Phone interview with Louie Stephens of Rooney. September 2003.

Elizabeth : Hi, Louie. I'm told you're in Birmingham, Alabama right now, getting ready to play a show tonight with The Sounds and Paloalto. How is the tour going so far?
Louie : It's starting off with a bang. Last night was just the first show, but so far it's feeling like one of the coolest tours we've done.

E: And I hear you have a birthday coming up soon, so Happy Early Birthday from Bandchat. You'll be on the road, how do birthday celebrations go with such a hectic schedule?
L : Well, I'm not really a cake eater. Any celebration is cool with me.

E: Rooney's been getting a lot of publicity in the past few months. Have you been bogged down with interviews now, especially with this headlining tour?
L : Not really. But we just started the tour, so there's a lot of cities and a lot of press we'll be getting around to very soon. I like interviews, actually, especially if I'm the one that gets to ask the questions. On Lollapalooza this summer, MTV had a special show about the tour, and we got to interview this group of belly dancers who opened the show. That was pretty cool.

E: Have you had to deal with any annoying questions when you're on the receiving side of the interview?
L : Yeah, there are always those questions that make you ask, 'Why the hell would you want to know that?' Like in one interview, the lady wanted us each to go down the line and say our name, age, zodiac sign, and favorite ice cream flavor. That was kinda dumb. But it was for, like, Seventeen magazine so I guess we had it coming when we agreed to do the interview.

E: Rolling Stone reviewed your album and gave it 2 stars.
L : Yeah, two out of two stars. Pretty good, huh?
E: Two out of five.
L : Yeah, I know, I was just trying to make us sound better. Actually, I was kind of bummed about it.
E: And a month or two later, they featured Rooney as one of the 10 Artists to Watch. Did that make you turn your head, or wonder why there was a double sidedness to their opinion of the band and its music?
L : Yeah, see that's why I was shocked when I read the review. Because prior to the review being written, at Coachella, we were interviewed for the 10 Artists to Watch feature and the interviewer was really nice, she said she loved the album, and so when the review was so bad, we we're like 'what?' But then later we found out that the album review wasn't written by a staff member at Rolling Stone. They have freelance people that will submit reviews of shows and albums and stuff, so it was some guy that didn't even work with the magazine. And that made me feel a little better about it. Cause everyone's entitled to their own opinions, you know, and you can't please everyone. So.whatever. That's okay.

E: A lot of the interviews and reviews I've read about Rooney tend to label the band, right off the bat, as "retro-pop with a modern California edge." What do you think about that label, and is that something the band is aiming for, a specific genre or style?
L : Well as far as retro goes, I'm not sure. We listen to a lot of music that's not from just today's music world and we do have influences from the 50s and 60s, but we're not about imitation. I love the Beach Boys and their harmonies and all, but I don't want to BE them. We don't want to do something exactly the way someone else did decades ago. I can see how people want to use words and phrases to categorize and label a band or a song, or a sound the music puts forth, but Rock and Roll is Rock and Roll. We're just making music that we would want to listen to. And as for the California thing, that's our own doing. It's where we come from, and I think it's great that people know that California's a part of us. You know, there's that whole New York City scene that everyone's gotten so hyped up about, and if people need or want that silly label of being part of a 'scene' then that's fine. It's just not what we're worried about.

E: Nicely put. So let's talk about the album. What is your personal favorite song on it?
L : If I was sitting in a car with some friends and I put the cd in, I'd probably play them Stay Away. I just like the way it sounds. That one, and Losing All Control. And Daisy Duke has a good attitude.

E: The liner notes list Robert as the writer of all of the songs on the album. Does Robert piece together the entire song, or is it more of a collaborative effort amongst the band?
L : On this album, Robert did write all of the songs. Blueside and Losing All Control were like the first Rooney songs ever, and that happened before I was even in the band. A lot of the songs on the album would get scrapped, then brought back again, and they would go through a lot of trial and error. Robert would make a demo of a song at home and bring it in and we'd work with it. He essentially wrote all of the songs, but they were just blueprints until we all got a hold of them. Taylor would listen to it and write the lead guitar line, I came up with the keys, Ned played with rhythms on the drums, and Matt would lay down a bass line for it. So, yeah, Robert did write all of the songs, but they're a product of all of us. We all put our little pieces in them.

E: Do you have the next single picked out?
L : Yeah, we're thinking that Shakin' will be the next single. I'm stoked, cause it's really fun to play live. It's very upbeat and its got a nice hook.
E: Have plans already been made for the video?
L : No finalized plans yet, but we have definitely been coming up with tons of different ideas and talking with different directors, and conceptualizing. Maybe it'll be around in October or November.

E: What songs, besides Shakin', do you really like to play live?
L : Sorry, Sorry. It's a rocker. It's the one that all five of us just get fired up about when it's time to play it.

E: So now to the more prodding questions. The real thinkers. If you were me, what would you ask yourself?
L : Oh, man. That's hard. No, wait. I know. 'How much money do you make?'
E: You really want me to ask you that?
L : Nah. How about 'Have you ever been to Medieval Times?'
E: Okay.So, Have you ever been to Medieval Times?
L : Yeah! It was magnificent.

E: Right.That one got you to look at yourself, now let's get you to look at your band mates a little. Describe a good thing and a bad thing about the members of Rooney.
L : Okay, I'm going to be 100% honest here. The good thing about them is that they're all really handsome. And the bad thing.hold on, I have to think hard about this one.I'm stumped. They're all.hmm.good question. Let's see. I'm looking at Matt right now. He's a liar. That's a bad thing.
E: So Matt is a liar?
L : Yes.
E: Are you lying to me?
L : I'm not lying. Matt's the liar. Not me. Really.
E: Alright.

E: So that brings me to my final question. We ask this to everyone we interview at Bandchat. If you were jello, what kind would you be and why?
L : Jello? I don't know that I'd want to be jello. What about 'If I were a crayon'?
E: Okay, sure.You can be a crayon. What kind of crayon would you be and why?
L : I've got a good answer for this one. Indian Red. Because I love the Native Americans.
E: Are you lying?
L : No! It's a killer color, man! A killer crayon.