MASTEDONIA

RecordNET

*From RecordNET - December 30th, 2004*

From 'The O.C.' to First Night, Rooney revels in its influences

It's easy to see why New Year's Eve gigs have long been a staple of American show business. After all, the dates enable performers to reach a ready audience, usually while earning substantially more than they would any other night of the year.

Given the band's history and critical acclaim, then, you might think the men of Rooney are old hands at the tradition. Not so.

"This will be our first," keyboardist Louie Stephens said of Rooney's date Friday at First Night Stockton 2005. "We're excited. This will be the first time we'll be able to party and play at the same time."

Rooney's Weber Point Events Center set will cap an evening of the arts along Center Street. The group's presence marks a clear departure for the event, which heretofore has relied solely on area entertainers (see story on next page).

But, then, Rooney has always enjoyed going against the grain.

Having grown up listening to the pop music of the 1980s and '90s, Stephens, Robert Carmine (vocals, guitar), Taylor Locke (guitar), Matthew Winter (bass) and Ned Brower (drums) consciously eschewed the alternative and rap that attracted so many of their contemporaries.

"Everyone in my high school was getting really into rap culture," Stephens said. "I remember when 'the bomb' became a word. All of a sudden, little kids were saying that. People would have 'yo mama' contests.

"We just wanted to do something else and maintain our reputations without being hip-hop. A lot of the bands that were big were hardcore bands, but we've always been kind of turned off by some of those.

"We just liked pop music and liked the way girls reacted to it," he added. "That played a big part in it."

The results of Rooney's musical seasoning are written on the sleeve of its 2003 self-titled debut album. Few influences are more clearly stated than the Beatles.

"Most of our parents were into the Beatles," Stephens said. "We were probably listening to them before we were really listening to music carefully."

With such buffed and polished tunes as "Stay Away," "Blueside" and the invasively catchy "I'm Shakin'," the album also evokes pop influences from the Beach Boys to the Cars to Weezer. Even the group's name is derived from a pop-culture favorite, that of the scheming principal in "Ferris Beuller's Day Off."

"We came up with it in a pinch -- we needed a name on the marquee," Stephens said. "At first, the full name was Ed Rooney. Eventually, we just lost interest in that association."

After meeting in high school, the quintet began playing the Southern California club circuit. Show business was familiar terrain for lead singer Carmine -- he is the son of Talia Shire, brother of former Phantom Planet drummer-turned-actor Jason Schwartzman, nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and cousin of Nicolas Cage. That said, don't write Rooney off as a silver-spooned Hollywood band.

"We're not actors," Stephens said. "It's not something that people who care about music dwell on. I mean, I like Coppola movies, but it's pretty removed."

Rooney, however, has jumped to the small screen, the group making an early 2004 appearance on "The O.C."

"It came through ('O.C.' producer) Josh Schwartz," Stephens said. "He wanted to use the show to promote bands. He wanted to get a band that had a California vibe, which I guess we have."

Rooney's performance, however, was hardly an afterthought.

"They put our poster in one of the character's rooms," Stephens said. "They played like six of our songs throughout the show, and they just kind of randomly dropped the name. The dad would say, 'Who is this Rooney?' The kids were like, 'Are you going to the Rooney show?'

"We were flattered that they devoted that much time to us. It was rad. And I think it was big because people discovered the band. We didn't start traveling in a jet, but we probably sold some more records."

While touring much of the year in support of its debut album, Rooney also contributed a cover of "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" to the Ramones tribute album "We're a Happy Family." The song was recommended by the late Johnny Ramone.

"Johnny, for whatever reason, just liked our band and gave us a lot of advice," Stephens said. "He's one of the coolest guys I've ever met. It's strange to see such a good person go away."

While waiting for Rooney's second album, fans can check out "Spit & Sweat," a glossy concert DVD. The new CD, "The Kids After Sunset," is due in the spring.

"It really doesn't sound like a follow-up," Stephens said. "We did a much better job. There's a lot more character on each person's instrument. From a production and song standpoint, it's more like where we want to be."

-Aaron Davis