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Rooney is an American rock band from Los Angeles, currently self-produced and formerly signed to Geffen Records. The band is now composed of Robert Schwartzman (lead vocals, guitar), Louie Stephens (keyboards, piano), Taylor Locke (lead guitar, backing vocals), Ned Brower (drums, backing vocals), and Brandon Schwartzel (bass guitar). The band is named after Ed Rooney, the principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Their music is reminiscent of British Invasion rock and 1980s pop, and has been compared to The Beatles, The Cars, Jellyfish, Sloan, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Blur. They have toured the nation with acts such as the Jonas Brothers, Kelly Clarkson, Weezer, The Strokes, Tally Hall, The All-American Rejects, and The Academy Is....

History[link]

Early history[link]

Rooney first formed as Ed Rooney back in 1999. The original lineup consisted of Robert Schwartzman, Matthew Winter on bass, Teddy Briggs on drums, and Matthew Star (née Srolestar) and Taylor Locke on guitar. Ned Brower replaced Briggs as drummer and Louie Stephens was added as keyboardist. They released a series of independent EPs called Deli Meats (2000), Plug It In (2001), and Mastedonia (2002).^[2] The band played multiple shows a month around Los Angeles and Anaheim and built up a strong following. Schwartzman moved to New York City to attend the Eugene Lang College at the New School. Instead of writing papers, he spent his dorm room nights writing new Rooney songs. Schwartzman sent his latest material to his bandmates in LA and flew home every month to perform. They recorded another demo CD with producers Keith Forsey and Brian Reeves. It consisted of the songs "Popstars," "If It Were Up To Me," and "Losing All Control." The demo made its way around LA and created buzz for the band at the major labels and management companies. Schwartzman decided to leave school and pursue the band full time. Rooney played a show at the Roxy in early 2002 packed with Rooney fans and A&R representatives. After the show, the president of Geffen Records approached the band. After meeting all interested parties, the band went to Interscope to meet with Jimmy Iovine. Iovine expressed his love for the demo and said he would produce a couple of tracks himself if they signed with them. Based on their roster, Rooney signed the deal with Geffen/Interscope in 2002.

[edit] Calling the World

Following their summer tour, the band began their third sessions for a second album. Only three songs from the previous sessions ("Don't Come Around Again," "Paralyzed," and "Tell Me Soon"), were kept for their new album, Calling the World. On March 6, 2007, the single "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" was released on their official MySpace. The single also was used in commercials of the TV show Beauty and the Geek. It was also used in an episode of Newport Harbor: The Real Orange County, in the Gossip Girl season 1 episode "Wild Brunch". and in the movie Nancy Drew. The album was released to stores July 17, 2007 and debuted #42 on The Billboard Top 100 Albums chart.

Between the release of the first album and Calling the World, Rooney recorded, produced, and mastered two complete albums that were subsequently scrapped. Schwartzman has stated his desire to re-record these two albums for release in 2011.

Rooney headed out on a headlining tour dubbed "The Calling the World Tour" in May 2008 in the United States, which was scheduled to run through August. The band said during live shows that they planned to record a new album upon after the tour ended.

Rooney worked on the theme for the show Iron Man: Armored Adventures on the Nicktoons network. The song premiered online on March 29, 2009, and the show launched on April 24, 2009.^[3]

[edit] The Wild One

Rooney became free agents, not attached to any record label. The new self-released EP Wild One was exclusively available only at live shows. The band started a winter tour with Tally Hall and Crash Kings on November 27, 2009, in Los Angeles. The tour went through most of December. The band streamed several songs from the album on MySpace days before the official first day of the tour. The EP was subsequently available for sale on Amazon's MP3 and Apple's iTunes stores.

[edit] Eureka

Rooney's third full-length album was released on June 8, 2010, through California Dreamin' Records, Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. The album features the lead single "I Can't Get Enough" and the final appearance of bassist Matthew Winter, who announced his departure from the band in February 2010. With new bassist Brandon Schwartzel, Rooney toured again nationally in Summer 2010, supporting Hanson for several weeks of their tour. These shows were interspersed with others where Rooney headlined, with bands The Young Veins and Black Gold supporting. "Holdin' On" will be the next single in 2011.

Current band members[link]

• Robert Schwartzman – vocals, guitar
• Taylor Locke – guitar, vocals
• Ned Brower – drums, vocals
• Louie Stephens – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
• Brandon Schwartzel - bass

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

DVDs[link]

• Spit & Sweat (2004)

Compilation appearances[link]

• "You Got It", from the album Roy Orbison Celebration (2009)
• "Metal Guru", from the album Herbie: Fully Loaded Soundtrack (2005)
• "Death on Two Legs", from the album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen (2005)
• "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow", from the album We're A Happy Family Ramones tribute (2003)
• "Merry X-Mas Everybody", from the album The Year They Recalled Santa Claus and The O.C. Mix 3: Have a Very Merry Chrismukkah
• "Sleep Song" featured in The Chumscrubber
• "I'm Shakin'" featured in Teachers 4: Top of the Class

Digital-only releases[link]

• "When You Walk into the Room", released online only
• "Forever Young", released online only

Music videos[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rooney website
• RSS feed – Rooney website feed
• Official Rooney Street Team
• Audiojunkies interview with Rooney
• Rooney (band) on Myspace