Slow Joy has called us out for fact-checking.
Our contributor, Preston Barta, covered Thin Line Fest in Denton. He wrote about many artists, including Slow Joy, Esteban Flores' solo project. His set took place on Friday, April 25.
Earlier this week, we published "Denton Amplified: Thin Line Fest Shines a Spotlight on Music’s Untamed Spirit." One critique Barta made was seeing Flores' frustration over his performance and blaming his guitarist for "botched chords."
In a since-deleted Instagram Story, Slow Joy tagged our Instagram account, sounding upset over our review of his set. He wrote, "How about you fact-check some shit before misquoting me to make me look like an asshole?"
He continued and tagged the guitarist, Grant Miller. "I told him it wasn't HIS FAULT. Something with a pedal messed up, and I knew he was stressing out about it bc he's my best friend. If I was that angry why would I play the next few songs kick it with all the homies who came to the show after?? Almost every time I do an article with you mess something up. Try caring at least 1% more about your artists. Idgaf about my articles do it for other artists in DFW."
In another, he wrote, "I try not to care about stuff like this bc in the end what does it matter. But when it's my 'home towns' publication ONE I USED TO LOOK UP TO. You'd think they'd try even a little bit. God forbid you mess up one song. F it I'm calling my home town somewhere else now."
Miller also confirmed in a since-deleted Instagram Story. "Esty is my brother for life. We had some technical issues and Dallas Observer needs to get their facts straight before they just publish shit. This is wild. We have spent so much life together and after the set he came and gave me a hug and told me things were alright. The take in this article is fucking blasphemous."
No one likes to be called out for poor journalism. We contacted Barta for comment.
He wrote, "I saw what I saw. During the first part of the set, I was recording, but for the second part, I was jotting notes on my phone for my write-up and didn’t capture it on video."
"At one point, he visibly got upset with his guitarist and said, 'If you’re not going to play it right, we’re just going to skip it.' After a second failed attempt, he stopped the band and added, 'We’re just going to skip it. Not my fault.' It seemed to be an issue with the guitarist not getting something right."
"I don’t enjoy having to report things like this, but I stand by what I saw and heard. He absolutely said, 'Not my fault' and not 'not HIS fault,'" Barta says.
We wrote a glowing review of their performance at Club Dada in February. Punk rock thrives on imperfection, so maybe this last show was just an off day. Slow Joy is welcome to clear the air with us because we care. We're just waiting for his publicist to get back.