Among Legends

Ontario pop-punk act Among Legends have released their new EP Charles St for name your price download through Bandcamp. Charles St was released on April 12 and serves as the Canadian band’s first EP. Grab a digital copy using the link below. - For The Love Of Punk

Among Legends are a trio from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario that consists of Mitchell (vocals, drums), Cameron (guitar), and Anthony (bass). Their debut EP Charles St. EP was released for free on their Bandcamp on April 12th. The six song release has the stereotypical pop punk sound with the fast paced music and lyrics about love and full of harmonies and guitar riffs.

Though their lyrics are about the typical things that most pop punk bands write music about, they pull it off in a way that still sets them apart. “Always on my Mind”, a song clearly about relationships, starts off a bit slower than the songs that follow it. “Flatliner” has a pace a bit faster than the previous song and would be a fantastic song to experience live with the amount of energy the trio puts behind it. “Gone for Days”, again a song about relationships but a bit less optimistic than the first song, is more about still wanting to be in the relationship but having the other person pull away. “Self-Counseling” seems to have a bit deeper of a meaning than the other songs. With lyrics like “you say these days a cloudy haze helps you feel less alone/but even airplanes leave the clouds to make it safely home”, it seems to be about moving on from something that is holding you back. “(Don’t) Defend Pop-Punk” is definitely my favourite off of the EP. “Every single song in this scene just sounds the same/it’s all just whining about some girl who ran away”, with lyrics like that throughout the song they poke light hearted fun at the genre and themselves. “Electric” closes out the EP with another fast paced song that will have you moving along in no time.

As a debut, Charles St. EP is a solid release. Though they stick to the same things like so many pop punk bands before them lyrically, there is something about them that stands out. You can tell through their songs that they have the energy and passion that bands in the genre need to last. I hadn’t heard of the trio before but after this EP I’m definitely keeping an ear out for them in the future. - Canadian Beats

Canadian pop/punk band Among Legends just released this debut EP of theirs two weeks ago. Fresh off the presses and out in the world, let's delve deep in the fresh new music from Among Legends. "Always On My Mind" opens up the EP with an upbeat number that will surely get the listener bouncing and singing along immediately. The guitar riff that is featured on the track is extremely catchy and definitely a nice touch. "Flatliner" has a more punk influence than the previous track. It's short, to the point and features some excellent gang chants throughout the track. Punk fans will eat this track up. "Gone For Days" is the shortest track on the EP clocking in at a shade over two and a half minutes. There's an early Weezer like sound to the track and that's not a bad thing. "Self-Counseling" will get you singing along to its infectious verses and chorus. The track is a good example of the talent of the band. The guitar solo on the track is top notch on the track. "(Don't) Defend Pop-Punk" is their song regarding the state of the pop/punk genre and the emotional bond of the tracks within. It's a brash stance on the genre but it works out well. Their unique take on the track will turn some heads and might divide but you can't deny the courage and catchiness of the track. The single "Electric" closes out the EP in style. It's a track that will get stuck in the listeners head for days. The track is radio friendly and showcases the Among Legends sound perfectly. This EP brings a fresh take on the pop/punk genre that it has needed for quite some time. - From The Depths Entertainment

I recently had the chance to interview Among Legends. Check out the full interview after the jump!

First off, thanks for the interview.
Thanks for letting us speak with you!

Can you tell me a little about your band, how you got started, and what got your interested in music?
Among Legends is a pop-punk band from the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario. When we started, it was Mitchell on drums and vocals, with Mackenzie on guitar. We started just doing covers of blink-182, State Champs, Coheed & Cambria - stuff we liked and wanted to use as a jumping-off point. Over the summer of 2015, we pulled Anthony in on bass, and Cameron joined us on lead guitar in December, about 5-6 weeks before we recorded the Charles St EP. Mackenzie’s work schedule was too hectic for our band plans, so we’re trying our hand at operating as a trio for now. Mackenzie’s like our competitive intelligence / market research guy.

We’ve all always loved playing and listening to music. It’s amazing watching bands do what they love onstage, and that live energy is infectious. We started off just doing covers of songs we liked, practicing technical parts and using it as an outlet to play for the sake of playing. But it became pretty serious pretty quickly in the fall of 2015.

You talk about wanting to change the narrative and the perception of pop/punk. As a band how have you been doing that?
Pop-punk gets a bad rap. People think it’s immature, that it’s mostly guys singing about how all the women in their lives are horrible, heart-breaking, evil people, that it glamorizes sadness and depression and despair. A lot of pop-punk bands fit this mold - a lot of bands break it, too - but that’s the stereotype of the genre right now, especially for people who might not know a lot about pop-punk.

We want to change that stereotype, inside the scene and outside of it. We want to write songs that inspire people, song that make people feel good about themselves, songs that encourage and energize. If we sing about life struggles - heartbreak, losing someone close, addiction, whatever it is - we’ll always include a message that goes beyond the in-the-moment feelings. It might feel good to hear a song that reflects exactly what you feel at any given time, but we don’t want to encourage someone in a low spot to stay in that low spot. We want to make music that feels real and relatable - but also moves listeners somewhere new. And we’ll never write songs that blame women for all of the world’s problems. It’s unfair, inaccurate, and wildly naive to blame women for everything, and equally so to absolve men of blame in every life struggle.

The Charles St. EP is your debut EP. What went into the writing process of the EP and what was the recording process like?
The songs were written over the summer of 2015. We each brought in lyrics or music that we liked from our own personal collections, and we tried to identify what we liked about it and how to translate those elements into pop-punk songs. I pull from punk rock and ska, Mackenzie is on the more technical side of pop-punk, and Anthony pulls from classic rock and funk. Cameron is the world’s biggest pop-punk fan, so he brought a real focused pop-punk sound to his lead guitar parts. For this EP, Mitchell did most of the lyrics and music, but it’s now more evenly split between Mitchell and Cameron. I think you can hear each of our influences throughout the EP - it’s sort of like a tribute album to each of our favourite genres and bands, without any cover songs.

