Not Yet! Interview
by Ryan Pangilinan

Remember the first time you heard your first Fat Wreck or Epitaph band? Exciting, right? For me, I embarrassingly heard Pennywise on one those Punk-O-Rama compilations and wanted everyday to be Warped Tour. Hey, I was in high school, cut me a break, aiight? Anyway, Columbus, OH’s Not Yet! sounds like a band that would fit perfectly on one of those old punk rock compilations. Fast and melodic, Not Yet! deftly captures the spirit of young love, making mixtapes, skating through the halls of your school, and shoplifting CDs from Sam Goody.

Not Yet’s debut, “It’s a Small World, Alcohol,” is as punk rock as an EP will get: it’s under ten minutes, ridiculously catchy and fast, and boasts artwork from Liz Prince. Obviously, it was right up my alley, so I got on the horn (email) and bugged singer/guitarist Jose, until he answered my questions in which we geeked out over Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Midwest punk girls.

Totally Crushed Out: How did Not Yet! start?

Jose: I had a written the first half of the EP while in other line-ups/incarnations/whathaveyou of Not Yet! I really loved the songs and thought that they deserved to be heard, as I still do. After nine months of living in Columbus without forming a solid line-up to play the songs, I called up my buddy, Bobby, from New Creases and asked him if he’d be interested in recording and playing drums on an EP before I moved back to California.

It’s a Small World, Alcohol is a breakneck pop-punk record that definitely recalls the heyday of 90s bands. What are some of the bands that influenced the writing for this EP?

Well, the first two songs are about the aftermath of a couple of shows at 924 Gilman, the first being a Pinhead Gunpowder show. So they’re a direct and indirect influence on the sound and content, respectively. There are a few direct references to Green Day’s Insomniac in Westbound Sigh. Crimpshrine, J Church and Lookout-era Screeching Weasel are some other older influences. Quite of few modern pop punk bands influenced the record too. Cincinnati Agony is about how the Dopamines are going to be the death of me. The Copyrights and Dear Landlord are a couple of the biggest influences I have on songwriting these days.
 
As a band, Not Yet! is still relatively new. How has the reception been and if possible, would you want to try to tour full-time?

The reception has been awe-inspiring. Within 24 hours of putting up the EP, I had strangers in Russia posting links to it on blogspots. I mean, they even wrote up a description in Russian and everything. There isn’t really a set line-up for NY! quite yet (how appropriate, right?), so I’m not really sure what’s in store for the immediate future. I would absolutely love to play pop punk songs in basements, bars and backyards full-time, if possible. Hopefully the whole line-up situation is finalized soon and we can do some touring up and down the West Coast this Spring. This Summer I’ll be playing 2nd guitar for Rational Anthem on their full-US tour and we’ll be playing a few Not Yet! tunes every night.

Do you have any plans to record a full-length or more EPs?

It’s probably a little too soon for a full-length. I am probably going to record some songs for split 7”s with Bobby this Summer when I come through Columbus with Rational Anthem.

How awesome are midwest punk girls?

So awesome! I mean, punk girls are awesome pretty much everywhere, but the Midwest is the best place to do cheap, stupid, romantic, punk things. I mean, over there “dinner and a movie” means getting dollar tacos or Coneys at a dive bar, followed by dollar 2nd-run movies and then dumpster-diving for VHS tapes ending the night with fishing cold pizza out of frozen dumpsters, with backpack beers ready at hand all the while.
 
Lastly, the EP reminds me of what I would listen to when I’d go out and skate the mean streets of Seattle. How rad would it be to sync “It’s a Small World…” with Tony Hawk Pro Skater?

This EP wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for THPS! The first verse in Westbound Sigh is about my Millencolin tattoo, and how their song Pepper, which I first heard on the THPS3 CD soundtrack, kind of saved my life (or ruined it) by making that whole punk/music thing click in my head. I remember reading online the THPS games are being re-released, but they couldn’t get the rights to all of the old songs. If anyone at Neversoft or Activision is reading this, feel free to use any of the songs!

Go download Not Yet’s EP at their Bandcamp, like, three weeks ago. You can also find additional info on their Facebook.