Mainland - "Leave The Lights On"

The video for "Leave The Lights On" has New York City transplants Mainland breezily zipping around the city proper on skateboards with the languid ease of adolescents everywhere.  There is something captivating about the grainy home movie quality of the video set against a summery cityscape with the quartet hitting Eight Avenue, hanging out by the Hudson River and meeting up with some unintentional costars along the way.  The song itself has a certain retro quality with the angst of the 80's alt bands that defined my youth (think the Pixies) and the rock out energy of a punk band, a genre that Mainland has appropriately coined as "puke-up punk."

Mainland came to be through an eclectic music collection, a rehearsal space under the Manhattan Bridge and a spontaneous recording session with Jim Eno of Spoon.  The NYC by way of California band consists of enigmatic frontman Jordan Topf, who also plays guitar and synths, Corey Mullee on lead guitar and synths, Alex Pitta on bass and Dylan Longstreet on drums.  "Leave the Lights On" is a track from their second EP, Shiner, which debuted with the title track "Shiner."  As a follow up to their first EP, Girls Unknown, Mainland has secured a name for themselves in the local music scene, and the word is starting to spread. Two more video installments chronicling life in the city will be released this summer.  Can't wait to see what else the boys have in store!

Mainland on Facebook

WERU Volunteer Q&A with Pip

Pip is not only the daughter half of WERU's only mother and daughter programmer duo, but at 15, she is also the youngest programmer at WERU.  (Youngest programmer ever status goes to WERU's own Matt Murphy circa 1990's!) Every Saturday from 8 to 10PM, you can tune in to WERU FM to hear Pip host her show The Junk Drawer. It is no surprise to those who know her that Pip is a ground breaker.  From her varied interests to her eclectic taste in music, Pip has always gone her own way!
Where are you originally from?  I'm from Virginia.
How long have you been in Belfast?  8 years, I believe.
What is your favorite thing about Maine?  It's so spacious and relaxing.  It's very peaceful and a beautiful state.
Tell readers a little about your family.  It's small!  I live with my mother and father, as well as my two cats Kip and Fern!
How long have you been volunteers at WERU?  2 years!
How did you become interested in becoming on air programmers?  My mother won a contest to get to sit in on Departure (Friday's 6 to 8PM), and she thought I would enjoy it!  I did, and it got me very interested in volunteering at the station.
Describe The Junk Drawer.  A large mess of various genres of music ranging from indie to pop to alt rock to folk and everything in between!
How did you get the nickname Pip?  At my school there was someone who had the same name as me. Being the new kid, I had to give myself a nickname, and I ended up going with Pip.
What other volunteer activities have you participated in at WERU?  I've done quite a bit of phone answering, as well as always being happy to bring food in during the pledge drives and co-hosting on other people's shows!
Favorite bands?  Favorite genre of music?  I love a lot of genres (as you can tell by my music selections) but some current favorite bands would be Matryoshka, Bastille, Daft Punk, My Chemical Romance and Andrew Jackson Jihad! 
First LP or CD?  I can't say I remember my first LP/CD, but I do remember always loving Jack Johnson and Five for Fighting.
What was the first band you saw in concert?  Jason Mraz!
Tell us about school.  What is an average school day like for you? My school is nice !  It's very small though.  I get up around 8:30AM and get dressed before walking to school.  I have a silent sustained reading session each morning for a half hour and then I have my first class until 11:50AM.  After that, I have lunch and study hall or my language course.  My current classes are American history and literature, math, Japanese, photography, and costume design and construction.
What would you like to do after you graduate?  I would love to go to Maine College of Art!  I love art, especially graphic illustration as well as costuming, and MECA has great courses for both of those interests!
What hobbies and interests do you have outside of music?   I love making costumes (or cosplays) and going to conventions around New England!  I also love to draw on my laptop with an online program called Paint Tool Sai.
Explain what cosplay is all about.  Cosplay is a very popular, more professional version of Halloween in a way.  People construct costumes of their favorite anime/video game/comic book/television show character and then wear it to these big anime or comic conventions!  If you've heard of New York or San Diego Comic Con, it's like that!  It's incredible what people are able to create, and I'm very lucky to be part of the community!
Who is your favorite anime character?  My favorite anime character has to be either Shinji Ikari from the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or Madoka Kaname from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series.
Favorite food?  Probably pizza!
Favorite book?  The Warriors series has always had a place in my heart, as well as the Inkheart series.
Favorite movie?  End of Evangelion
Favorite holiday and why?  Probably Thanksgiving!  Everyone is always happy and there's great food.
If you could have any super power, what would it be?  The ability to control time would be really, really cool!
If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be?  I think Japan would be really fun to visit!
What would people be surprised to know about you?  I don't think many listeners know that I'm only 15!
If you could describe your mom, Holly, in 3 words, what would they be?  Fun, Kind, Loving!

The Junk Drawer on WERU