After the release of their new single “Bury Me,” local band We Are the Movies is back and ready to drop knowledge on up-and-coming artists.
The band, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Tim Waters, guitarist Dan McMillan, drummer Bryan Overholt and bassist Stephen Goldstein, said they hope to offer insight to new artists as they navigate Columbus’ music scene.
Overholt said the band formed in 2011, with Goldstein and Waters as original members alongside two other artists who later left the group. Overholt joined a year later after he responded to a Craigslist ad Waters posted seeking a new drummer for the band. McMillan joined in 2014.
All of the band’s advice to young musicians centered around the same idea: staying engaged in the music scene while being involved in the community.
Waters said a lot of popular bands — including Columbus’ Grammy-winning duo Twenty One Pilots — formed through the dismantling and restructuring of multiple bands within the music community.
“You might have three guys in Columbus that if they got together, they would create magic. Like that would be your next Twenty One Pilots. But they don’t know each other,” Waters said. “It’s never like, ‘Oh, this group of guys that have been playing music since they were kids together.’ No, it’s like, usually, ‘Well, this big band and this big band broke up and formed this super band.’”
Waters said he believes that it is important for musicians to get involved in their local music scene. He said networking in and navigating the scene helps musicians form new bands and create projects while encouraging collaboration.
“I’ve formed and found quite a few bands just on Craigslist,” Waters said. “It’s just social media. Like that was just the original social media platform for that specific purpose, but now Facebook or whatever.”
The band believes that Columbus has the market to support local artists and help them rise to stardom comparable to that of Twenty One Pilots. Waters said that with bars and football being staples in Columbus and on campus, bands can easily find places to perform.
Although the city can provide the exposure up-and-coming bands need, Goldstein admitted that Columbus’ music market is “strange.”
“Columbus is also just a very strange market because it’s so driven by college and education and sports,” Goldstein said. “There’s all these people here for a certain reason, so it’s trying to break that or getting it into those places.”
Waters said that those in the Columbus music scene must collectively decide to move the city’s market towards musicians. He said that although the city competes with Cleveland and Cincinnati for popular performers to hold concerts, Columbus can provide an environment that would allow those artists in.
Waters also emphasized that people can see local bands play in Columbus every day and that the more people who get engaged with local musicians, the more the music scene will be cultivated.
Overholt said he considers We Are the Movies to be mentors in Columbus’ pop-punk scene due to the experience all of the members in the band have.
“Whatever advice we can give to younger bands, we’re always open to that and always open to collaborating with them as well,” Overholt said.
We Are the Movies’ music can be found on all streaming platforms.
