New England six-piece pop-rock group Copilot is performing on the final day of Boston Calling Music Festival 2025. Members Maggie Hall, Ry McDonald, Jake Machell, Dylan Allwine, Austin Beveridge, and Jack Snow create a joyous blend of dynamic harmonies and groovy instrumentals made to be performed live. Ahead of their largest show to date, vocalists Hall, McDonald, and Machell sat down with Following Boston correspondent Samantha Davidson to chat about their creative process and preview their set.

Note: Questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity

Following Boston: This past year, you guys were nominated at the Boston Music Awards and performed at the Boston Music Awards, and now you're about to perform at Boston Calling. Do you recall a moment or memory when you first realized that your work was resonating with your audience and having an impact in the way that you intended?

Ry McDonald: The first Brighton Music Hall and then Levitate. Those were two big moments where I was like, "This is really fun and cool."

Jake Machell: I think it was probably Levitate for me. We'd been grinding as the full unit for about half a decade, and we got our first big festival nod. It's a festival that we all look forward to attending. We were the fan submission, so we were the opening act. I didn't know what to expect because I'd never played a festival. I thought, "Oh, people are going to walk through to get to the front row of their favorite stage to get ready for their favorite band." Obviously people are waiting up front for Brandi Carlile all day on the main stage. By the third song, the whole field in front of the opener stage was full front to back. That was unbelievably cool. Like, "We might be onto something here."

Maggie Hall: I think we're all at the same place where we're like, "Hey guys, we've absolutely nothing to lose here. Let's just be ourselves." When we were at the BMAs as first-time performers and first-time nominees, that was a really cool moment because, again, all these people who are nominated are people we admire. We've been working hard, but I think it's nice to have little nods. That helps us confidence-wise. Boston Calling is incredible, but it definitely goes back to Levitate. That was a really cool moment where we were just ourselves, and it was like, "This is being received pretty okay."

RM: Also one of our Sofar Sounds shows. It was one of the first times we got to play in an imitate setting playing our own music. Really feeling Maggie crush a vocal. It was a cool moment.

FB: I love the punchy Americana pop and rock sound on the Vroom, Vroom, etc. EP. What does the creative process look like when deciding who will take the lead, what the harmonies will sound like, and what instrumental groove you want to propel the song?

JM: It's very much a communal effort. Whoever brings the original idea is generally the person who will sing on the track. Then, we'll figure out whose voice fits the style of the song. Writing background vocals is an accepted and beloved job by the two singers who aren't singing the main melody. It's like, "Okay, do we want this to be a full three-part harmony through the track? Do we want to do some cool, old-school backing vocals, like a call and response? Or do we want moments to let the main melody and singer breathe throughout the song?" That becomes a blast. It's like science.
It's a ton of fun.

MH: I agree. I love singing with these two boys. They're two of my best friends. I think we have a good sense of reading each other. We have a good sense of where each other wants to go. Everyone's flexible, too. We're always willing to hear each other out. Sometimes, background vocals can add a different touch to the song or a different vibe. It's just a blast.

FB: I saw the video that Ry took breaking the Boston Calling news to the rest of the band at one of these rehearsals. How did you all celebrate the news?

MH: It was a wild night. We were planning to meet anyway for rehearsal. Ry Fortunately had the secret news. I think we all hugged it out. I think the celebration will probably be enjoying that day together with people who have been there from the start. Like people who do sound with us. A lot of this journey for us is having these friendships that we've had with people forever.

JM: Every year, we go over our goals, and one of the big ones was obviously to play Boston calling. I always felt like it was attainable, but it did feel like one of our large step goals. To hit that collectively and get the news all together was very much like a lightning bolt of excitement. Then, immediately, we switched to "Let's get to work on hammering out something worthy of our fans who are going to be there listening to us." It's right into rehearsal to make sure we bring people this electric, well-thought, and rehearsed show because that's important to us. We're there because people have shown us a lot of love over the years, and we want to make sure they get what's best when we get on the stage. We celebrated by getting right to work on the set.

FB: That's a great segue. If someone is tuning in to Copilot for the first time, why should they check out your set at the festival? What can fans expect from this live performance?

RM: Let Maggie cook! You can let Jack Miller cook, you know, it's great. Jack is our lead guitar player, and he's just amazing. He's writing melodies on the guitar in real-time; he's the fourth vocalist in the group. Every time we play a show, he's putting something in.

FB: What are your can't-miss set recommendations for the festival, aside from Copilot, of course? Are there any artists you're excited to see? Anyone you're a fan of?

JM: Our favorite artist at the festival, our set times line up perfectly with each other. We're playing at the same time as Remi Wolf. We understand if you're not seeing Copilot to go see Remi Wolf. Try to split your time between the two of us because we know how incredible she is.

RM: I'm a big Vampire Weekend fan, and obviously Dave Matthews Band. T-Pain is incredible.

JM: T-Pain is unreal. That's a must-see set, in my opinion. Latrell's playing, correct?

RM: Latrell James was at High Street Place with us. He's great. The Black Crowes are a classic.

MH: Sheryl's incredible.

JM:
The icon, Sheryl Crow.

FB: Love it. I hope you run into Remi backstage.

MH: Seriously!

JM: Man, I would turn into a puddle right on the spot.

Buy tickets to the festival here to catch Copilot on the Orange Stage from 5:15-5:55pm on Sunday.