The Academy Is... - Biography
Culling influences from pop radio’s shadowy corners, Chicago’s The Academy Is . . . came together in the spring of 2003 when guitarist Mike Carden and singer William Beckett joined forces from rival bands (Carden was formerly in a band called Jodie, and Beckett was part of a solo project known as Remember Maine). Originally called simply The Academy, the band that burst out of the Chicago emo scene changed its name to The Academy Is . . . to avoid legal complications with existing groups who had copyrights to the name. With fellow founding member, bassist Adam T. Siska, the band rounded out its roster by adding rhythm guitarist AJ LaTrance and drummer Michael DelPrincipe (a.k.a. Little Mike). Since that iteration, TAI has put out three full-length albums, headlined major tours and infiltrated the indie charts on multiple occasions.
Drawing inspiration from acts like Weezer, blink-182 and Pink Floyd, The Academy Is . . . recorded a self-titled EP in 2004 for LLR Recordings. When fellow Chicagoan Pete Wentz (Fall Out Bo) heard it, he recommended the band to the Fueled By Ramen label, who promptly signed them. The members went down to Florida with producer James Paul Wisner (Further Seems Forever) to record their debut album in 2004 before embarking on a tour with Fall Out Boy, Midtown and Something Corporate. Upon recording the album and completing the last leg of the tour, DelPrincipe and LaTrance left the group. Tom Conrad took over backing vocals and rhythm guitar duties, and Andy Mrotek (formerly of Last Place Champs) became the permanent skinsman.
The band’s debut album on Fueled By Ramen, Almost Here (2005) was received well, drawing comparisons to their already successful brethren, Fall Out Boy, as well as Hidden in Plain View. With Beckett’s wavering, manic vocals tilts and slick polished guitar licks, the band had a nervy pop feeling that gained them further exposure. The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart, and also climbed into the Top 20 Top Independent Albums.
Following an exhaustive headlining tour schedule to support the album throughout most of 2005, The Academy Is . . . and guitarist Tom Conrad parted ways. He was replaced by Michael Guy Chislett. They continued touring into 2006 as one of the main acts of the Warped Tour, all the while writing songs for their now much-anticipated follow-up album. Upon the tour’s completion, the band went to Los Angeles to record with famed producer, Butch Walker (Marvelous 3).
Santi (2007 Fueled By Ramen) was cut from the same cloth as their debut, but it had a bit more edge. Beckett’s vocals carried the same charms as before, notably on the singles “We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands” and where the alley cat strutter, “Bulls in Brooklyn.” Though the emo-vibe is well pronounced throughout (and shines in the capable hands of Walker), there’s a smattering of the post-punk aesthetic on “LAX to O’Hare” and a ballsier rock sound emerges on “You Might Have Noticed.” Santi peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200, as well as on the Top Internet Albums chart.
The band again hit the road, incessantly touring in support of Santi with the likes of +44, Paul Wall and Cobra Flagship, throughout much of the year. The end of the “Sleeping With Giants” tour ended in the band’s hometown of Chicago in November, 2007.
In 2008, the band released its third full-length album, Fast Times at Barrington High (Fueled By Ramen)—the name taken from the high school that Beckett and Siska attended. With a production team of Sam Hollander and Dave Katz—a.k.a. S*A*M & Sluggo, who double as a songwriting team for the first half of the record—TAI put a serious caveat into emo music versus straight-ahead pop rock. All the tracks, beginning with the song “About a Girl” that the band release on its MySpace page a month prior to the album’s release, have radio-ready production, yet never to be found is the stereotypical whining associated with emo. Tracks like “Beware! Cougar!” share the bratty blink-182 punk aesthetic, while “His Girl Friday” poppily comes closer to Fall Out Boy. Barrington rose to #17 on the Billboard 200.
The Academy Is . . . released an EP called Lost In Pacific Time: The AP/EP in September of 2009, at first just for the iTunes store. They later sold the EP on the album on their Fall Ball Tour. One of the tracks, “Days Like Masquerades,” was played at an anti-suicide benefit at Barrington High School in Chicago. In 2008, the band also begun a podcast series called TAITV, which was a behind the scenes look at the band as they toured. In 2011 the band officially broke up.