Rooney Interview with Robert Schwartzman

April 2007 @ UC Irvine's Wayzgoose Festival (Irvine, CA)

By: Jackie Rudolph & Photo Credit: Jen Sung



Hey remember those studly looking guys who made an appearance in the hit drama, “The OC” or how about that one guy who was Anne Hathaway’s love desire in the movie, “Princess Diaries” or what about that song that you just could not get out of your head back in the year 2003, “I’m Shakin”? Oh, the good old days. Well, they’re here to return. That’s right, Rooney is back and they’re coming out with a new record this summer! Whaaaaat? Yes, they are back for another round of tunes! If you ever wanted to know what happened to Rooney since their self titled album release in 2003, well 4 years later, they are back with their new album, “Calling The World” which hits stores this July! Rooney performed last month at the University of California, Irvine, or as how I like to call it, UC Newport Beach. These guys steamed up the stage at the university’s yearly event called Wayzgoose. The crowd was enormous with tons of love by both the fans, and of course the band members themselves. I was able to score an interview with this shaggy haired front man, who goes by the name of Robert Schwartzman. Speaking with him made me realize how much work it truly takes to put into an actual album. Robert explained that for a good number of years, the guys of Rooney made three different records and created them into one single record. Robert comments that there was a ton of writing, demoing, and recording which basically exhausted the band to the maximum. At least we can now see how much dedication was put into the making of this album. So with all these songs written by the band, are all of these songs true? I was curious about one particular song off of Rooney’s old album called, “Daisy Duke.” Robert explained, “Not all of the songs are 100% true, but there are a good number of songs that are true. In some songs, we are bending the truth. Like for “Daisy Duke”, I kind of like writing songs from other point of views.” It’s cool to see what kind of thoughts are actually circulating through the minds of Rooney. Goes to show that inspiration comes from their own ideas and not from phony lip syncers who have to have their material written by other people (I won’t name names). Love it.



Talking more about the music biz, Robert commented, “I love how instant it is. If you feel something, you just write about it. You can pick up the guitar and just write and play about anything. On your cd, you have your song. So quick, people can hear what you’re feeling, it’s a quick turn around. I wanted to express myself through music. It felt so good. I thought it would be fun to start the band. The thing is the people loved the band right away. We built ourselves up in town. There were all these grateful people who liked us. I was just like ‘Wow, I’ll keep working on this.’ To me, music is just an amazing thing to create and to write a song one day is just special.” Wow, it really is true love with the work he does. Seeing this, I’m putting my own faith in their success, especially for this summer…Just make sure to catch Rooney this summer as their cd hits stores, and don’t forget of course their tour with Fergie as well! Even if their music is not exactly in the same category, it’s all good in your neighborhood this summer because at least you’ll get a variety of different tastes of music, plus it will be quite G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S. Just make sure you’re shakin’ your head at their show, especially since the guys of Rooney are quite proud of the music and are excited to see both new and old fans at their concerts! Oh, and P.S. Be sure to check out their new song, “When Did Your Heart Go Missing.” I’d have to say worth your while, so give it a go to their myspace at www.myspace.com/rooney, or even better go to www.rooney-band.com for even more information.