Teen

Principles of success

Through hard work and a little luck, the band Rooney, named for the principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, is getting its name and music out there.

It all started in small private schools in the Los Angeles area for the rock 'n' roll band Rooney.

As lead singer Robert Carmine and guitarist Taylor Locke were playing cover songs in their garages, they started to think that there might be more to their jam sessions. After meeting drummer Ned Brower, bassist Matthew Winter and keyboard player Louie Stephens through their schools, Rooney was born in 1999.

"When we look back on it, we are amazed how quick and smooth it was," Carmine, 23, said in a recent telephone interview. The group will roll into Tampa on Saturday night to open for two-time Grammy winner Kelly Clarkson.

Once the members were together, the group had to pick a name. They first picked Ed Rooney, the principal from the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. But after the movie jokes got old, they decided to drop Ed from the name.

The band began playing lots of shows in Los Angeles, both at small venues and major ones, like the Roxy. Although Carmine went to college in New York, he would go back to Los Angeles every month to play shows.

As the band started to take off, Carmine decided to leave school. The band played the Roxy again, this time for different record labels that had an interest in them. The group signed with Geffen Records.

The group released its first album, the self-titled Rooney, in 2003. The band then began two years of touring to promote the album in the United States, Japan, England and Germany. Rooney also developed a following when the Fox drama The O.C. featured the band on an episode and promoted its single I'm Shakin'.

Another opportunity rolled along when Carmine and crew were asked to cover the T-Rex song Metal Guru for the soundtrack of the Lindsay Lohan movie Herbie Fully Loaded. They immediately jumped on, Carmine said, to cover one of their favorite artists. Other Rooney influences include the Beatles, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, the Band, Queen and the Beach Boys.

Rooney has just completed work on its second album, which is set for release this fall. To help make this record different from the first, Carmine said they tried "to experiment more with arrangements. The songs are sometimes jammy but there's no loss of hooks. It's more fun and more relaxed but still upbeat and in your face."

The first single, Tell Me, is set to hit radio at the end of the summer.

To promote themselves and the upcoming album, the band signed on to open for Clarkson on her summer Addicted Tour, which begins in West Palm Beach on Friday, then comes to the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa on Saturday before moving on to other venues. "The most important thing for a band is aim high and go big," Carmine said. "The larger the crowd the better for us."

After the Clarkson tour, the band plans to promote its new album through television appearances and to shoot a video for the first single. The band hopes to headline a tour this fall.

Rooney seems to be on its way to becoming a household name. "I would like our records to always mean something to people. The fans are listening to the first record a ton and keep listening and love it," Carmine said. "It makes you proud that they got their money's worth. We always have the next goal, raise the bar. We have high hopes, to outsell (every) record and be better with better songs."

Austin Arias, 17, will be in 12th grade at St. Petersburg Catholic High School and is a former member of the X-Team.

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