We recorded over 2 weekends at 4-Q Studios in Kitchener. Mike, who runs 4-Q, was friendly and knowledgeable - and most importantly, he was really patient with us. We did a lot of tweaking, a lot of re-recording, and a lot of learning while we made the EP. It was an awesome experience, and it really helped us figure out how we wanted to move forward as a band.

"Always On My Mind" is the first track on the EP and I really like how it starts the EP. Can you tell me a little about the writing process of that song specifically?
Mitchell here: Firstly, thank you! I’m glad you like the song. AOMM was my first attempt at a ballad-style song. It was originally almost 5 minutes long but the guys argued that it would have to be pared down significantly if we didn’t want to scare off potential listeners. They were right and I owe them my life.

The lyrics basically describe the first date I ever went on with my girlfriend, when we were in high school. We met over the summer but lived in different cities, so we didn’t get to see each other again until the fall. I took a number of writing courses in university and thought I’d try my hand at writing a ballad with some more illustrative lyrics. I can remember that day so vividly; it seemed like a good jumping-off point for a new lyrical challenge.

For anyone who hasn't heard your band what track off the EP would you recommend they check out and why?
Electric is sort of like our lead single, probably the most “balanced.” You can go a few different directions from Electric - more punk, more pop, more “rock” - so it’s a good starting point. Electric is like the Arc de Triomphe and all our other songs are the streets that branch away from it, assuming you don’t get offended by the idea of comparing independent Canadian pop-punk to iconic French infrastructure.

I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Thank you so much for chatting with us! We just want to say that the EP is pay-what-you-want (including “I want to pay nothing”) on Bandcamp, so if you like it, please spread the word! Free music for everyone! - Sound in the Signals

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Among Legends? How long has the band been around?
Mitchell did drums and vocals in a ska band called Nobodies Home from 2008-2010, playing with bands like The Snips and The Flatliners.
Cameron was in a band called The Option that did a few backyard shows in the community. I'm actually not sure at all if Anthony was in a band before this. We met at the music school where I (Mitchell) take vocal lessons. Among Legends has been around since January 2015. At the beginning, our original rhythm guitarist Mackenzie and I were just playing blink-182 covers but we wanted to do something more. So we recruited Anthony over the summer of 2015, and we brought Cameron in when we were starting to seriously consider recording some originals.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
We figured since we love pop-punk and we'll be opening for bigger acts for quite a while, we'd be "among legends" - bigger players and sources of inspiration in the genre. We didn't have any other name before - we were just nameless for like a year, and then we became Among Legends.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Cameron and Mitchell typically trade off between songs. Anthony wrote Self-Counseling on our debut EP and Mitchell did the rest, but post-EP it's basically been music and lyrics for one song by Cameron, and the next one by Mitchell, and back and forth like that.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
Mitchell pulls from a lot of straight-up punk stuff, like the Flatliners, Youth Decay, Bad Religion and Pulley.
Cameron's our pop-punk encyclopedia and gets inspiration from Knuckle Puck, State Champs, Seaway and Neck Deep.
Anthony listens to a lot of classic rock and even funk, anywhere really that showcases really intricate bass work. Flea from the RHCP and Matt Freeman from Rancid are definitely idols.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Not a show, but an experience. In university, I got a hold of a cheap keyboard and started playing music with a friend. I tried to re-learn the piano skills I had rejected a long time before that because all of a sudden I realized I knew how making music worked, technically. I had done Nobodies Home before that and it was amazing, but ska's probably not the best way to grow an audience. So I started trying to mix that energy of punk rock with the melodic and pop sensibilities of bands like Green Day, blink-182, the Alkaline Trio, etc. After a few years of talking about it, Mackenzie and I started the band.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
Some vocal exercises, but mostly just pep-talks and hugs. I think we feed off each other's energy and excitement and that's what gets us fired up to hit the stage.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
Finally releasing our debut EP! We recorded in January and Cameron had only been with us for a month. Our rhythm guitarist at the time was amazing, but we brought Cameron in to make the music a little more dynamic. Mackenzie would take the rhythm and lower-end with Anthony, and Cameron would do the higher-end melodic stuff. I have a pretty deep singing voice, so I got the mid-range stuff. It took a long time to get the music out - we had no idea there'd be so much tweaking after doing the actual recordings. The EP was done at 4-Q Studios in Kitchener, Ontario, and Mike, the owner, was really patient with us. I think it's hard to explain to someone on the outside exactly what's in your head, so that was something we worked really hard with Mike on. Now that it's out, I think it sounds amazing and we can't wait to get our new songs into a studio for a full-length record - after a few more shows.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Any of this wave of pop-punk's influences, like Green Day, blink-182, Sum 41 or Gob, or any of the amazing current talent - State Champs, Knuckle Puck, Man Overboard. Oh man there are WAY too many.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
We're stoked to finally have some music available for people to listen to! Thanks so much for taking the time to consider us for Kill The Music! - Kill The Music

Kitchener, Ontario pop punk band Among Legends are very new - they formed during February of 2015 - but that hasn't stopped them from quickly making a mark in their hometown. On April 12, 2016 the band released their 6-track album, Charles St. EP (grab it RIGHT HERE), and today we have the chance to bring you a free download of the release's lead single, "Electric" - check it out!

The band possesses heaps of DIY work ethic and that, combined with their passion for music, leads Among Legends to create upbeat, happy music with a goal to change the way people think about the pop-punk genre. Will they move you the way they've already moved others? Only a stream, download and/or time will tell! - Pure Grain Audio