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He Is Legend
 When a band declares themselves as the most random band on the planet it makes you wonder just what kind of random they mean. You never really know what to expect from the band known as He Is Legend.
"We pissed our pants on stage once..." tells frontman Schuylar Croom. "We were playing two shows in two days at the same place. So we decided that we had to do something different. So we went out in all this face paint. I painted my body green. We played the show and then went backstage and changed into sweat pants and came out and we all stood in a line and pissed our pants. We drank water all day and we weren't allowed to go to the bathroom until then. I pissed for a good five minutes straight!"
Their recent album 'Suck Out The Poison' was rejected by some fans as the sound of the band effectively changed genres. For Croom and the rest of the band it is a rejection that really doesn't seem to faze them. "We got a lot of crazy comments I think from mainly people who wanted us to re-write the last album we wrote. I don't think any band just wants to keep pumping out the same material. You never really want those fans that don't want you to grow. So why would you even take what they say seriously? Some people probably would have wanted to hear another three-chord song with a breakdown. But that's not who we were anymore."
When talking about the hardcore scene it becomes increasingly apparent that perhaps He Is Legend never was a hardcore band. "I don't know. Hardcore dancing sort of boggles my mind. A lot of kids aren't even watching the band; they're watching the pit. I don't dig that. I don't really understand it. You go to a show to hang out. You don't wanna kick your friend or land on a bunch of teenage girls. It's so choreographed. It's not dancing. When we went to Europe I felt that people there are genuinely excited to see the bands. I think it's clearing up, but the kids and their ideas of what enjoying is, just doesn't seem genuine to me. I'd rather people just groove man, have fun."
"We're on a record label that has a certain niche, which has never really been our thing. I think it brings a lot of people to just expect we are a hardcore band. We're not hardcore dudes. I rarely listen to music like that. I guess you just kinda get pigeonholed when there are so many bands on the label that do call themselves hardcore. I just don't agree with all those genres. I'd rather just call ourselves a rock'n'roll band. In thirty years there won't be all these sub-genres like post-punk or whatever, it'll all just be rock'n'roll."
There have been rumours that He Is Legend is a Christian band, which is something that Croom doesn't deny but also doesn't confirm. Regardless of beliefs within the band he makes a very valid point that shows just how little it really means. "You're not going to make a friend if you walk up to a person in the mall and say 'Hey do you believe in Jesus?' I mean, why would you ever do that? I don't think it has any bearing on our music. Your personal beliefs and your personal lifestyle is just that."
While the band is very excited to tour Australia for the first time, their constant touring in America doesn't have the same charm. "Touring is mind-numbing. It's boring! You're a different person on the road. It's a 24/7 job. You're the band everywhere you go. You stop at a gas station and you get 'oh, you guys a band, what music you play? Y'all got any demos?' and you just have to find some kind of escape from that, some sort of distance from the everyday. This is my life: I get up, I get in a van, I eat gas station food and drink gas station coffee. I drive to the next town. I play a show. That 45 minutes that you're on stage is what you live for when you're on tour."
Make sure to visit the boys when they're in town and enjoy that 45 minutes with them.
Mat Woods
He Is Legend play Fowler's Live on Sat 8 Sept with The Amity Affliction (Qld).
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