It is going to be a busy summer for the North Carolina based He Is Legend.  From a summer tour spanning from late June through early August to a new record entitled It Hates You now scheduled for a July 21st release date, He Is Legend prepare for yet another new chapter in their story.

 

He Is Legend comprised vocalist Schuylar Croom, Adam Tanbouz on guitar, bassist Matt Williams and drummer Steven Bache were filled with nervous energy at the time of this interview in anticipation of the new record.  It was obvious from speaking with Croom that the band was excited for their new endeavor.  We here at PUM had an opportunity to preview a rough version of It Hates You, and it's everything a He Is Legend fan can expect from the band.  It'is gritty rock and roll, topped with angst, melodics, dark corners, and even a little redemption.  While Croom notes that his band has always been "darker" in nature, the new record ultimately has more of a rock and roll vibe than the previous efforts.

 

Croom gave Popular Underground an overview of It Hates You, including a how the band's good friend and Filter guitarist, Mitch Marlow got placed at the production helm for the new record. 

 

PUM: You guys aren’t on tour right now.  What are you up to?

 

Schuylar Croom: No, we’re at home right now.  We were on tour for like two weeks, but we’re at home now waiting for the next tour.

 

PUM: How was that two weeks?  Have you been playing some of the new songs?

 

Croom: Yeah, we’ve been playing some new tunes.  The tour was awesome.  It was at smaller venues with local bands so that was kind of interesting, but we had a blast. 

 

PUM: How’s the response been to the new songs from fans?

 

Croom: Our fans are great man.  Everybody has been real cool with it.  We’ve been playing some that haven’t even been on the Myspace and totally getting a good response off those as well.  It’s going awesome.

 

PUM: Tell me a little bit about the new record.  The press kit talks a little bit about it not being as “doom and gloom,” yet still somewhat dark.

 

Croom: We’ve always been kind of a dark band, like we’ve just been into darker rock and roll.  I feel like we stayed true to our roots in that sense.  It’s a little more rock and roll then we’ve ever gone.  We’ve always been a very rock and roll live band, but this is kind of true to both aspects of He Is Legend; the real gritty rock and roll sound that we bring live with our kind of theatrical records.

 

PUM: Lyrically, what are some of the topics you are tackling?

 

Croom: I think the record itself came out of everything we’ve been through, everything negative that happens or kind of a fuck you to our own music.  I don’t know if that makes sense.

 

PUM: Who produced the record?

 

Croom: My buddy Mitch who plays guitar in Filter now.  He and his buddy Al who own Warrior Sound in Chapel Hill [North Carolina].  Almost all of our friends live up there.  It’s such a good spot to record. 

 

PUM: How did you guys get hooked up with him?

 

Croom: [Mitch] played guitar in the band Classic Case that we toured with a lot.  You know man; it’s kind of the old token road band story.  Then he toured with us.  He went to Europe and Australia with us.  You know, the tour we did will Killswitch [Engage].  It was just really big times for us.  It’s just that kinship that came out of that with living so closely in nowhere and he’s a weirdo and I guess we gravitate toward weirdees.

 

PUM: Was there anything that came out of the recording process that you guys learned or took away from it all?

 

Croom: Yeah, I think you need to record where you are comfortable.  That’s a big lesson that we learned.  I think when you’re excited about the people that you’re working with that’s going to show.  It’s going to come through in your sound.  I think just think that we were all in the woods in North Carolina with really close friends, all of that together brings out the good in that situation.  We have nothing but good things about this recording process.  Just kind of doing it like DIY pretty much and just going and hanging with our friends.  I think that’s the best way to get music out. 

 

PUM: What are some of your favorite songs off the new record and why?

 

Croom: For me personally “Everyone I Know Has Fangs” is the one that runs around in my head when I’m not thinking of anything.  Just good rock and roll, catchy, I love playing that song and I love playing it live.  I think we all feel the same.  There’s a song on there called “Futures Bright” that’s pretty loud.  I don’t know, the whole record is pretty loud so it’s mixed to be played loud.  I think all the songs stand out.  I’m bias.

 

PUM: Upon the release of It Hates You, what sort of goals do you guys have for He Is Legend?

 

Croom: Our goal really was to write a new record and put it out.  Whatever comes from it will be part of the wave.  Our goal was to make this record and we made the record that we wanted to make.  Whatever happens… I could say, “Yeah, I want to play the Grammy’s, that’s my goal!” Then I would seem like the very unrealistic dude.

 

PUM: A few years back when I had interviewed M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, he flat out told me his goal was to be the biggest band in the world and at the time that comment floored me because he was the first person to really even admit that to me in an interview.

 

Croom: Biggest band in the world? I would take it man!  I can’t say that we would deserve something like that.  Whatever.  Yeah, give me U2 status, I’ll fly on an airplane to play and shake my ass in front of kids wherever.

 

PUM: Tell me a little bit about your musical influences that are reflected in what you do now.

 

Croom: We definitely as a whole are influenced by Queens of the Stone Age, Pantera, Pink Floyd and stuff like that.  Nirvana, The Deftones; just bands that we grew up with.  We all listen to a lot of crazy stuff.  Our main influence is mainly more of the 90’s rock.

 

PUM: You said you were currently at home and right now you’re waiting for the record to come out.  What keeps you busy when you’re not on the road?

 

Croom: Nervous energy.  I try to get jobs like working in the art department.  I work with a friend of mine and working for productions around here.  Steve works in a popcorn store.  Adam was rolling burritos.  You can barely get a job when you’re waiting to play shows and what not.

 

PUM: So you guys are kind of at a status where you’re known in the industry, but still need jobs to fill the gaps at times?

 

Croom: Yeah of course.  Rock and roll don’t pay the bills my man.

 

PUM: Is there any band that you shared the stage with that you really admired or learned something important from?

 

Croom: Yeah, I think we’re learned from lots of bands we’ve toured with.  The dudes in Killswitch were some of the nicest guys we’ve ever met.  Classic Case; they were like our brothers.  We’re still really close with all of those people.  Any show that we’ve played with them has just felt like home.  We did like four shows with Sevendust and that was a band that I first saw when I was in high school.  We played these four shows with them and we flew from Florida then to California to play a show on New Year’s Eve.  We played a bunch of shows just to get down to Florida with Sevendust.  It was blowing our minds that we were on these shows.  They were huge!  To meet those guys and stand beside them, you know?  It was just amazing. 

 

PUM: You just signed with Tragic Hero Records, how did that come together?

 

Croom: Tommy is a North Carolina boy.  He’s kind of known about us and we’ve known about him.  It just kind of worked.  Once we got off our label and things were in a place where we could make our own decisions we decided to stay close to home and work with friends rather than just go all out.  It makes more sense to stay close to home and work with people you love.

 

PUM: Was the record completed at that time or were you shopping it?

 

Croom: We hadn’t really been shopping it.  We were just making the record, we were doing it in sessions and we’d talk to Tommy and he’d give us advice and what not.  It all panned out the right way.  We knew, but we didn’t really start talking business until the end of whole thing.

 

PUM: You mentioned you were a smoker.  Is it hard to be a smoker and be the vocalist?  Have you ever had any problems?

 

Croom: No.  It’s never bothered me.  I’m sure its effected me, but I don’t think it effects my performance.  I feel like I cough more in the morning than I want to.  It’s not that hard to get up there and sing my ass off.

 

By: Adam Zak III - Senior Editor / Founder