Rooney is a five-piece rock band from Los Angeles signed to Geffen Records. The band is composed of 5 members: Robert Carmine, Louie Stephens, Taylor Locke, Ned Brower, and Matthew Winter. The band is named after the character Edward "Ed" R. Rooney, Dean of Students, from the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. They are also named after a good friend Donald Rooney who gave them the idea of naming the band Rooney. The name Rooney was originally only a joke but soon they decided to keep it. Lead singer Carmine (nee Robert Schwartzman) is brother to actor Jason Schwartzman, son of actor Talia Shire, nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and cousin of director Sofia Coppola. Shire, star of the Rocky films, has a cameo in the band's video, "When Did Your Heart Go Missing."
Their music is reminiscent of British Invasion rock and 1980s pop, and has been compared to The Beatles, The Cars and Blur. Having toured the nation with acts such as Weezer and The Strokes, Rooney's official website states that the band "manages to capture elements from the past four decades and make them sound modern today."

Early Days (1999-2002)
Eventually the band scored a recording deal with Geffen Records in 2002. After delays, the band's debut album saw release on May 20th, 2003.
Album sales were slow until in 2004 when they had a cameo appearance in an episode of The O.C., The Third Wheel. Sales doubled. Their song "Blueside" was featured on the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 soundtrack. Their song "I'm Shaking" was featured on an episode of the daytime soap opera, All My Children.
On November 16, 2004 the band issued their first DVD entitled "Spit & Sweat." The hour long documentary features interviews with the band and live performances from Los Angeles. The DVD also includes the videos for "Blueside," "I'm Shakin'," and "If It Were Up to Me."

The Debut Album (2002-2004)
In late 2004, the band entered the studio to record tracks with producer Tony Hoffer for their second release. A spring 2005 release was planned. Initially it was announced the "The Kids After Sunset" would be the album's title, however the band wasn't happy with the songs. Actual recordings from the Hoffer sessions were posted on the band's Myspace later in 2005. These songs were "Radio," "Ain't Gonna Cut It," "Are You Through With Me," and "She's a Fool." Private demo versions of songs recorded of the Hoffer sessions were leaked onto the internet. Songs such as "One Armed Man," "Paralyzed," and "The Juice" had already been played live by the band. Fans began calling these private demos "The Lost Album."
Their song entitled "The Sleep Song," was included twice in the 2005 cult film The Chumscrubber and was subsequently searched out by many fans of the movie. The song was part of "The Lost Album."
In the fall of 2005, the band began a new attempt to a record an album, this time with producer Howard Benson. The album came very close to release. In the spring of 2006, the album was mastered, cover art was created, and a music video was even filmed for the lead single "Tell Me." However, again the album wasn't meant to be, as the label disagreed with the songs.
In the summer of 2006, Rooney toured the U.S. with Kelly Clarkson from late June to early August. During their final tour, Kelly pulled several pranks on the band during their performances, starting with a prank which consisted of the announcer introducing them as "the teen sensations from Cleveland, Ohio, RODNEY!" to over 20,000 people.
It was revealed in Reuters on April 7, 2007, that Rooney had switched labels from Suretone Records to Cherrytree Records after being dropped by their management the Firm, but they were quickly picked up by Sound Management.

Second Album Struggles (2004-2006)
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 song was featured on the July 2007 Abercrombie Kids soundtrack and was played in stores across the country. The album was released to stores July 17, 2007 and debuted #42 on The Billboard Top 100 Albums chart.


Calling the World (2007-present)

Discography

Rooney (2003)
Dos (2006)
Calling the World (2007) Albums
Deli Meats (2000)
The Rooney Sampler
Plug It In (2001)
Mastedonia (2002)
Blueside
I'm Shakin'
When Did Your Heart Go Missing' (2007) UK Singles Chart #45

"Meltdown"
"Turn Away"
"Blueside"
"Find Myself"
"Losing All Control"
"Popstars"
"Why?"
"It Goes To Bed"
"No, Wait, But Listen, I'm Talking To You (Gone)"
"The Floor"
"Why?"
"It Goes To Bed"
"No, Wait, But Listen, I'm Talking To You (Gone)"
"If It Were Up To Me"
"Popstars"
"Losing All Control"
"Blueside"
"The Floor"
"Make Some Noise"
"I'm Shakin'"
"Here Today, Gone Tomorrow"
"In My Pocket"
"When Did Your Heart Go Missing'"
"Too Late'" EPs

Spit & Sweat (2004) DVDs

"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" from The Chumscrubber soundtrack (2005)
"When You Walk Into the Room", released online only Other Official Releases

Lost Album (internet demos) Videos

Robert Schwartzman — Vocals/Guitar
Taylor Locke — Guitar/Vocals
Ned Brower — Drums/Vocals
Louie Stephens — Keyboards
Matthew Winter — Bass Guitar