This Legend Feeling Out Tour Life, Dropping Debut Record in November
by Tim Wenger
It could be said that newly-founded California pop-punkers This Legend is a band born with luck on their side. Cyber Tracks Records founders Aaron “El Hefe” and Jennifer Abeyta put front man Chris Castillo in touch with former Yellowcard members Ben Harper and LP (Longineu Parsons III) after finding the music of the group Castillo was with at the time, Stanley and the Search.
A lucky connection, though immediate attention from someone as well-known as El Hefe (he also plays guitar in NOFX) was earned because each member of the band has paid their dues in other groups. “I used to play in local bands in LA since high school,” says Castillo. “I left my most recent band and Hefe and Jenn hit me up. They had found my old band’s music and wanted to help me. On the other side, they had been talking to Ben and (bassist) Steven (Neufeld).”
The two parties bonded immediately and started This Legend, wasting no time putting the new project on the front burner. “We already have a record recorded, social media up, photo shoots, camaraderie, trust. Oh, and 53 tour dates,” says Harper, the band’s lead guitarist, with a laugh.
It seems to be going well, as the group’s Facebook page is up over 18,000 likes already. Quite the feat, seeing that many bands struggle to get to 1,000. “The kids at the shows seem to dig our music,” says Castillo. “Especially since we don’t have any music out at all, you can’t even listen to anything online.” Castillo had never met the other guys in the band until he was introduced through El Hefe, while the remainder of the band are long-time friends. They got to work immediately writing and recording the album and laying it down at The Panda Studios in Fremont, California with Sam Pura. The release will be a full-length, written before Castillo had really gotten the chance to know the other band members very well.
“I was nervous, but we meshed really well,” says Castillo. “We’ve only known each other now for five months. The songs come out real natural, it’s not hard at all to write with these guys. We wrote an album in two weeks.”
The guys feel that their style of pop-punk is much more mature than other projects the members have been in, representing where they are in their lives now instead of singing songs that were written years ago.
The debut album will drop in November on Cyber Tracks, finally giving the fans This Legend is accumulating at their live shows a chance to get to know their music and be able to sing along at the next show. For now, they are out on the road honing their chops as a band and working out any kinks that come up. “This is our tour where we can see how much gas is, how we do in a van together, how we do as a van together,” says Harper. Although a very separate entity, the guys are also curious about how many Yellowcard fans will come check them out. “How many Yellowcard fans will come check out LP’s new band and whatever. The good news is, we’re going to have music out and be a band that already has a fan base when we come back. It’ll be cool to see what it’s like.”
Having label support right from the start is helping the guys out, both physically with the album and distro as well as back-end emotional support. “We’re definitely stoked to have Cyber Tracks behind this and all their distribution,” says Castillo. “I’m pumped to know that there is going to be a lot more people listening to what I’m writing, rather than me just sitting in Los Angeles with the few people that come to the shows. Knowing now that the caliber is much different, it’s kind of exciting.”
Grab the album, learn the words, and then catch This Legend alongside punk rock heavy hitters Lagwagon and Swingin’ Utters on December 11 at Summit Music Hall.
Online: facebook.com/thislegendmusic
Category: National News
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