Columbus’ resident merry pranksters, We Are The Movies, are back in the studio recording the follow-up to their sophomore EP “Get Busy Living“.

In between a few of the members welcoming children into the world, releasing “Get Busy Living” and doing a mini-tour to the far reaches of Alaska, the genesis of new material began to take shape.

I sat down with Bryan Overholt (drums), Dan McMillan (guitar), Mike O’Leary (guitar/vocals), Stephen Goldstein (bass) and Tim Waters (vocals/guitar) in Radio City Records (in the Waters’ home) to chat about the many facets of the band and find out what’s ahead for the band in 2017.

With the band tasked with playing in Anchorage, Alaska for the Van’s Warped Tour in the summer of 2016, McMillan made the decision to stay in Columbus awaiting the birth of his first child.

“We’re like ‘dude, we’ll go in 2017’,” said Waters. Wherein I then asked if they did indeed pass on playing in the far north. “Oh no, we went,” he continued, as the rest of the band began laughing.

Photo courtesy of We Are The Movies

In Alaska, they opened for Sum 41, Reel Big Fish, State Champs, Yellowcard and Crown the Empire.

“We didn’t just play Warped Tour,” said O’Leary. “We played five shows in four days, all in Anchorage.”

“We did this signing,” Waters said, “and I was so scared that nobody was going to show up. I mean, we’re not anybody… especially in Alaska. But 150 kids were there and we were signing posters for like an hour and a half!”

What might not be visible on the surface, is that the members of the band treat all the fans as someone special. And this endears them to their fans.

“And then they all came and hung out with us at our (merchandise) tent,” said Goldstein. “There was pretty much a line at our tent all day. We pretty much outsold the other bands that were there.”

“Not to sound dickish,” said Waters, “but, we hustled.”

They blend raw punk energy with catchy pop hooks, and combine that with a bit of street hustle. The end result is a poignant message that resonates within the angst-ridden times in which we find ourselves.

They’re fine-tuning new songs for their upcoming EP, scheduled for a May 2017 release. Almost a companion piece to “Get Busy Living“, it’s tentatively titled “Or, Get Busy Dying.”

“We basically just always throwing around ideas,” said Waters, “so when you look at the list, those are just songs that we have at some phase of being written to go on the album that we’re doing.

“We’re going into the studio on March 3, 4 and 5 to record the new record,” he said.

They did find time to record their ode to the 2016 Election last November. (Ed. – the lyrics are NSFW)

Although they say that they’re just recording an EP, they believe they will have many more songs than are required. This leads to the possibility that there will be even more new music from the band released later in 2017.

We Are The Movies are poised to get their fans excited with the prospect of new songs from the pop-punksters. With a new slate of songs (and possibly more), be prepared to get up and dance till the very last song.

In short, 2017 is shaping up to be a busy, fun-filled year for both the band and their fans.

“We want our music to be on a professional level,” said Waters, “where we can hang with the big guys. That’s our goal, and we’re working on that.”

For a self-described “bunch of dudes playing pop-punk”, these guys are the real deal.

From their sophomore EP, here’s “Always the Rule (Never the Exception)”