Philadelphia/Los Angeles
Sounds & Spaces

Mt. Joy’s story is similar to that of countless other indie rockers. Two buddies, Matt Quinn and Sam Cooper, started making music together in high school, lost contact when college intervened and then reconnected thereafter. Weaned on Dylan, the Dead, The Beatles, the Stones and Neil Young, before discovering Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes and The Shins, Mt. Joy mined their influences to create Astrovan, their debut EP, which boasts four deliriously dreamy songs reflecting a knowing attitude all their own. Cooper was practicing law and Quinn was in law school, but they both quickly realized music was their true calling. The goal, Quinn says, “was to dig us out of jobs and career paths that provided for us economically, but weren’t making us happy.” Cooper adds, “When Astrovan started gaining traction on Spotify, it felt like the universe was telling us to ditch the legal thing. So I quit my job and Matt dropped out of law school, and we started pursuing music instead.” Borrowing their name from a mountain in Valley Forge National Park, located near their hometown of Philadelphia, Mt. Joy are now gearing up for an initial series of shows, with a full-length effort to foll w. “Mt. Joy is evolving,” Quinn says. “It draws from our influences, while trying to push for cool sounds and sonic spaces. We can’t wait to share it.”