The Academy Is ...

Notes by Lucinda
The Collegian, SDSU
Published 10/22/08

With three albums out on Fueled By Ramen, The Academy Is … continues to make headlines and spark interest.

The Academy Is …'s debut album, Almost Here, was released in 2005 and hit the Billboard Heatseekers chart at No. 20, as well as the Independent Albums chart at No. 24. The album received a lot of buzz in the music scene and seemed to skyrocket the band to success.

After several tours, the band went back into the studio to record Santi, which was released in 2007. Although some critics praised the record as a huge progression from the band, TAI also received a lot of heat from fans who thought they changed their sound a little too much. The album seemed to put off a love-it-or-hate-it vibe, but TAI certainly didn't let any negative criticism get in their way of continuing triumph.

While in the process of getting ready to record their third album, William Beckett (vocals), Adam Siska (bass), Mike Carden (guitar), Andy "The Butcher" Mrotek (drums) and Michael Guy Chislett (guitar) moved out to New York to refresh their energy.

"Being five young guys in such a big city is very humbling," said Siska. "There's a lot of pressure to kind of do or die. We just wanted to make a record because it's really fun to do, and we plan on making many more of them."

In Aug. 2008, TAI released their third album Fast Times and Barrington High. While many critics were unsure of what results the third album would produce, Fast Times smashed the apprehension with upbeat tempos and reminiscent lyrics of high school.

"Every CD for us is very interesting," said Siska. "You wonder if you'll be happy with the results, and that can be very stressful. [Fast Times] is my favorite record we've ever made. We just had a lot of fun."

Besides putting out three continually evolving albums, TAI has been busy touring the states as well as oversees. They also try to include the fans into their everyday lives with the creation of TAITV (The Academy Is … TV), which is updated every Sunday on their Web site. Although the concept of a weekly video blog seems perfect to fans, Siska admits the idea was somewhat accidental.

"We're not like the Motle-Cru days of partying, getting all sorts of crazy with drugs and everything," said Siska. "We were bored and decided to make a home movie and goof around. We posted it and got a positive response, so we decided to keep doing it every Sunday night."

With constant touring, recording, filming TAITV and basically being scene gods in general, you'd think the guys of TAI would be exhausted. Although Siska says going non-stop can wear you out, in the end, he's really doing what he loves.

"I am very blessed in the fact that I get to play music on stage every night," Siska said. "The fact that I get to go to all of these different places, play music and help people create all these memories with their friends and inspire people … I'm so privileged to get to put this mark on my generation. All other things are just secondary to this."

The Academy Is … is currently co-headlining the Bill and Trav's Bogus Journey Tour with We The Kings. They will be in Omaha on Oct. 28 and in Minneapolis on Oct. 31 with openers Hey Monday and Carolina Liar.