticity and emotional honesty.
Flores's approach to songwriting these days is deeply personal, prioritizing connection and self-expression over his previous aspirations for commercial success or critical acclaim. He seeks to maintain the integrity of his artistic vision, focusing on creating music that resonates on a personal level. "That’s always where I start when writing lyrics. Is this something that I connect to on a personal level?... Is this something that I care about? I don’t want to chase the wind anymore…" This philosophy has resulted in a body of work that is both emotionally charged and intimately relatable, offering listeners a glimpse into Flores's inner world.
Musically, Slow Joy is a testament to Flores's eclectic influences and his jour ney of musical discovery. Despite a con servative upbringing that limited his ex posure to a wide range of music, Flores has embraced the sounds of grunge and other genres with a fervor that speaks to his deep connection to music as a form of expression. "I just recently started to get into grunge music," he admits, high lighting his late but passionate embrace of a genre known for its raw emotion and powerful social commentary.
Flores's approach to recording is remi niscent of the practices more commonly associated with artists in Nashville, known for their emphasis on live instrumenta tion, collaboration, and the organic de velopment of songs. This methodology is clearly evident in Flores's hands-on ap proach to his music. A multi-instrumen talist, he plays nearly all the instruments on his records, a testament to his versa tility and dedication to the craft. Howev er, this approach is not without its chal lenges, as Flores humorously recounts his experience recording his last single, "I Don’t Hate You": "I usually try to play
everything besides drums. I did drums on my last single, I Don’t Hate You. That song I just wanted to do everything. Then I did it and I was like I never want to do that again" as he chuckled. "It’s so stressful being the only guy. So I try to get as many other instrumentalists as I possibly can on stuff. It’s part of my process. I try to jump around, play different things, and get inspired by different things. It makes it more fluid for me to just play everything."
This collaborative spirit extends to Flores's work with other musicians and producers, particularly in his upcoming EP, where he worked with Mike Sapone, an American producer whose influence spans 3 decades of working with bands like Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Boston Manor, The Front Bottoms, Mayday Parade, and Grouplove, among others. The partnership with Sapone underscores Flores's commitment to collaboration and openness in the recording process, allowing space for each musician's unique contribution to shape the final product. “Lately, especially with this new EP coming out, I’ve really tried to focus on not finishing the entire idea.... If you have access to someone like (Sapone) you want to leave them space for them to do what they do and collaborate with them.”
The resonance of Slow Joy's music with audiences around the world has surpassed Flores's expectations, affirming
sonal approach to music. "I didn’t anticipate any of this," he reflects, marveling at the connection his music has forged with listeners across diverse backgrounds. This unexpected success serves as a reminder of the power of authenticity and the profound impact that music, born of personal struggle and introspection, can have on the human spirit.
Live performances offer Flores another avenue to connect with his audience, transforming each show into a shared emotional journey. The upcoming shows in Colorado, a state Flores holds dear, promise to be an immersive experience, showcasing the cathartic power of live music and the intimate bond between artist and audience.
Esteban Flores's journey with Slow Joy is a narrative of resilience, creativity, and the transformative power of music. Through his deeply personal lyrics, unique yet familiar sound, and millions of authentic micro-connections with his fans, Flores has not only carved out a niche for himself in the music industry but has also offered a tool for people to process their own emotions and navigate their own paths through grief and self-discovery. His approach to recording, characterized by collaboration and an organic development of songs, no doubt will set him apart in the future, highlighting the universal language of music and
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DOOGIE
BRINGS DA FUNK TO G-TOWN
BY KASEY SMITH
Ivan Cervantes has lived in Greeley all his life. He spent summers cruising around the pavement slopes of Northern Colorado on his bike, finding the best spot to take in that perfect Colorado sunset. Car rides with his dad were cooled off by the G-funk stylings of Dr. Dre. The electro-funk band Zapp and Roger floating on the airwaves and out the open windows. “The perfect summer day,” says Doogie (Ivan); that's what he wants his listeners to revel in when they hear his name and bump his music. The name Doogie was just a childhood nickname given to Ivan by his grandpa. Now, Ivan’s working hard to make that name mean something, and after noticing the waves he’s making in Greeley’s hip-hop scene, Bandwagon sat down to interview him on the latest Episode of The Doogie Podcast.
