It’s Boston Calling time again, which means that Harvard Stadium will be overrun with big names like Alanis Morissette and the Foo Fighters. But as usual, you’re not getting the full experience unless you show up early, roam the grounds and catch the best of the local and second-tier bands.
The Philadelphia band Mt. Joy is a local favorite; they were one of the first to headline the new MGM Music Hall at the Fenway and will be back there in the fall. Their Boston Calling set promises to be shorter but punchier. “You’re playing in a place where the energy is different,” said frontman Matt Quinn. “You know that people still have a full day of music, so you don’t get too introspective on them. So we put together something that’s high energy, at least for us. When you condense it down to an hour, you can pick out the greatest hits and let it rip.”
A Mt. Joy set can still go anywhere, with their originals flowing into cover tunes. Last year at the Fenway they played a tune by Phish — who are known for covering all sorts of people, but seldom get covered themselves — and snuck in some Pink Floyd as well. “Some people run from that, but we want to feel free to express the music we love. A lot of my favorite music is from the vinyl era, ‘60 and ‘70s rock and roll. We always think about that when we put an album together — ‘Here’s where you’d turn the record over, and this is the first song on side two’.”
Mt. Joy’s recent single “Evergreen” has a witty video starring Creed Bratton of “The Office” fame. “We became friends with him over his music, and we needed someone to play a goofy character. That video is open to interpretation, but to me it’s about a guy n the search for happiness, and he finds it by playing music. I think when I wrote the song I was subconsciously trying to convince my girlfriend and now-wife to join me in this wacky life that I lead.”
The Boston band Summer Cult doesn’t need to put together a special set for Boston Calling: “We feel pretty good about going in and doing what we normally do,” says guitarist Tom McTiernan. What they do is a classic Boston thing: Intense but emotive, guitar-driven rock. “We started out more ‘90s alt rock-inspired. I used to tell people it was Arcade Fire meets the National, even though we never really sounded like that,” offers guitarist Jeff Bielat. Adds drummer Adrian Navarro, “As we grow older we’ve fallen into more of a country music or pop sensibility. We like the guitars and want the melody to paint a nice melody over the top.”
They used the shutdown years to focus on songwriting, releasing three EP’s with a separate album in the works. Navarro wrote many of the lyrics, which stand in contrast to the upbeat guitar sound. Says Navarro, “Knox [bassist/singer Andrew Knox] is great at putting a positive spin on things. And if they start out negative, we try to keep the subject matter a little bit broad. We don’t want all our songs to be ‘I’m lonely, I miss you and you took my dog’.”
Playing Boston Calling will be a new experience for Alisa Amador, a locally based Latin/pop singer who is now building a nationwide following. “I’m familiar with doing festivals, but doing them on this scale is new to me. There’s always an element of my music that is introspective, but the band and I are preparing a set that accents the groove and the flow. I’m trying to create a space where peoples’ hearts can open.”
Amador has been performing since age ten, when she started appearing with her parents’ group Sol y Canto. “I guess I realized I’d be lying to myself if I said I wasn’t a musician. My music is impossible to fit into one box, but I’m realizing that no human can do that. So it’s at the interstice of everything I’ve been exposed to — Latin folk and pop but also American funk and vocal harmony. As cheesy as this sounds, when I write a song I just try to let my heart glide.”
And many of her songs, she admits, come from moments of emotional upheaval. “Once a song is finished I can coexist with whatever has been eating away at me, whether that’s happy or sad, and make sense of this crazy life. A lot of people experience feeling lonely and out of place and needing to hear that they belong, and I want those people to hear my music. I’m also looking for people like me who grew up in a mixed cultural background, and who can use the support. And also, I want people to dance.”
Boston Calling at the Harvard Athletic Complex, May 26-May 28, bostoncalling.com
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Local, small acts also shine on Boston Calling stage - Boston Herald
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