Boston Calling is a Boston based music festival. It first started in 2013 and originally attracted about 20,000 festival goers. In 2017, the festival moved to the Harvard Athletic Complex. The attendance grew to 40,000 festival goers. The festival occurs on Memorial Day Weekend over three days. It includes a lineup of some of the biggest artists across many genres of music. Past line ups have included Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Travis Scott, Metallica and Sia.
This year Boston Calling took place May 26-28, with multiple stages featuring around twenty acts performing each day. The headliners were Paramore, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. The weekend has received great reviews so far. Nowadays, the people of Boston are happy that music festivals are continuing to improve after the many cancellations due to COVID.
Maeve Malloy Interview at Boston Calling Music Festival
I was lucky enough to be able to sit down with Maeve Malloy, the drummer for the up-and-coming artist Chrysalis, who performed on Saturday of the Festival. They answered some questions about their experience performing at the festival.
RMR: When did you start playing drums?
Maeve Malloy: I started playing drums when I was six, about 15 years ago. Technically, my mom bought me my first drum kit at three, but my first memories of playing are at six.
What are some of your influences?
My main influences growing up were the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Led Zeppelin. Now that I’m older I really admire Nate Smith.
How did you get involved with Chrysalis?
We met through a mutual friend that I was working with at the time. We played together for a while, then separated and came back better than ever.
How did the band book Boston Calling?
Chrysalis was busking at Faneuil Hall in Boston and a talent booker approached them. He gave them his information and they set it up.
What was your experience like playing your first festival?
It was, honestly, surreal, it was the first festival I played and the first one I had been to. It was a beautiful experience and exciting to be in a high scale professional environment. Definitely very cool to see how everything works. Hopefully, it was a good glimpse into a future musical career.
Did you get to catch any of the other acts? If so, who were your favorites?
I caught a bunch of acts. Paramore was by far the best. I also saw Foo Fighters, I already saw them before, but it was great. Shane Hawkins played drums which was great to see. Also, Noah Kahan, who I hadn’t heard of before the festival. It was cool to see the crowd reaction to him, he also spoke about therapy which I thought was really great to hear.
Are there any more festival performances in the works for Chrysalis?
Nothing that I’ve heard of so far. We are hoping to one day return to Boston Calling, hopefully on a bigger stage. Chrysalis is super talented and will get offers as they come.
What other projects do you have going on?
My other project is my band Main Era, a noise rock band. It’s a very different vibe from Chrysalis, but I’m super passionate about it.
