The Academy Is...
The Academy Is... is a band based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. They were originally known as "The Academy", but added the "Is..." in 2004, to avoid legal complications with other established bands already going under that name. They are signed to record label Fueled by Ramen and have released three full albums, Almost Here, Santi, and their newest album, Fast Times at Barrington High, on 19 August 2008.
Band Beginnings (2002)
Frontman William Beckett and guitarist Michael Carden first came together in 2002, but formed the band the following year when they added Adam T. Siska on bass, Adrian LaTrace Jr as a second guitarist and drummer Mike DelPrincipe before heading into the studio and recorded their self-titled debut EP, The Academy (2004), for the Chicago-based label LLR Recordings. LLR Recordings had released Beckett's solo project Remember Maine's debut album The Last Place You Look in 2002. The EP was recorded in Villa Park, IL at The Gallery of Carpet by Producer Brian Zieske. Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy heard it and was so impressed that he convinced his label, Fueled by Ramen, to fly out and see them. The label immediately signed the band. Contrary to popular belief and what has been said in the press, a good portion of the music written on the album has actually been done by LaTrace as he was the lead guitarist and Carden was the rhythm guitarist at the time.
Almost Here (2005)
In 2004 the band headed to Florida to record their Fueled by Ramen debut Almost Here, produced by James Paul Wisner, who's worked with Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, and Underoath. After recording and a summer tour, the band underwent a lineup change. Tom Conrad, formerly of Chicago local band 5o4plan, replaced LaTrace as their second guitarist/backing vocalist and Andy Mrotek, formerly of Last Place Champs, replaced DelPrincipe as their drummer. Andy Mrotek and Thomas Conrad are listed in the liner notes, but were added to the band after the recording of Almost Here to replace DelPrincipe and LaTrace, respectively. They hit the road hard, touring with Fall Out Boy, Something Corporate, Midtown, Matchbook Romance, Motion City Soundtrack and Armor for Sleep. The album was released on February 8 2005. During the summer of 2005, the band embarked on their first headlining tour alongside Plain White T's, Days Away and June.
As of October 26, 2006, The Academy Is... had announced via the blog on their official website that Tom Conrad and the band have parted ways. Although it provides no reason, Tom later made a post on his website Forevernever.net, of which he says that he never "quit the band", which has led fans to speculation about Tom's departure. Michael Guy Chislett joined the band to replace Tom on Guitar.[Ping Pong Music]
Santi (2007)
Whilst featured on the 2006 Warped Tour, they began the process of writing songs for their second release, once finished, the band moved to finishing the writing process and eventually towards stepping into the recording studio. They flew to Los Angeles to record their record with Butch Walker. As of December 23, 2006, the band had officially finished the recording process. The album, entitled Santi, was released April 3 2007 on Fueled By Ramen.
The band went on to release "We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands" as the albums first single, before releasing the album "Santi" on April 2, 2007. Fall Out Boy, +44, Cobra Starship, and Paul Wall joined the band on the 2007 Honda Civic Tour, going onto there final Santi tour tittled "The Sleeping With Giants" tour in Milwaukee on September 5, 2007 with support by The Rocket Summer, Armor for Sleep and Sherwood. The tour ended on November 24, 2007 in Chicago.
Fast Times at Barrington High (2008)
The band's third studio album, Fast Times at Barrington High, was released on August 19th, 2008 through Fueled by Ramen. The first single, "About a Girl", was added to the band's MySpace page on July 15, 2008 and was subsequently made available from various download sites. On the 2nd episode of The Hills Season 4 on August 25 2008 About a Girl was placed on the show. This is the first TAI song on The Hills along with the band Saosin §Omar Khan
TAITV
TAITV stands for The Academy Is... TV. It is a video podcast created by the band. The band made TAITV so that the fans could become more involved with what goes on backstage and in the tour bus, etc. TAITV episodes are now available on the iTunes podcasts. New TAITV can be seen every Sunday night at 9/8c at The Academy Is website. There are currently 55 episodes of TAITV. Guy Ripley, played by Ryland Blackinton (of Cobra Starship) has his own show on TAITV called "Guy Ripley's True Things". The third season of TAITV premiered June 1, 2008.
Bill & Trav's Bogus Journey Tour
On October 1, 2008, the band is scheduled to begin their "Bill & Trav's Bogus Journey" Tour, co-headlined with We the Kings (whose lead singer, Travis Clark, the name partially refers to.) Carolina Liar and Hey Monday are also guest bands on the tour. Pop star Miley Cyrus is also rumored to perform at select dates.
Albums
 Almost Here (2005)
Santi (2007)
Fast Times at Barrington High (2008)
EPs
The Academy (2004, later rereleased as The Academy Is)
From the Carpet (2006)
Singles
from Almost Here:
"Checkmarks" (2005)
"Slow Down" (2006)
"The Phrase That Pays" (2006)
from Santi:
"We've Got a Big Mess on Our Hands" (2007)
"Neighbors" (2007)
"Everything We Had" (2007)
"Sleeping with Giants (Lifetime)" (2007)
"Same Blood" (2007)
from Fast Times at Barrington High:
"About a Girl" (2008)
"Summer Hair = Forever Young" (2008)
Compilation appearances
Warped Tour 2008 Tour Compilation (2008), contributed "Same Blood"
Non-album tracks
"Superman" – released on Sound of Superman (2006)
"Mayonnaise" - released on MySpace Tribute To The Smashing Pumpkins (2007)
"Creep" - released on AOL Sessions Under Cover (2007)
"Black Mamba (Teddybears Remix)" - released on (2006)
"Memento Mori" - released on Demonstration (The Academy two-track demo) (2004)
External links
Official site
Santi's Little Helpers - Official Fan Club for The Academy Is
William Beckett Interview with SaintRockNRoll.com
Interview with PopZap
Burning Stars interview with Michael Carden at Warped Tour '06
Burning Stars interview with Adam Siska
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