Dead Legend

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Dead Legend is an alternative rock band from Northern Connecticut. The band was formed in 2000 by lead singer/guitarist Ryan Michael and former drummer Paul Rago during grade school. The two took an interest in alternative rock and pop punk, drawing influence from such bands as Green Day, Rancid, and Midtown. Bassist Tyler McCarthy soon entered the picture filling out the lineup and the band recorded their first CD-EP "Ruining My Life" at the ripe age of 14.

In 2002 the band released the "In Stereo EP" produced by Matt Star and began playing more high profile shows including dates with Midtown (Columbia), Piebald (Island), Auto Pilot Off (Island), Hot Rod Circuit (Immortal) and Hidden In Plain View (Drive-Thru).

In 2003 Dead Legend was offered a management/development deal by Bounce Entertainment, LLC. The agreement required that the members defer their prospective college education, a condition to which Rago was indisposed^[1]. As a result, Michael and McCarthy parted ways with Rago amicably. TJ Courtney replaced him on drums in the fall of 2003. The band wrote and recorded dozens of songs before finally cutting a 10 song demo and moving to Los Angeles in 2005.

During their time in LA the band recorded a 6 song EP entitled "Predawn Hours" with producer James Book (The Flys, Mozart) at Rx Studios in Glendale, California.

When asked about the title of the disc Michael offered, "Predawn Hours was something that our producer James said that caught my attention. We were discussing how our recording sessions had been running until 5 a.m. or so, and he said something about the predawn hours. I liked the words together and it seemed to fit the vibe of not only the recording process but the songs, which coincidentally were written late at night."

The opening track "Into Flames" was released on college radio and remained in the Top 20 countdown on their hometown station 107.7 WACC for over 10 weeks.

The band returned to Connecticut in 2006 and recruited guitarist Chandler Quintin to play second guitar, a duty that was short lived due to college commitments on Quintins' behalf. However, in the fall of 2006 Sam Janik, a friend of the band with whom Ryan Michael went to high school, took over second guitar duties. During this time they toured in support of "Predawn Hours" and also found time to record and promote several new songs via their Myspace site.

In 2007 the band came on strong embarking on their first national tour performing over 50 shows in 4 months. They also released demos of 2 new songs from an upcoming release that can be found on the Dead Legend Myspace Site.^[2].

During the summer of 2007 TJ Courtney parted ways with the band and Cody Bauman entered on drums.

On December 5th of 2007 it was announced that the band had signed with Masquerade Recordings and would begin recording for a new release in January 2008. A blog posted on the bands' official Myspace read:

"We are pleased to announce that we have signed a recording contract with Masquerade Recordings! Masquerade is a division of East Coast Independent and we look forward to a long and prosperous relationship with them.

We are entering the studio in January to begin recording for an upcoming release, so expect a release date in the near future. Our record will be available in stores everywhere as well as on itunes and we are slated to play the 2008 Van's Warped Tour! Most of 2008 will be spent touring in support of the new release and look for an ad in AP Magazine in the upcoming months featuring us and other Masquerade bands. We would like to thank our families, friends, and all of you who have helped make this happen. A special thanks to Neil and the HM Management Staff for their help and support.

-Dead Legend Ryan, Tyler, Sam & Cody"