Preview: Mt. Joy at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sept. 18
“I Hope We Have Fun” is probably what Natalia and I will be saying in the Uber over to Columbia, Maryland to see Mt. Joy perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 18th. The five-member indie rock band is currently on tour for their fourth album, Hope We Have Fun, which was released in 2025.
Mt. Joy was started in 2016 by two high school friends from Philadelphia, Matt Quinn (vocals, guitar) and Sam Cooper (guitar), who reunited in LA. Named after a mountain in Valley Forge National Park, near Cooper’s childhood home, the band has had, to “summit” all up, an exciting and prolific ten years of songwriting and touring. They scored their big break in their first year, with their debut single “Astrovan,” which is still one of their most popular songs to this day.
Hope We Have Fun is a new exploration of style for the band, who often weaves together folk and rock, but has not been afraid to lean into different, more experimental styles as they’ve evolved their sound over the years. The album traces Mt. Joy’s years on the road, and the many hills and valleys that they have experienced both as a band and individually. Hope We Have Fun is Mt. Joy’s testament to how far they have come in the past decade, accepting growth while still staying true to their free-spirited and Joy-ful approach to music.
Dorsa Tajvidi is a sophomore in the College studying Government and Global Health. She is from Maine, so she likes to pretend she hikes mountains often.
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