Rooney Biography

Rooney's latest album, Eureka, may be considered their statement of freedom. The Los Angeles band is making a bold, fresh start after years of trudging under the weight of a major label deal that never quite fit them right: Rooney recorded and produced Eureka themselves, and the disc will be released on June 8th on their own new label, California Dreamin Records, through Warner Music Group's Independent Label Group. Eureka, a 12-track album, is their most mature and sophisticated yet, while yet maintaining their buoyancy and catchiness. Lead singer and guitarist Robert Schwartzman, keyboardist/vocalist Louie Stephens, guitarist/vocalist Taylor Locke, and drummer/vocalist Ned Brower formed the band as teenaged friends with a shared love of the Beatles, Cheap Trick, and ELO eleven years ago, and have grown into a modern power-pop band in a class of their own. They've toured with everyone from Weezer to The Strokes throughout the years, gaining new admirers from each crowd. Locke says, "I don't think there are any current bands with whom we have much in common." Though Eureka represents a rebirth in many respects for Rooney, the band's autonomous spirit has been present from its inception in 1999, when its members were still in high school. The band self-produced and promoted a series of EPs in their early years, and they established a sizable local fan base by playing as many local LA venues as they could. Their self-titled debut album, which was released in May 2003, stayed on Billboard's New Artists chart for several months before rocketing to the top in 2004 after a guest appearance on the teen drama The O.C., which was known for its taste-making selection of music from critically acclaimed new bands who had yet to break into the mainstream. Rooney's debut CD sold over 500,000 copies slowly and steadily over the course of two years. In 2004, they began work on their second album, and over the next three years, they produced three albums' worth of material until ultimately releasing Calling The World in 2007. The issue, according to the band, was the constant pressure from their label, Geffen/Interscope, to write a hit song. Producers came and went, songs were recorded and then discarded, and the Rooneys got progressively disheartened, according to their members. It's possible that the extended gap between albums didn't harm their sales. Calling The World opened at #42 on the Billboard Top 100 Albums list, with the lead track Where Did Your Heart Go Missing reaching #1 in Germany and Top 10 in Italy, France, Ireland, and the Netherlands, but it took a toll on their spirits. According to Locke, the entire ethos of large labels is to keep fucking with stuff instead of obtaining something from an artist that is their vision and supporting, putting out, and promoting it in the old-fashioned manner.

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