Rooney Interview

Courtesy of Total Assault

By: Sindy

Rooney is back with their much-awaited sophomore album, Calling the World. Kidzworld is getting the low-down on the new disc from Rooney's own keyboardist, Louie Stephens. Check it out!

Sindy: Can you tell us a little bit about the new album, Calling the World?
Louie Stephens: We spent three years making it and put our heart and souls into it. We actually made two other versions of a second album - went through a lot of songs, and even more producers, and finally stuck with a producer named John Fields who did a great job. We were able to aim a little a higher than we were on the first album, I think.

Sindy: Do you have any favorite songs on the album?
Louie Stephens: I'd have to say Are You Afraid.

Sindy: Why is that?
Louie Stephens: Well, first of all it features a lot of keyboard, and I'm a keyboardist. Plus it was really fun to record.

Sindy: The cover is almost a re-creation of the classic Doors album. What's that all about?
Louie Stephens: We didn't really think of it as a recreation of The Doors album. We shot a ton of pictures - all sorts of different looks. After seeing the cover, I went "Oh, wow that is similar". I think we'd just intended to do something old-school looking with a font sort of like The Stones would have used. And then that's how it turned out.

Sindy: You owe a lot of your initial success to your appearance on The O.C. a few years ago. Were you sad when the show went off the air earlier this year?
Louie Stephens: No. To be honest, I didn't really watch the show other than the one episode we were one. It was a blast to do, though. Oh, I should mention that Mischa Barton showed up when we were doing a residency at The Roxy. That was pretty cool.

Sindy: Kelly Clarkson famously pulled a lot of pranks on you while you toured together in 2006. Did you get her back for it?
Louie Stephens: We tried so many times in so many ways, but no, we never managed it. The one day we really tried they had all of this extra security. We were going to ride a golf cart on the stage but they had all these beefy security guards around. They were too strong for us, and we failed.

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