ROCK SOLID
Mt. Joy scales the heights of success
Maybe Instagram and YouTube stars experience overnight success. But musicians spend countless hours in their bedrooms, basements or garages learning their craft before they break big. Matt Quinn and Sam Cooper, the leaders of the introspective Americana act Mt. Joy, are no different.
That said, things have happened absurdly fast for Mt. Joy.
“We figured out we played `Conan' (on Jan. 31) on the one-year anniversary of our first show ever,” Quinn said, ahead of Mt. Joy's sold-out show at Great Scott on Tuesday. “That was certainly a surreal realization. Each time something big like that happens, you wonder, `Do we deserve this? Is this something we should have already?'”
Quinn has had to ponder his success a lot. Big things have happened in rapid succession for Mt. Joy.
In 2016, the band uploaded the cool, quirky folk-rock tune “Astrovan” to Spotify, where, without a promotional campaign, it quickly tallied millions of plays. The following year they played the Newport Folk Festival and Bonnaroo (they also quit their day jobs and landed a record deal). This year saw them on “Conan,” releasing their debut LP, landing lead single “Silver Lining” in the Top 5 on the Triple A Radio Charts and selling out tour dates coast to coast.
The highlights have been huge and frequent, but for Quinn, who attended Northeastern as an undergraduate, little can top playing Newport.
“Being in Boston for five years and growing up outside of Philly, the Folk Fest is legendary,” he said. “And being a Dylan fan, knowing that history, getting to play there was, again, surreal. Then the set went really well, and since then, constantly we'll have people come up and say, `I saw your set at Newport and fell in love with you.'” Mt. Joy came together in Los Angeles, but Quinn began writing some of the band's tunes while here in Boston. Working as an office clerk near Downtown Crossing, Quinn spent his off time penning songs — some of which he performed with his local band Brave Elephant at Cambridge rock clubs.
“We played the Middle East, we played T.T. the Bear's just before it closed, but we stopped playing when my roommate, who I formed the band with, moved back home,” he said. “But some of those songs I brought to Mt. Joy. One of those was actually `Silver Lining.' ”
You can look up Brave Elephant's bandcamp.com page and hear a rough version of “Silver Lining” before the millions of streams and radio spins.
While “Silver Lining” has a touch of gray — the tune has a mournful yet cathartic feel — it represents another milestone for Mt. Joy. After “Astrovan” broke, Quinn worried this might be a one-viral hit, then the world would move on. “Silver Lining” proved the band has a broad appeal and sonic depth.
“It's been validating to see people responding to other songs and the whole album,” he said. “With `Astrovan,' we had millions of plays. But we did think, `OK, maybe we get this one song and that's it.'”
That's not it.
Mt. Joy have already booked a fall return to Boston at Royale, which is about five times the size of Great Scott. Between now and then, they have about 50 dates on the calendar, including a trip to England.