- 1 year ago
Nick x Mt Joy Interview AUG23
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00:00It's 93.3 WMMR, Nick McElwain from The Preston and Steve Show.
00:03I am here with Mount Joy lead singer, founding member, Matt Quinn.
00:07Thanks for chatting with us on MMR, Matt.
00:09Thanks for having me.
00:10Yeah, absolutely.
00:11I was here last night, a great show at The Man.
00:14You guys did two shows here last year, I believe, right?
00:16And then two at the Ardmore Music Hall as well.
00:19We did.
00:19Yeah, so we only did one here last year, but we did do two nights at Ardmore Music Hall last year as well.
00:23It's been quite a year, and I got to Zoom interview with you and Sam about a year ago.
00:28And right after that Zoom interview, you guys opened up for Dave Matthews Band at The Gorge, which I was at, and I'm very excited.
00:36I'm going back in a couple of weeks, going to go see The Gorge again, DMV at The Gorge.
00:40And then it's been, I think, the last year, and correct me if you disagree, but it's sort of been like a microcosm of Mount Joy's progression.
00:48You guys just are slowly but steadily getting bigger and selling out the tours that you're doing, selling out the venues.
00:56Chicago, I know, was huge.
00:57New York has been great, and obviously now you're back in your hometown.
01:00So can you talk a little bit about what this last year has been like?
01:03Yeah.
01:05You nailed it with, like, it just feels like we just keep, you know, putting one foot in front of the other in terms of growth.
01:11And it's been pretty cool, you know, like, for example, like, we played The Man last year, and then tonight, or sorry, tonight is our second night, right?
01:20So we're adding on to that.
01:21And, yeah, it just feels the same with our music, which is kind of the most important thing for us, is just keep pushing ourselves and trying to make the show better.
01:32And, you know, we have people we trust, and we're kind of like, all right, you know, what can we do?
01:36Or are we sounding better?
01:37And, you know, it just feels good because it feels like as we get better, more people keep turning up.
01:42And, yeah, I mean, that's the most rewarding part, I think.
01:46This tour is taking you through a lot of the U.S.
01:48You guys were in Europe for a few dates as well.
01:51It's fun for me as a fan, but also as an observer, to follow along on Instagram and see cool posts from Switzerland and, you know, in Paris.
01:59What was the European part of the tour like?
02:01Oh, it was fun.
02:02This one was a little shorter, and we hit, like, London, a couple other places.
02:12We put Manchester, Dublin, and then we were in France, south of France, which was pretty nice.
02:18Yeah, that was pretty good.
02:19Yeah, it was good.
02:20It was really the first time that we'd gone to Europe, like you said.
02:22Like, things have just been steadily growing for us.
02:24And with COVID, we didn't get over there for a few years.
02:27So, you know, prior to that, we were fully bootstrapping over there in terms of, I mean, some of the shows were okay.
02:35Some of them were, I don't think Berlin's ever heard of Mount Joy, you know, like, kind of thing.
02:41Or just basically playing in a bar that, you know, people were like, what is this band, you know?
02:46And then to go over there and, you know, play sold-out shows in Europe was, you know, a totally different experience, and it felt really good.
02:54That's cool.
02:55And I imagine some of it is trial by fire and sort of trial and error, too.
02:59You know, we're friends at the radio station with the Hooters, you know, a Philadelphia institution, and they continue to do incredibly well in Germany.
03:07And so, if not every year, many years, they'll go over there and they'll sell out all of these shows in Germany, and then they'll come back here and they'll do shows, you know, down the shore, you know, the Keswick, places like that.
03:17But, so, is it, does it present a challenge to you when going to Paris or the south of France and figuring out, hey, is there going to be an audience here?
03:28Or is it just, let's go see if we can do it?
03:30I think it definitely presents a challenge.
03:33And I think for a lot of bands, the sort of, you know, wisdom is that you go over there and, you know, you basically lose money the first however many times it takes.
