Dailyfanatic

I recently discovered the band The Academy Is… when a co-worker burned a copy of their debut and sophomore albums for me - the CD has barely come out of my car stereo since. Although the group is fairly young to the music scene - just coming into the mainstream in 2004 - they still have a lot to offer and their talent continues to impress audiences - and I am speaking for myself here. Read up on this group and make a well-educated decision to go see them this weekend at Street Scene!
With their pop-punk vocals and spunky guitar riffs, The Academy is… has been named by the Rolling Stone as one of the “top ten artists to watch,” and while they’ve recently received a tremendous amount of publicity for their newest album,”Santi,” (released in April) the group has actually been around since 2002.
Growing up around the Chicago local music scene, the band’s singer William Beckett and guitarist Mike Carden were rivals from day one, their separate bands constantly competing with the other. It wasn’t until those bands parted ways that the two began talking and realized their potential to form a successful group.
“Almost Here” was released in 2004 after Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz was impressed with the band’s demo for Chicago’s LLR Records and recommended them to his band’s label, Fueled by Ramen, which decided to sign them immediately.

Now, one more album later, the band has kicked off a national tour, dubbed “Sleeping with Giants,” beginning Sept. 5 in Milwaukee and wrapping up at the end of November in their native Chicago.
The band’s first album is a direct reflection of what the band was going through at the time they recorded, conveying the young group’s struggle to produce an album and how passionate they were about getting their message through to their listeners, according to a biography of the group on Sing365.com.
“Santi” has a more fun, lighter feel, with tracks like “Neighbors” that talk about the band causing raucous and living life with less inhibitions. The band joined as part of the Warped Tour in 2006, where they began writing their second album. A few months ago, the band completed the Honda Civic Tour with Fall Out Boy, +44, Cobra Starship and Paul Wall, and toured Australia and Singapore with Cobra Starship in August.
In an interview by Pop-Zap.com with Carden, the band’s guitarist stressed how important it was to the band to remain easily accessible to their fans and not isolate themselves as they begin to grow.
“Ever since we made this band with myself and William we’ve said, ‘We’re going to do this differently,’” Carden said about the way other bands handle interviews and radio broadcasts. “I think since the beginning of the band we’ve thought it’s important.”

For more information, visit www.theacademyis.com.