This Legend

It’s no surprise that creating a band takes a lot of work, but coming out of previously successful bands and having to start from scratch takes honest passion. For the first time in over ten years, best friends Longineu Parsons III “LP” and Ben Harper, both formerly of Yellowcard, re-united in May, 2014. They enlisted Chris Castillo of 'Stanley and the Search' and Steven Neufeld of 'HeyMike!' to form 'This Legend'.

With a world renowned trumpet player as a dad, it was inevitable that LP would become an unstoppable musician. Starting at the age of two, LP quickly picked up the drums with the help of professionals drum instructors Max Roach and Art Blakey. Fast forward several years, LP would meet soon-to-be best friend and guitarist Ben Harper at Douglas Anderson School of The Arts. The two formed what would become the well known pop-punk band 'Yellowcard' and toured the world together for many years. Harper would later leave Yellowcard to continue his musical endeavors with his self-founded label, Takeover Records. One of his first signings would be 'HeyMike!', a melodic pop/punk band from Camarillo, CA. The band saw moderate success throughout the mid-2000’s with the help of Harper’s guidance. Harper and Neufeld, the band’s singer/guitarist, became close friends during their time working together. Also spawning from the local scene, Castillo caught the attention of NOFX guitarist El Hefe and wife Jen Abeyta, as a talented singer/songwriter.

After LP’s departure from Yellowcard in March of 2014, he partnered with Harper to collaborate again. Unsure of what was to come musically, the duo wanted to lean on El Hefe for advice. El Hefe suggested they begin writing with Castillo. After solidifying a singer, guitarist and drummer, a bassist and backing vocalist was needed. The group enlisted long time friend Neufeld to fill the slot.

2014 would prove to be the perfect year of break-ups and make-ups. In May of 2014, the band would sign to 'Cyber Tracks', an LA based record label owned by El Hefe (guitarist of NOFX) and Jen Abeyta. Upon selecting the band name 'This Legend', LP stated, “It's a positive statement of a band name, saying in a sense that, no matter who you are and no matter how many times you get put down in the world, you can look at yourself in the mirror and see a legend'.”

After recording their debut LP, a 13-song power-driven, lyrically optimistic album entitled "It's in the Streets" in the summer of 2014, and releasing it on 11/11/2014 on CyberTracks, the band quickly hit the road, opening for Lagwagon on their 'Hang' Tour and circuiting the US and Canada numerous times on their own DIY basis.

Come May of 2015, singer Chris Castillo decided to part ways with the group on account of personal reasons. This Legend then took a 6-month break to regroup, reformat, and reinitiate themselves into a new lineup of members. Steven Neufeld, having lead sang for most of his other bands (HeyMike! / Brookhurst) was switched onto the position of lead vocalist / guitarist. Long-time friend and fellow musician Justin 'Juice' Cabrera was added to the band as bassist / backup vocalist. Ben Harper and LP remain on their usual positions of lead guitar and drums. The band plans to approach 2016 tactfully with as much as they can handle (including a date on South by Southwest in Austin, TX - SmartPunk / CyberTracks Showcase) and will be hitting the road again in due time. Plans are in place to hit the practice room to hash out a whole new batch of material. This Legend aims to mature within their genre, meanwhile maintaining their fun, high-energy pop/punk & melodic rock sound during the writing process. The newly outfitted quartet will be ready to record their new full-length album mid-2016 and will hit the studio sometime before 2017.
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