03:44And then you crack into the market and, you know, but for us, we had this period of time where it was COVID, which is such a, you know, game changer in so many different ways.
03:53And we obviously couldn't go over there.
03:55And like I said, our previous tours over there, honestly, obviously weren't profitable.
03:59And they also, the turnouts weren't great.
04:02So, we kind of had to look at it as like, well, where do we have fans?
04:06Let's go there.
04:08You know, we're at a point in our career where, like, I would absolutely love, and it does feel like it's happening, which is beautiful.
04:13Like, I would absolutely love to be able to go to these amazing places in Europe and have tons of fans there and play there.
04:19But if they don't exist, we've got a good thing going elsewhere.
04:22There's no reason for us to go lose money because it's not a few dollars.
04:25It's like, you know, you're losing $40,000, $50,000 just to say that you played Cologne, you know.
04:31It's like, at a certain point, I think, you know, it shifts to, hey, where do we do well?
04:38Well, let's go there and start the story there and see if we can get on, like, an opening tour like we did in the U.S.
04:44that gets us in front of a lot of people.
04:47And this November, we'll be going out with Greta Van Fleet and playing.
04:50Wow.
04:52You know, those guys are playing, like, arenas over there.
04:54They just did the forum in L.A.
04:56Okay.
04:57Yeah.
04:57So, those guys are doing arenas.
04:59So, we'll be hopping on, like, you know, this opportunity for us to now go to, I don't know if the tour goes to Cologne.
05:04But Cologne's catching a stray here.
05:06The Cologne's great.
05:07But, like, you know, we get to go and play for 13,000 people in Cologne instead of, I don't know how many, right?
05:12You know, so, just readjusted our strategy a bit.
05:17And, yeah, I probably rambled there.
05:20No, I love rambling.
05:22Conversations are best when they're rambling.
05:24And for me, it's getting to know you, getting to know Sam.
05:27The three of us went to the same high school.
05:28You guys are a little younger than I am.
05:30What year did you graduate?
05:31I graduated in 2009.
05:33Okay.
05:34So, I graduated from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, PA, in 1993.
05:37And when I've thought about you and Mount Joy and Sam over the last couple of years, the analogy always comes back, for me anyway, to Dave Matthews' band.
05:48And because their rise was initially pretty slow and steady.
05:52And I'm going to share a quick story with you.
05:54In 1993, when I was graduating from Conestoga, my buddy Phil Catone handed me a bootleg cassette of Remember Two Things, which came out before Under the Table and Dreaming, before Dave Matthews' band really became big.
06:07And I was like, oh, this is cool.
06:08I like this.
06:08And then in 94, Under the Table and Dreaming came out.
06:11And the 96 crash came out.
06:12And it just shot them to superstardom, right?
06:15Sure.
06:15So, last night, I come to the man, the Skyline stage, with Phil, his wife, Carrie, my fiance, who's in the other room, and Phil's two kids, Henry and Phil, who are seven and ten.
06:27And it was their first show.
06:29So, this guy that introduced me to DMV 30 years ago, literally 30 years ago, is now, the five, six of us are hanging at a Mount Joy show.
06:37And to see those kids light up when you guys did Astrovan or whatever, it was so cool.
06:46I'm 48 at this point, but it's so cool to see they come kind of full circle.
06:49And I love when bands achieve success, but it just really becomes a communal thing.
06:54And that's what I felt last night of the show.
06:56Yeah, especially, you know, like, that's what I'm most proud of, I think, is that, like, you know, just the community that we're building around this band is really, I think, because of the slow growth, like, it's just, I don't know, it's less of this sort of microwaved thing, which is great.
07:14You know, we would love if we could do, like, a viral dance or something like that at this point and just get everybody else on board.
07:20But honestly, we've just had this grassroots thing where, like, we see a lot of the same people that we've seen, you know, when we were torn in a van six years ago.
07:28And like you said, like, now some people bring their kids or whatever it is, like, and to me, there's just something about that.
