Room Thriteen caught up with Rooney's Louie Stephens and Taylor Locke backstage at Pressure Point in Brighton to find out how their latest tour was going and just why they are so great.

R13: So how are you finding Europe, this is your second time the UK this year?
Louie Stephens: We have been to the UK 4 or 5 times in total. We’re loving it! Our first record came out in ‘03 in the States and I think it came out about the same time here, which is quite a while ago. Between our first record Rooney and this new one ‘Calling The World’ a lot has transpired. We actually made a couple of second albums; we made 3 second albums in between this one and the first one. We have found the European and UK crowds, especially the UK crowds, to be amazing. This is our first time in Brighton too, first time in Sheffield last night so we are enjoying ourselves.

R13: You have been doing a lot of touring this past year where you have been either supporting or headlining. How do you keep going?
Taylor Locke:: This is going to be our last run for a few months. We are going to take a break, we started out in spring right before the record came out and we have done a lot of both supporting and headlining. Once you have done a lot of openings and a bunch of headline tours, you have got to take some time off. You have to come back with another single before you go back out. That’s pretty much where we are now, sort of phase one of this record cycle is winding down and then there’s going to be a new single in the UK. Each country around Europe has chosen their own single.
R13: Oh really?
LS: I’m not sure if it’s because the UK just has better taste, but our next single in the UK, is one I don’t think any of us would have expected it to be the second single, or even a single. It’s called; ‘I Should Have Been After You’. We've just made an awesome video for it.

R13: What’s been your best tour end or tour prank?
LS: We just got off a tour with the Polyphonic Spree; don’t know if you have heard of them? Well they wear those big robes.
TL: And now we do too…
LS: Yeah, we don the robes…
TL: And turbans.
LS: White towels and sunglasses and got on their set.
TL: They did a ‘Live and Let Die’ cover which was really good. Our roadies followed us with cameras and we posed with each band member, which usually took the length of the song to make the rounds. It didn’t ruin the show or anything, it was pretty light hearted.

R13: How does the UK compare to Europe and the States, if it compares at all?
LS: Like I said, they have their own discerning taste. In general, you’re dealing with a different kind of young person here than in the States which is totally unique to this area. Each concert has its own certain vibe to it. It’s so different in each region, it’s awesome!

R13: Is there any countries you would like to tour that you have not toured already?
LS: (Laughs) Probably Zaire…
TL: Actually I think Australia and New Zealand will be next.

R13: You have mentioned in previous interviews that you like to create your own world when you’re touring. What’s the Rooney world like?
LS: Part of it is finding cool bands to tour with to begin with. I mean we have had to balance our tour out with big bands that we don’t even like that much anyway. Trying to create your own world thing is really to make sure you are with bands that your 100% comfortable with and love. You know, you’re on a bus or van and it’s your own bubble, eco system at that time. So you have to find ways to survive that because if you don’t it’s just a lot of truck stops and weird no mans’ land. You make each other laugh as much as possible or do weird things, sometimes you get really out there and weird, that’s what we do.

R13: Obviously gigs are about audience participation and feeding off the audience. Do you find that it hard to get the audience involved?
TL: I guess the smaller clubs; the British audience’s; the European audiences, I think they really want to be a part of it. Depending on the space on stage you may have to work harder to get everyone involved. Might not even be a country thing, it may be just what tour you’re on. I think on all these UK shows so far they are ready to sing along without a lot of effort and have been pretty eager and willing to be part of the show.
R13: Do you find that you are able to connect with the audience, while on stage?
LS: Yeah definitely, it really is like the weather almost, if it’s a grey cloudy day - it’s different, you know, in England it’s always cloudy! What I mean is if it’s a sunny day you just feel better, it affects your whole mood for the rest of the day. If you get a good crowd, you just get pumped. It feels so worthwhile, the amount of work we put in and when it’s not, it can be really miserable. But so far, so good.

R13: This is a question that we have asked quite a few of the artists we have interviewed- Where have you drunk your best beer?
LS: Germany to be honest.
TL: Although we drank the most beers at Oktoberfest.

R13: You guys have come out of the L.A music scene, which at the moment seems to be developing a lot. Who from the West Coast would you tell others to check out?
TL: We were just on the phone to The Like so I would have to say them. They are in London making a second record so we are going to see them tomorrow. I don’t know maybe that scene is finally spreading wings and trickling over here. It’s really been the same handful of bands the whole time. We have never done a tour or festival or anything with all those bands. Everyone is on separate paths and we get associated just because we are from LA.
LS: It’s a little bit like siblings almost. You’re kinda competitive with them, you get sick of them but they are a part of your world.
R13: I know there is a close knit community in San Diego area where they do festivals etc ��" earlier this year they had Switchfoot Bro AM on the beach.
TL:: It’s like the music too; the genre; things like punk rock or whatever seem to have a real camaraderie. They sound similar and present themselves in a similar way. I don’t know, maybe it’s a good thing that our band is different.

R13: That leads to the next question, you are quite different, what influences your style and is it difficult to keep it that way?
LS: I think we search for music in a major way. We all search for that great band or that great song. When you feel like you have discovered something, like with ELO or we have a lot of classic 60’s; 70’s Bad Finger; The Zombies; obviously The Beatles; The Beach Boys etc. In the 70’s everyone got into the glam stuff some of the more rock stuff stuck.
TL: Poguey stuff…
LS: Yeah, then there’s The Cars of the 80s. It’s all about trying to find the gems.
R13: And they all influence you?
LS: Yeah.
TL: When we start arranging and playing songs it quickly sounds like our band, even when we do covers. On this tour we are doing a cover of an Adele Shannon song. It’s an early 60’s pop sounding record, but when we cover it, the song doesn’t stick out; it has our vibe to it.

R13: You guys have your share of interview is there a question your sick of answering?
LS: Not really, I don’t like it when interviewers lead you really, you know? Like “Does it bother you that da da da” often I feel like no not really but if you say so.
R13: Is there any question that an interviewer has not asked you that you wished they would?
LS: Why are you so brilliant?
R13: (Laughing) …and what would the answer would be?
LS: (Smiles) I was born that way.

R13: If you could fabricate any story about yourselves what would it be?
LS: Well in the UK I would go with something tabloid related. You guys are amazing with the tabloids, its bad in the states. It would be about… ummm…
TL: (Laughing) It would have to be about a fight or drugs or one of us has just found out they have a 20 year old child. You know, that kind of thing.