(July 9, 2007) - L.A. native band, Rooney, have relentlessly toured for the past few years and created quite a strong following of fans! Their upbeat melodies and distinct sound has grabbed the attention of many music listeners and we were lucky enough to snag an interview! PCM's Julieissane chatted with keyboardist, Louie Stephens, about the upcoming release of their much anticipated sophomore album, plus much more.

Louie: Julie, you're on with Louie!

Julie: Hi Louie, how are you?

L: I'm good, thanks. How are you, Julie?

J: Good I want to thank you so much ahead of time for sitting down and talking to me. I really appreciate it.

L: No problem.

J: Well, I have to start with a very clichéd question you've probably been asked a lot before, why the name Rooney?

L: Well, we actually were originally called Ed Rooney, which was the name of a character in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," he was the principal and we all liked that movie.

J: Agreed, I liked it too!

L: Oh, good.

J: How did you all meet?

L: We met in high school, we went to school together.

J: Were you a group of friends that decided to start a band?

L: Not really. It was more like, I remember, Taylor our guitar player jammed with Robert, the singer. And I would jam with Taylor. There were just a bunch of little things that came up where we were sharing mutual interests in bands.

J: So through friends of friends you all came together?

L: Exactly. I used to go see Robert's older brother's band, Phantom Planet play and so we sort of became known to each other then. Robert's older brother, Jason, used to be the drummer in Phantom Planet.

J: What a musical family! Well, you have an album that is going to be released next week.

L: We do, it comes out July 17th called, "Calling the World."

J: What are your feelings about the release? Are you nervous, excited, or is there a sense of relief behind the completion of the album?

L: I'm excited. I'm excited to tour on these songs and play them for as many people as possible. It's our second album so I know what to expect. I feel like, with these songs, we are going to have a good time.

J: I think a lot of people are looking forward to it. Do you enjoy being in the studio more or out on tour in front of big crowds? What do you prefer?

L: I think their both thrilling and I think when you do a lot of one thing, you create the other. But I think I still lean towards being in the studio. On this record especially, I recorded a lot of my parts from my home studio and literally sent my parts over ichat. It was a really cool thing to just record and come up with things and that outweighs playing for a lot of people. But at the same time, when you're playing for 10,000 people in Japan, that's really cool.

J: How does each member of the band contribute to the album-making process? Do some of the guys prefer writing lyrics while others like writing music? How does the recording process work for Rooney?

L: I know each member of the band has very specific personality that comes across in their parts. I think that it's evolved over time. On both our albums, each player's parts are very directly connected to who they are. As far as lyrics, Robert wrote pretty much all the lyrics on this album.

J: I did a lot of Rooney stalking before this interview. I saw online that you guys have toured with a lot of different artists including Ben Lee, The Donnas, Fergie, and Kelly Clarkson. Are there any bands/singers that you have toured with that were your favorite?

L: Favorite? Well, I wouldn't want to pick one over the other. I think we've been luckier than a lot of bands. Our first tour ever was with Weezer and we were right out of high school. We were right out of the gate with Weezer and that was really exciting. I remember Rivers was very hard to approach. He was wearing sunglasses and looked like a Secret Service dude and was very weird. He just didn't talk to anyone and I remember at the end of our tour we had an end-of-tour party and he just sat at the front of the buffet line. As people would get their plates, they would just pass by and say, "thank you for the tour," so it was interesting.

J: Wow, that is a memorable experience that you must have had on tour with them.

L: Yeah, and then we went out on tour with The Strokes and The Donnas and that definitely educated me about the debaucheries that can happen when you're on tour.

J: HaHa! Have you ever gotten any advice from other artists that have stuck with you through the past year?

L: We toured with the band Grandaddy a few years ago and they said, "You got to create your own world when you're on tour." They were the first guys that we saw brought a grill with them and after every show they sit outside around the grill. But it was good advice because it's a strange thing to be on the road and you do have to make your own world. When you do, it makes things more comfortable.

J: Yea, I imagine that could be an awkward lifestyle, just traveling from city to city, if you aren't used to it. Are there any crowds in certain cities that were super great and you look forward to going back to?

L: Well, there's a lot of cities in Europe that are really cool cause they are new and different. As far as the states, we had a show on this last run in Lancaster, PA.

J: Oh! That's near us in Delaware.

L: Yeah, it's not considered a major market in touring terms. But we got people down to the show and people came and it was one of the best crowds we've ever had. I love to play small venues out in the middle of nowhere. The people that show up are the ones that do get really into it. You're in some remote place that probably a lot of bigger bands don't come to and it's a cool personal experience.

J: That's a great point and awesome for fans to see bands come through their town if they don't live near say, New York City or Los Angeles. Do you enjoy doing in-store performances and signings? And that close interaction with fans?

L: Well, crazed fans are a good thing and I do like doing the signings. I think I'd prefer just hanging out without the formal signing at a table where everyone has Sharpies and 8x10's in their hands. It seems like a cattle call! Everyone is just in this huge line. But it's also great to get to know people and have more interaction with them as well, it's cool.

J: I really love the song, "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" Do you have any personal favorites on this album?

L: Yea, I like "Are you Afraid of Me?" a lot and I like, "You Should Have Been After Me," as well. They're good.

J: Louie, what do you think you would be doing now if you weren't in a band?

L: If I wasn't in a band, who knows! I may be a pool cleaner or a complete deadbeat living under a bridge somewhere. Ha. But I probably would be doing something with music if I wasn't in this band.

J: Was that something that interested you since high school. Did you know from an early age you wanted to be a rockstar?

L: I don't know about a rockstar but I wanted to be a real musician. I think I decided I wanted to be a musician towards the end of elementary school.

J: Well, my last question would be, what can people expect from Rooney in the future?

L: Well, they can expect a lot of touring. Expect seeing a lot of us hopefully so much of us that they will know each member by name and what our favorite color and ice cream is. Hopefully they will love us unconditionally.

J: I hope the release of this album goes through the roof for your sake! Tell all the members of Rooney that Delaware says hi and we wish you tons of luck!

L: I will, thank you so much!