07:36Because I do feel like our fans feel as much ownership, you know, like, to say to their friends or bring someone and be like, see, I saw them, you know, in a, in Cologne, in a, there were 12 people.
07:50At the Griffin Cafe in Wayne, you know, when you guys were first starting.
07:53Yeah, exactly.
07:53Smaller gigs.
07:54Exactly.
07:55So I think, yeah, I'm really proud of the community that we built.
07:58It's such a positive, you know, just hopefully safe space for people.
08:04And it just seems like people keep coming back.
08:08So that feels good.
08:09I felt it.
08:10It was tangible sense of community at the Gorge last summer.
08:14That was my first time going.
08:15It was a really cool coincidence to have you guys there the same weekend.
08:19But all of these fans for Dave Matthews Band were there for the same reason at the same time.
08:22And what was that experience like for you guys opening up for, you know, a very established rock band at this point and in a unbelievably gorgeous place?
08:31Yeah, I mean, there's so many levels to it.
08:33Obviously, just such a thrill to play the Gorge with Dave Matthews.
08:36I mean, I don't know how many times he's done it, but I think it's like 60 shows there or something.
08:41Yeah, 96 was his first year.
08:43I read that recently.
08:44Insane.
08:45And then, you know, so that part of it is just a dream come true.
08:48And then, you know, like I said, for us, like we try to keep, you know, because the pressure builds and, you know, you're tasked with how do we keep growing?
08:58Like, how do we keep this alive?
09:00And I think for us, we've always just tried to focus on like, well, how can we actually just be a better band?
09:04And going to the Gorge and standing side stage, actually, they were all so nice to us.
09:11Like, the monitor engineer gave us a pack, so we were actually listening to Dave's in-ear monitor mix.
09:18Wow.
09:18And we could hear some of the stuff they were communicating to each other on the stage and such a legendary band that, like, for us, just getting to watch them and do what they do and, you know, what they've crafted over such an amazing long career.
09:33I think that was like maybe the biggest thing for us was just to have our entire band stand and watch, you know, a legendary band, how they operate and musically and professionally and everything else.
09:46So that was huge for us.
09:48You guys have played the same venue a couple of times now that Dave and Tim have been here at The Man, which is cool.
09:53Back in the day when they were starting, Dave Matthews Band played what was then Brownie's 23 East and is now Ordenmore Music Hall.
10:00And I want to ask you about those shows because I got to go to the first of those two last year, and that sense of community was definitely there.
10:07There were two girls.
10:08We were hanging out upstairs watching you guys, looking down, watching you guys from up on high, and there were two or three girls right up front who were – they just were in the zone.
10:18It was so cool to see their happiness that whole time and be that close to – like physically that close to you guys and then just, you know, rock it out, man.
10:26Like they were having a blast, and I got joy from their joy.
10:30And so, you know, two nights in a cool, intimate venue.
10:33What was that like for you guys in your hometown?
10:35Yeah, so that was for Philly Music Fest and just a cool concept.
10:40Greg Seltzer, who puts that on, does a great job curating Philly bands, and Philly, you know, it's a celebration.
10:49Philly is such a great music scene.
10:50It's a celebration of that, and we just felt super honored to be a part of that sort of Philly music scene celebration.
10:59And, yeah, two nights in a space like that.
11:01You know, when you're playing bigger capacity venues, it's pretty fun – nerve-wracking a little bit, too, because it's more intimate.
11:10But it's pretty fun to like scale it back, and then like you pretty quickly remember like, oh, this was – you know, that was our reality not too long ago.
11:19So it felt really good to get back in that room, and, you know, you feel like a lot of the things you learn, like work, are even cooler and crazier in such a small room.
11:30So that was a lot of fun.
11:31Yeah, it was fun to be in the audience for it, and I ended up hanging out with maybe – it was Sam's parents just for a little bit, which was also neat, because there's parents and teachers from Conestoga
11:42and people that have been in your lives for a long period of time, and there was a moment where Sam and Sam's mom – I'm sorry, Sam's mom and I saw everybody in the audience singing along to one of the songs.
