Rooney is a five-piece rock band from Los Angeles signed to Geffen Records. The band is composed of: Robert Schwartzman, Louie Stephens, Taylor Locke, Ned Brower, and Matthew Winter. The band is named after principal Ed
... Rooney is a five-piece rock band from Los Angeles signed to Geffen Records. The band is composed of: Robert Schwartzman, Louie Stephens, Taylor Locke, Ned Brower, and Matthew Winter. The band is named after principal Ed Rooney, from the movie 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 and Blur. They have toured the nation with acts such as Jonas Brothers, Weezer, The Strokes, and Kelly Clarkson. Rooney's official website states that the band "manages to capture elements from the past four decades and make them sound modern today."
History
Early history:
Rooney first formed as Ed Rooney back in 1999. The original line up consisted of Teddy Briggs on drums and Matt Star on guitar. Ned Brower replaced Briggs as drummer, Matt Star left, 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). Rooney appeared on an episode of The O.C. Somehow, they accomplished all of this without ever signing to an Independent Label.
Debut album:
Eventually the band scored a recording deal with Geffen Records in 2002. Album sales were slow until in 2004 when they had a cameo appearance in an episode of The O.C., "The Third Wheel" where they sang the songs "Sorry Sorry", "I'm Shakin'" and "I'm a Terrible Person", and their song "Popstars" was also played. Their song "Blueside" was featured on the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 soundtrack and their song "I'm Shakin'" was featured on an episode of the daytime soap opera All My Children.
On November 16, 2004 the band issued their first DVD, Spit & Sweat. The hour long documentary features interviews with the band and live performances from Los Angeles. The DVD also includes the video for "Blueside."
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 OC" and in "Gossip Girl" season 1 "Wild brunch" episode. also the song "I'm a Terrible Person" was used in the commercial of Carolina Herrera's new fragrance. The album was released to stores July 17, 2007 and debuted #42 on The Billboard Top 100 Albums chart.
Rooney was the opening act for the Jonas Brothers on the Look Me In The Eyes Tour from January 31, 2008 to March 22, 2008 for a total of 39 shows.
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 have worked on the theme for the new Nicktoon show, Iron Man: Armored Adventures. It premiered on March 29.
