Mainland Reflects On New York’s Great Outsiders With Its New Single, ‘Outcast’
The pop-punk garage band Mainland may have called New York City home for years now, but still don’t quite consider themselves to be insiders. In fact, the bandmembers (singer/guitarist Jordan Topf, bassist Alex Pitta, lead guitarist and drummer Dylan Longstreet) have roots stemming from California, Texas, and across the country that helped influence the sound and meaning of their new single, “Outcast.”
We asked band leader Topf and the rest of Mainland on who they consider to be New York’s artistic outsiders–photographers, musicians, artists–as we premiere their newest single, “Outcast.” Their answers and the single below.
Cindy Sherman: “She says she first started to taking self portraits because even the idea of having others take her photo made her uncomfortable. She’s an outcast from herself and it’s amazing the way she finds her home in disguises, inhabiting different characters in every frame.”
David Byrne: “He was a choir reject and an art school dropout. He made some of the coolest, and weirdest and most memorable songs of the ’70s and ’80s and never stopped pushing at the edges of popular music.”
Ryan McGinely: “Ryan was such an outcast among photographers when he first started, by not portraying overtly perfect images, but their beautiful imperfections. He created his own style and others started following in his footsteps.”
Ratking: “We played a DIY show in a Chinatown gallery/bar with Ratking back when we first started. They’ve always been outcasts of the hip-hop scene in New York. One particular reason is they don’t sugarcoat their lyrics, and we respect that.”
Jenna Putnam: “She’s a close friend and actually introduced us to our bass player Alex Pitta. Her photographs are pretty unique and she always does her own thing. She found a muse in Canadian-born model Nola Palmer among others and collaborates frequently with non conventional types. Jenna creates this duality of raw old school New York and grace that together no one else is doing right now.”
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