11:54I don't remember which one it was.
11:55And to see that through her eyes, being just a proud mom at that point, and me being a fan of the band, it was really cool just to see everybody in the same room at the same time connecting through your music.
12:07And I'm sure that's gratifying for you.
12:08Yeah, last night here at The Man, we had our families here, and there was – I think it was Bathroom Light was the one where it was like – I mean, people were singing the entire time.
12:20And we're so – like, we have fans that show up and sing from the first notes to the last one.
12:25It's pretty crazy.
12:26But that one was – we've just never had – like, it was this full-throated, cathartic – I don't know, everyone was just in their fields or whatever, but – and it just overwhelmed me.
12:36And, you know, I was thinking about my family being there, and like, yeah, it's just – it's emotional to just, like, imagine – you know, there's so much hard work that goes into it.
12:46So, in a way, it's like, I do know how we got here, but, you know, not so many amazing bands work just as hard and don't get to whatever that thing is, that luck, that – the strike of lightning that feels like Mount Joy has, like, captured.
13:05And so, it's just sort of – yeah, it's just an incredible feeling.
13:08And I don't 100% know how we got here.
13:11You know, I know what we did, but I couldn't – a lot of times people ask, like, how did you – you know, how do I do this, or what can I do to be in that position?
13:19And I'm like, you know, I recognize that there's a luck element to it, and we feel super grateful.
13:25Well, also, chemistry, you know, the five people believing in the same thing at the same time, and an enormous amount of talent on stage, but a lot of hard work.
13:36And, yeah, there was a moment last night that was touching for me in the audience, you got a little emotional, and it was cool to see that it hit you.
13:43You know, you're certainly not too cynical where you can't reflect upon the moment and be happy about it, and genuinely so.
13:51Yeah, I mean, especially, like, I – the first probably 10 years of my music career were an abject failure.
13:59You know, like, I tried and tried again, and couldn't quite – you know, I was doing coffee shops and paying for – like, literally paying up front for tickets and trying to sell coffee shop tickets and losing money on my own show.
14:15And, you know, like, did all of that to then be in that moment.
14:20It's like, I think, yeah, you just get emotional thinking, like, about everything that you sacrificed to do all that.
14:28Yeah, it's – I've been thinking a lot about success and failure and happiness over the last few years, and I don't know if it's midlife crisis or what it is, but those failures that you described led to the quote-unquote success now.
14:42And, you know, I think success can be measured in so many different ways, but having a large audience and having people there to see your music is certainly one way to do it.
14:49But you also just were able to accomplish something in songwriting and putting out records.
14:53That's, in my mind anyway, success in and of itself.
14:56Yeah, I mean, I'm super proud of the records we've made, and, you know, I always had a chip on my shoulder.
15:02Like, I think we all do, because we felt like certain records or songs could have been bigger or whatever, and I'm sure every single band, you know, in the history of mankind has that experience.
15:15But it feels like, for us, like, it's just this slow burn, and it's like we talked about before, where once people sort of sink their teeth into what we are as, like, from the recordings is one thing, but then, you know, with the live show and everything we put into that, I think it just takes people longer to sort of get through, I guess, our music or get to where they're at as fans.
15:37And we're fine with that.
15:39We'll keep going.
15:40We'll stretch out our career as long as we can go, I guess.
15:43My fiancée's named Andrea.
15:44She's in the other room.
15:45She introduced me to you guys, and we were at the airport in Philly one time.
15:49You guys were there.
15:49You were going one place.
15:50We were going someplace else.
15:51And somebody had a guitar case, and it said Mount Joy on it.
15:55And she said, oh, those are the guys from Mount Joy.
15:56And I didn't know you guys that well at that point.
15:58I knew about the connection to the same high school.
16:01But, you know, music finds people's ears at different times in their lives, and it is an organic build because it's not an overnight viral dance hit like you were describing, you know?
