Welcome back to Meet My Friends—our in-depth interviews with city kids who carry NYC in their hearts, no matter where life takes them.
A Note from FFNY
Welcome back to Meet My Friends, our series spotlighting the made in NYC creatives who carry the spirit of NYC in everything they do.
This week, we’re sitting down with Jordan Galland—a musician, filmmaker, and true NYC original.
Raised in the city’s endless swirl of music, art, and late-night adventure, Jordan’s creative path has always been tied to the energy of New York City.
People are always fascinated by true Manhattanites—raised in the concrete jungle where the streets forever shape the way you move through the world.
Uptown, downtown, public school, private school—no matter where you came from on this island, the goal was always the same:
Be out, find your tribe, make moves.
Jordan Galland is all this.
NYC isn’t just a backdrop in his life—it’s a character in his work, always present, always shaping the story.
Like all true city kids, he’s navigated many a nook and cranny of this town, and in this interview, we get into it all.
His journey reminds me of the incredible work by our friends at the
Shawn Regruto Cinematic Foundation (SRCF)—an initiative dedicated to supporting New York-born, based, and inspired filmmakers.
Created in memory of Shawn Regruto—our friend, filmmaker, mentor, and community builder who spent 15 years leading Writers’ Group that helped creatives find their voices every week—the foundation provides grants, fellowships, and community-building opportunities for independent storytellers.
Right now, the first $10K Grant is open for NY filmmakers—so if you have a story to tell, send in your concept and make your NYC film happen! Apply here.
Now, onto our walk down memory lane—while always looking ahead—with Jordan Galland.
What were your favorite things to do as a kid in NYC? Any daily rituals that stand out?
When I was six years old, one of my favorite things was riding my bike over the bumps In Washington Square Park that are now covered in green turf, but used to be cracked cement.
When I was twelve, my parents let me use their Minolta camera, and I would take long walks alone, taking pictures of buildings and strangers.
I had an upstairs neighbor who was a professional photographer, who gave me access to his darkroom as long as I brought my own chemicals, so I would spend hours and hours developing and printing there.
I loved hanging on 23rd street, between 7 and 8th, because that one block had everything: an arcade, a movie theater, a comic store, a guitar store, and two diners. I also loved wandering through Central Park with friends after school and as well as excursions to Pearl Paint for art supplies.
As a teenager, where did you hang out and find your people?
There wasn’t a specific place at first. When I was 13, I snuck into fashion shows in Bryant Park to take pictures in the front, “the pit,” I think it’s called, where the professional photographers all line up by the catwalk.
The older photographers had credentials, but since I had the camera around my neck, no one was checking if I had the press tag.
I’d get invited to after parties, where I made friends, and by the time I was 15, I’d become pals with a 19 year old painter, Dustin Yellin, through this scene.
He let me use a corner of his loft in Chelsea, which became a gathering place where I painted people’s portraits and recorded music and made friends with interesting artists and musicians, like Ernesto Caivano, Ben Lee, and even Evan Dando.
But when I was 17, I became friends with a different group of musicians who hung out at a music studio on Broome Street and I spent more time there.
I’d tag along with them to CBGB’s, and KGB bar. I also spent a lot of time at Spy Bar, because I was teaching guitar to one of the owners, so they’d always let me in, even though I was probably the youngest person there. I remember practicing presentations for history class to older friends at the bar who were amused that I was hanging out.
My parents were always worried about me and often calling people to find out where I was but I still did well in school so I somehow maintained a balance of freedom and discipline.
I was often sleep deprived and it terrifies me to imagine my daughter following in my footsteps when she’s older, but that’s how life goes, I guess.
FFNY started as a dance party. What’s an unforgettable night from going out that you can remember?
I was lucky enough to have too many unforgettable nights to detail here, but I remember being 16 and going to see the Lemonheads at Tramp’s, and because I was kinda friends with Evan Dando, I got to go backstage and somehow ended up being the last person in the room at an after party with Dando, Iggy Pop, Kate Moss, and Johnny Depp.
I just sat quietly in awe of them. As we left the after party, saying goodnight, I was planning to go home until I found Johnny Depp holding the limousine door open for me saying, “Get in.”
I didn’t hesitate, but once I was in the limo, I think my tipsiness betrayed my underage-ness, and when we got out of the limo to go into Kate Moss’s house, Depp politely asked me to go home because it was a “school night” and because they were going to do “adult things.”
Needless to say, when I was sitting in math class the next day, I couldn’t wait to tell my schoolmates where I had been four hours earlier.
Another very memorable night for me, was EVERY Thursday night at Don Hills when Frankie was DJ-ing, but especially one Thursday when Frankie invited my band Dopo Yume to perform to the packed house and we did some 80s covers with Frankie joining us on guitar: “White Wedding,” “Rock The Casbah,” and “Surrender.”
Pre cell phone how did people find each other and know where to go what to do?
Good question. Sometimes I can’t even remember how I knew anything before I could google it. Payphones were very helpful. I had a notebook with telephone numbers from anyone I met.
I remember calling people to invite them to my concerts and handing out flyers wherever I went. I would often just go to the spots I thought friends might be at. More often, back then, if you vaguely recognized someone, you said hello and could sit down with them, because recognizing them meant you’d seen each other in person before.
As opposed to recognizing someone from social media, and not necessarily feeling comfortable saying hello in person.
Art has always thrived in NYC. Can you recall the first art show you went to?
I wanted to be a painter, but the only painters I knew of were long dead and mostly made political or religious images. Or they were emotionally tortured and starving artists.