Doogie dropped his debut single, “Young Samurai” on January 1st, 2023, marking a consistent stream of content and music. While he certainly fits the category of ‘new artist,’ his early 90’s G-funk style has the polish of a veteran in the game. Guided by his “rap big brother,” Steelo Bass, Ivan navigated the local hip-hop scene and cultivated the sleek sound of his music today. His musicianship is rooted not only in his parents’ favorite songs, but also in the influence
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of his mentor, Rick Solis, who played guitar in the band Ivan’s mother sang in. “He taught me what it means to be Chicano and the importance of pride in music and culture,” explained Ivan. That pride is a primary ingredient in the Boom Bap lyrical concoctions of new-school/old-school hip-hop Doogie serves up on the regular. A pride that extends beyond himself, or his music, that he wants the community of Greeley to unify and rally behind. His words put it best: “East side, West side - it doesn’t matter what side you live on because we’re all in the same city. The city itself is what matters and you should take pride in that.”
The songs “Impalarado” and “D-Funk” are love letters to Greeley or ‘G-Town,’ as locals like Ivan call it. These anthems compel listeners to embrace their city in all its obscure glory. They are odes to G-town that evoke the sunny nostalgia of mobbing around the city with friends, joking, singing all the words to favorite songs, and dancing like nobody is watching– adolescent bliss. The upbeat rhythm of “D-Funk” is hypnotizing. The groovy old school vibe of “Impalarado” vividly captures the essence of the city. With references to Friday Fest, the Ice Haus and Moxi Theater, it's no surprise that Doogie just freestyled the opening lyrics while driving down 8th Avenue. “Groovin’ on the dance floor at the Moxi, isn’t just a lyric, but a memory of the experience Doogie gave fans last month, opening for Joey Cool on February 24th.
“I bring as much energy as I can. I feel it in my heart. I don’t care how many people are there, as long as I can look them in their eyes, I have some homies on stage with me and we can all just vibe.”
In Doogie’s musical repertoire, his feel-good tracks come just as often as ones delving into themes like the eternal battle between good and evil, or the imperative search for spiritual guidance in moments of crisis. A series of singles depict the epic journey of a young samurai battling the demonic forces of a treacherous domain with the wisdom and guidance of his shogun master. Ivan's flow in these songs are as fierce as the samurai’s blade. The young samurai, another hip-hop pseudonym of Ivan’s, is relentless in his quest to vanquish evil. In the same way, Ivan is relentlessly passionate in all his creative endeavors. That passion is,
again, unmistakable in his dedication to his relationship with God, portrayed in the song “Trust in the Lord.” Recounting a moment of emotional and mental turmoil, he shares how, by divine chance he opened his Bible, “and the first thing I look at is, ‘Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding’ ...it hit me like a brick and my eyes started watering.” The moment served as a simple but profound reminder that in periods of uncertainty he can rely on God and doesn’t need to navigate everything on his own.
Ivan is a proud Chicano, loyal to the city and music scene he came up in. Where many Coloradoans see Greeley as a smelly cowtown with a west side expanding from oil money, he sees an inspirational place ripe with art, culture, and community– a city that he’s proud to represent, with a robust music scene where he’s determined to make his mark. Check out Doogie’s new EP, “Bring Da Funk” and catch one of his live shows this summer. While you might notice a thick layer of funk blanketing Greeley, it won’t be the smell of agriculture, instead; it emanates from the speakers of wherever Doogie is cruisin’.
BANDWAGON PHOTO OF THE MONTH | PHOTO BY: RIGHT EYE MEDIA DANNO SIMPSON | MOXI THEATER - GREELEY | 2/17/24
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