16:13But I want to bring it back to tonight and last night as well.
16:16So it's very cool as a fellow Eagles fan to see you guys connect with guys like Jason Kelsey and Connor Barwin.
16:23Did it start with Kelsey at Onward Music Hall last year?
16:26Yeah, that's where we met him.
16:28He was super cool, came out to the show, and introduced us at the – I can't remember which night it was.
16:34It was the second night because I was not there.
16:36I was there for the first night.
16:38So I missed him on the second night.
16:40Yeah, and he's just a great guy and obviously an incredible part of Philly history, I think, truly.
16:46Beyond the sports thing.
16:47And, yeah, I mean, obviously look up to him and to have him, you know, say nice things about our band or show up to shows and stuff like that definitely gives you a little boost of confidence.
16:58And both he and Connor Barwin have made this their home.
17:01And, you know, Connor really could have retired and gone anywhere, but he got a job within the organization.
17:06Both of those guys do so much good in the community.
17:09They very much care and want to give back.
17:12It's genuine.
17:13They're not doing it for show.
17:14So can you talk a little bit about their causes?
17:17I know it was Connor was focused last night, and I think it's Kelsey tonight, right?
17:21Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how the – you know, how exactly it works between night to night.
17:26But, yeah, Jason, Kelsey's charity is Be Philly, and the focus is Philadelphia Public Schools and improving that situation, which I think we all can agree is sort of an obvious thing to tackle.
17:44And Connor's make the world better.
17:47We've worked with in the past, and really, like you said, but a lot of it for us is just the belief in both of those guys and the people they surround themselves with because they're smart guys.
17:59You know, if they have a charity, you know, for us, it's like we just want to make an impact here in Philly in the best way we can.
18:07And we look up to those guys, and we know that they have the same goal, and they're ahead of us sort of in the planning and figuring out how best to make an impact.
18:16So, really, it's that simple for us.
18:18We look up to those guys, and we want to help their charities out.
18:22Yeah, they're no-brainers, really.
18:24And Connor has put on music festivals, you know, year after year.
18:27That probably got interrupted by COVID, but I saw Strand of Oaks one year and Make the World Better.
18:32It's just – it's a terrific Philly-based organization.
18:36Have you been surprised by people who have reached out to you that you're like, oh, my God, this person's a fan?
18:41Like, outside of the Kelsey and Connor Barwins, like, is there somebody that comes to mind where you're like, oh, my goodness,
18:46I can't believe – Sam, apparently, last night, Wawa started following him on Instagram.
18:51I'm sure that that was impactful for him.
18:53Yeah, we met someone from Wawa last night.
18:55Maybe that goes in.
18:56You know, we've met, like, some actors and people that you're surprised.
19:03I don't know.
19:04I won't put anybody on blast.
19:05But we, like, always surprised.
19:08I don't know.
19:09You know, when people come out – it's not – I'm not divulging thousands of names here.
19:14It's not like it happens all the time.
19:15But, yeah, occasionally we have people come out or say they want to say hi or something.
19:21And it just makes you realize we always play the game.
19:24And had, like, in the van, you know, you're dreaming or whatever.
19:27Let's say you're – like, we have some songs go viral within Spotify or whatever or have moments.
19:33And we would always be like, do you think Tom Hanks has heard Silver Line?
19:36You know, like, we would, like – we would try to pick the most random but really famous person.
19:41And we'd be like, do you think Barack Obama, you know, has ever just been walking through a coffee shop?
19:45And, like, do you think our music has hit his ears at any moment?
19:49So it just makes you realize, obviously, those people are existing in the same world we are.
19:53And if a song is playing in the grocery store, you never know, you know.
19:56Yeah. One time I tweeted at Gary Oldman because I just was wondering what he was up to.
20:00And it just occurred to me, that's an interesting guy.
20:03He didn't respond.
20:04But I was just like, you know, at that moment in my life, I was like, I bet Gary Oldman's doing all right right now.
20:10So last question.
