I first encountered OutWest back in March at a warehouse show in the middle of South Los Angeles. They arrived slightly late to their set, both of them adorned in full-on Western garb, brandishing ten-gallon hats, bolo ties, and cowboy boots to match. It was a lineup full of emo and alternative rap acts, and they stood out wildly from the kids in fishnets, ripped bondage pants, and band tees. After taking the stage to a soundtrack of a galloping horse and someone moaning, “Ride fast cowboys,” the performance was not quite like anything I’ve ever seen before, a combination of post-punk, outlaw country, and hip-hop into a single sound. Whatever these SoundCloud cowboys were doing, it worked.

ADVERTISEMENT

OutWest is Dillon Pisciotti and Ryan Riffenburgh, two 18-year-old recent high school graduates who also record solo as Gravelust and Racecar. Hailing from coastal Ventura, California, they’ve known one another since middle school, but got particularly close during their freshman year. Gravelust focused on punk music while Racecar made rap, but it was all experimental. “Racecar made this super weird stuff,” Gravelust explains, “like his voice was lowered and I never heard anything like it. We were young, and no one else in Ventura does that shit. Everyone else is in, like, surf rock bands.”

