Band Bio
Not A Part Of It, from Portland, Oregon, is a Punk Rock barrage, dedicated to sharing their worldview through their dynamic songwriting, with lyrics that range from idealistically political to poetically prosaic, and everything in between.
Not A Part Of It consists of songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Jason Burton; bassist/vocalist Skot Free; and drummer Thomas Vanderpol.
The musicians are accomplished in their own right, having been members of such bands as New York hardcore legends Murphy’s Law, Portland Punk Rock legends Poison Idea, plus Dying For It, Enact, and Dun Bin Had, to name just a few. Not A Part Of It formed in February, 2014 and within two weeks, they embarked on their first tour and have been performing, writing, and recording ever since (except for a hiatus due to that pandemic thing we all went through).
To date, the band has completed numerous U.S. tours, sharing stages with acts such as, U.K. Subs, Conflict, Angry Samoans, Dwarves, D.O.A, Leftover Crack, MDC, D.R.I, Dr. Know, Sloppy Seconds, Oi Polloi, and more. They have recorded two full length albums, “Don’t Let the Bastards Down” (2015) and “The Nine Lives Of The Night Life” (2017), plus a track which was included on a 4-way split 7” with D.O.A, Dwarves, and Potbelly-all released on the band’s own Act Out! Records label.
Prior to the pandemic, while busy recording a third full-length album, the band completed a coast to coast national tour promoting their newest EP, a three-song 7″ entitled “Defiant Indifference”. This EP was released by N7E Records and features artwork and layout by Paul Russel, creator of the iconic Screeching Weasel logo and art designer of the seminal X-Box game, Halo.
At the moment Not A Part Of It is working on 3 recording projects. One features drums and production by Steven “Thee Slayer Hippy” Hanford of Poison Idea, whose tragic passing occurred during production of the record. The second, the band began work on in 2018, until progress was halted by tours, other record releases, and the Covid pandemic. The third is currently in the tracking phase and features the band’s current lineup.