20:12You guys have been touring for quite a bit.
20:13You're on the road all the time.
20:15Has that left room for creating new music and any plans for a new record?
20:19I know you've done some collaborations recently, but what's the status for a potential new Mount Joy record?
20:25You know, I think been writing and working when we can.
20:29Have some stuff we're really excited about.
20:31But I think we'll really, you know, we put so much into touring and focusing on new jams.
20:37And we do kind of a lot of live writing all the time.
20:40So I think the show is sort of like this evolving thing for us in that way.
20:44And then we'll pretty much get done.
20:49This is about, we kind of started our summer tour, if you will.
20:52We're about 10 days into it.
20:55And we will be done in like a week before Thanksgiving.
20:59Okay.
21:00We get back from Europe.
21:02And at that point, I think it, you know, we'll give ourselves 10 days or whatever the normal amount of sleep that a person does after being on the road for that long.
21:09And we'll hit it.
21:10And we'll really get after it.
21:12We have a bunch of ideas.
21:13And I think we might pull out a new song on this tour.
21:16Like we have some stuff.
21:17But in terms of like exactly what it'll look like, in terms of when the record will come out, I think it'll just depend on how quickly things get grooving once we get done tour.
21:27Last, last question.
21:28Sure.
21:28A couple of great covers last night.
21:29You get Bill Withers and The Dead.
21:32You were wearing a dead shirt before you put on the Eagles jersey.
21:36How do you select covers?
21:37I think you guys covered the band the other night after Robbie Robertson passed away.
21:40So, is it impromptu?
21:42Is it something you do show to show?
21:44How do those get selected?
21:46Yeah.
21:46Like it depends.
21:47I mean like the Dead cover, we've done a bunch for a couple of years now.
21:51We have this song called Mount Joy and we just like the idea of Fire on the Mount Joy.
21:55Yeah.
21:56Whether anyone gets that, that we're doing that at all.
21:58I figured it out last time.
22:00Yeah, but, and like also then I think it became this thing where we sort of barely play Fire on the Mountain.
22:07Like it just is a launching off point to jam on and we do a kind of drums in space thing there.
22:13So, it feels like it's pretty detached from, we're not like singing Fire on the Mountain for the most part.
22:18Right.
22:18So, that's sort of become one we do all the time.
22:21But then the other ones, like today we were just working on something and soundcheck and like if we feel confident enough we'll bring it out maybe tonight or something.
22:29It's just, you know, you'd be driving in your car and you'll hear Bill Withers or something and be like, ah, that's A minor.
22:35So, like we could, you know, whatever.
22:37Like you kind of hear it in your song almost or something.
22:39And it's just something we started a long time ago literally at the hideout in Chicago and we did this medley with Bill Withers and it crushed.
22:50And when you're a band and you're trying to grab on to whatever, you're like, hey, they love the Bill Withers thing.
22:54You know, whatever.
22:55And we love doing it.
22:56It's not totally.
22:57So, I don't know.
23:00You know, I just, for us, it's something that we're always thinking about and I think it's sort of become a thing that people come to Mount Joyce shows and they're wondering what they're going to hear.
23:07And we don't 100% know until the afternoon.
23:10When we were getting ready for the interview, Kyle and I heard Jackie playing a little bit of Coldplay across the hall.
23:15And it was, by the way, she's just so incredible.
23:18She's such an amazing piano player and I love watching her on stage.
23:22I love watching all you guys.
23:23But she's such a wonderful addition to the band.
23:26Don't ever lose her.
23:27She's great.
23:27Yeah.
23:28She's incredible.
23:29So, anyway, thanks again, Matt.
23:30It's Matt Quinn from Mount Joy, a proud Conestoga graduate.
23:34And we really enjoy spending some time with you on WMMR.
23:38And break a leg tonight.
23:39Have a great show with the man.
23:40Thank you, Nick.
23:40Appreciate you having me.
23:41You're the best.
23:42Awesome.
23:42Thanks.
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