When I was 12, my older brother took me to a Jim Dine show at a gallery in Soho, and the artist was there, and he wasn’t starving, and in fact looked pretty healthy.
I remember thinking, this is cool, you can be a painter in the context of art galleries, not just churches, restaurants, and hotels.
But I didn’t know any professional artists personally, so it still felt distant.
Then a new friend I made when I started high school invited me to her dad’s art show, which was a group show, a fundraiser for Tibet, and not only did I get to hang out with real artists and talk to them about the realities of being an artist in modern society, but also David Bowie was there, so I got to meet him and the whole experience blew my mind.
Are there any up-and-coming artists you’re particularly taken by these days?
A film director I’m very excited about is Jane Schoenbrun, who made two eerie, completely original, but also hauntingly nostalgic features “We are All Going to the World Fair” (2012) and “I saw the TV glow.” (2024).
I’ve been really loving Joanna Sternberg’s music. They recently had a concert in December at Bowery Ballroom that included a group of singer/songwriters like Maya Luz and the multitalented Michael Leviton and it’s great to see a community of artists coming together like that, to support each other.
Another of my favorite NYC-based songwriters that I always have to shout out is James Levy. He’s a contemporary of mine, and he’s constantly putting out really great music.
A fun, high-energy new band I love is Puzzled Panther.
In off-Broadway theater, I’ve been constantly impressed by the work of ThirdWing Theater Company.
How has your approach to creating evolved from your 20s to your 40s?
I used to finish things faster and feel good about almost everything I completed, now I’m much slower and am very wary of releasing something into the world before it’s had proper time to gestate, before I know why I’m doing it.
Where do you still find inspiration in the city?
Almost everywhere. I’ve started taking long walks with my camera again, and I’m always surprised how dynamic the city is at night.
What advice would you offer creatives starting out in NYC today?
Don’t follow trends, and let the city be a labyrinth that you continue to explore without trying to solve the maze, just get lost and enjoy it.
What does being a New Yorker mean to you, and why do you think it connects with people everywhere?
It means being around different human beings every day.
Interacting with strangers and weirdos and always seeing their humanity.
It means letting yourself take risks in art and in life, going against the grain, while also remembering your place in a community, so don’t do something that could injure someone else.
It means being connected to a great history of art and science and culture, from Thelonious Monk, Kerouac, James Baldwin to Brando and Broadway, to Tesla to the Mafia to Joan Didion and Patti Smith.
If you could only eat at one NYC restaurant for the rest of your life, which spot would you choose?
A place that is gone that I ate many meals at was Lucky Strike. But still existing: John’s Pizza and Elephant and Castle.
What’s your favorite NYC movie, and why does it resonate with you?
There are like 20 movies that rotate the top spot on a daily basis, so I’ll just mention three comedies that are maybe less renowned than others.
The Day Trippers (1997) which has an incredible performance by Anne Meara and captures the essence of wintry downtown NYC adventures in 90s.
Who’s That Girl (1987) in which Madonna plays a falsely convicted street smart girl with a high pitched voice and strong NY accent that gets released from prison and is assigned to be escorted for the day by Griffin Dunne, a buttoned up businessman who’s about to get married. It’s a madcap romp through the city that involves a gangsters and a cougar.
Finally, Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) which is one of the funniest Hugh Grant comedies, but has a special place in my heart, because it’s where I first saw John Ventimiglia, who become more widely known as Artie Bucco in Sopranos, and is an actor I was fortunate enough to work with on three of my films.
What’s the soundtrack of your NYC life? Is there one song or album that forever plays in your memories of the city?
I think Naughty By Nature will always remind me of those first days when I was able to wander the streets alone, or with friends, when I had my first “alone time” with the city.
I grew up with older brothers who would exercise to “Modern Love” by David Bowie, so that echoes in my head on sunny days, and on rainy days, I hear the Sundaes, Mazzy Star and Cowboy Junkies.
If you could sit down and have a conversation with one legendary New Yorker who would it be and what would you talk about?
I would wanna sit down with David Bowie and talk to him about fatherhood.
What do you hope NYC looks like in 10 years?
I hope we slow down or halt building ugly sky scrapers while continuing putting money into shared public spaces like the Highline, and other parks.
I loved the vision expressed 15 years ago in the MoMa exhibition: Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront, which factored in the rising sea levels, adapting “soft” infrastructures that include plants and seaweed into new architecture.
If you could bring back one Ma and pop shop that has been lost which would it be?
Kim’s Video. Rocks in your Head record store.
Any up and coming projects you are excited to share w us?
I've been doing some work in front of the camera, acting, so you can see me in Isabel Hagen's upcoming NYC indie feature film "On a String.”
I also have three new feature film scripts at various stages of development to direct and a new record of original songs that’s in preproduction.
And my 14 min doc “DopoYuMemories” that I made during the covid lockdown, which premiered at some festivals in 2023 is finally done with it’s run behind a Vimeo paywall and is now available for free on instagram @Dopoyumemories and my YouTube: Dopo YuMemories
We’re called “Friends From New York,” so I have to ask: Who’s someone you’d like to shout out for being an incredible friend in your life? Someone who’s always been there, someone who inspires you, or someone you just want to thank for being rad.
A friend I’ve had since I was in Kindergarten, a talented poet, Monique Ericson, who just launched an art magazine, LonesomePress that holds cool events around NYC.
Elizabeth Decoursey, who is a more recent friend that owns and operates the Antidote Outpost Apothecary, a medicine garden in Brooklyn, which, when the whether is warm, holds outdoor concerts, which she kindly invites me to play at.
