Rooney: The Fantastic Five

        They are the gateway drugs without the health issues. They’re gateways to more music that satisfies musical tastes. Each person has a different band as their gateway drug, and my most prominent one is Rooney.
        Maybe it was natural musical progression, or maybe it was a pure accident as a result of boredom. Whatever the reason, I ended up at Rooney’s Official Website staring down the media page, and realizing nothing was coming out of my speakers, probably due to the fact that the internet connection was super slow at the time. Illegal downloading had to occur (I am a proud owner of their debut album, and Mastedonia EP, thank you very much) and the first song I downloaded was “Why Try.” It was kind of strange, I admit, but keep in mind this was my entrance to the alternative music world. Their catchy nostalgic tunes in the end caused me to travel across the country to see them play for thirty minutes which did not happen because I was late by two hours, traveling forty-five minutes in the snow, traveling three hours to a show where they opened for someone else, and standing one hour while it was raining outside, and almost not have a ride to the show. Tiny sacrifices.
        Rooney began in 1999 as just another ordinary garage band. Five males all having one thing in common: the need to make some noise (good noise). Robert Carmine (then Schwartzman) on keyboards, guitar, and vocals, Taylor Locke on guitar and backing vocals, Matt Star on guitar, Matt Winter on bass, and Teddy Briggs on drums. Carmine was previously on his cousin’s set, The Virgin Suicides, and played Paul Baldino, to simply put the “pervert” of the gang. Carmine is not the only actor in the band, Taylor Locke was a child actor featured in Aliens in the Wild Wild West and Phantom Town. After being asked to open for Phantom Planet, Carmine’s brother was the drummer, they quickly had to decide their name that would unite them, Ed Rooney. The name is a reference to the classic eighties movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’s most beloved principal. Even at their first show, they wowed the crowds and slowly began building a fan base in the Los Angeles area. Briggs respectively dropped out of the band and the Ed also dropped out of the name of the band leaving simply Rooney left as the name. Part-time model Ned Brower took his place, and the music was resonating again. They played around the Los Angeles area increasing and maintaining their fan base with every show. All of them were still in high school, but they impressed the crowds with their talent and a grew quite a following. The local papers raved about them ecstatically. Along, the line Matt Star quit the band to respectively pursue other interests. Carmine eventually handed his keyboard duties to Louis Stephens, so that he could concentrate on playing guitar and singing.
        The band was put on breaks when Carmine pursued his acting career and tried out for Disney’s The Princess Diaries starring Julie Andrews, and Anne Hathaway. He got the part of course, and even got Brower and Taylor to have cameos in the garage scene. The role won over more Rooney fans. The same year, Carmine went away to college in New York City. Band activity slowed down as 4/5 remained in California, while Robert longed to be home playing music with his friends again. After a grieving semester on the east coast, he made his way back home and pledged his life to his art which resulted in a last name change from Schwartzman to Carmine in honor of his grandfather, the great composer Carmine Coppola. Rooney was back in action!
        Rooney was creating so much noise around their hometown that Geffen got a hold of their Mastedonia EP, and signed them unto their diverse record label. They were in the studios, and finally put down finalized tracks that were only available through live versions online. In the middle of all this, Rooney was asked to be on side stage for Weezer’s Enlightenment tour in 2002. Without hesitation, they agreed to play 30 minute sets throughout their idols’ extensive tour. MTV quickly packed a crew to do a short segment on Rooney on their You Hear It First show, so that you could hear about Rooney FIRST from MTV. This also helped increase their fan base, and it was their first glimpse into the mainstream. After the summer tour, their album release date was continually pushed back further and further, as fans got more anxious and even slightly angry. I was later told by Winter that they just wanted to make sure everything was perfect such as promotions before they released their album. They opened for The Strokes on the West Coast impressing a wider audience without even having an album out. They went on a short sprint around some east coast states before a tour with The Donnas, and OK GO in the New Year (2003). They did one more opening act with Pete Yorn , and finally when they released their anticipated debut album they went on a co-headlining tour with the British band Feeder. The album was very well-mastered, with this found it won over new fans, and lost some older fans. Blueside’s demo recording sounded different from the one on the album. Some song titles were changed, and some songs were missing from the track listing that were on previous demos such as Deli Meets, and unplugged. Despite very little causality, all was well in the Rooney World.
        Summer approached and they were asked to be on the side stage for several Lollapalooza dates while going to Japan in between. Fortunately, some room was made on the main stage to accommodate them to open for the main stage acts such as Jane’s Addiction and Incubus. Their fan base was increasing with every state border they crossed. Summer ended all too soon, but they were on the road again with The Sounds and PALOALTO. In between those dates they opened some club dates for Travis. They just ended that tour which is actually the end of extensive touring since February. They’ve accomplished a substantial amount within a year, making them such a superb band. They have even been called the “next big thing.” Which might be a bad thing...but anyways. They are the band that has soothed my ear with some grooving sounds from California such as: The Like, Everybody Else, Melee, AM Radio, Big City Rock, Maroon 5 (before they hit the radio), and strangely Phantom Planet (B/c most fans are originally Phantom Planet fans turned Rooney fans). Thanks Rooney.