TEMPOREX’s “U Open Up a Window” Is an Ode to “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”

The second single from “Bowling” is dedicated to the TV show that continues to inspire Joseph Flores.
TEMPOREX’s “U Open Up a Window” Is an Ode to “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”

The second single from “Bowling” is dedicated to the TV show that continues to inspire Joseph Flores.

Words: Mike LeSuer

photo by Victoria Ortega

April 23, 2021

There are plenty of formative media experiences from childhood that stick with us—some of which, in retrospect, were fairly disposable, while others taught us lessons we needed to hear about engaging with the world around us. For Joseph Flores—who’s just a few months out from releasing his self-produced LP Bowling under the moniker TEMPOREX—it was Pee-wee’s Playhouse that’s stuck with him, ingraining his young mind with the seeds of creativity that years later would feed this innovative collection of songs.

“My mom introduced me to the show when I was young and we would watch it together all the time,” he shares of the program. “Pee-wee opened up a window to an entire world that you can escape to without ever really showing the outside of the playhouse itself. The wonky, googy style of the show has always spoken to me in a deep way. It combines the best pieces of every style and era all into one giant work of art, similarly to what I’ve tried to accomplish both visually and musically within my new album, Bowling.”

“U Open Up a Window,” the second single from the album which he’s sharing today, matches that show’s playfulness, translating the colorful and surreal world of that playhouse into vibrant neo-psychedelia toying with vaporwave’s nostalgic pull. You can hear the track below, and anticipate Bowling out June 18.