The Academy Is biography
The Academy Is... was an American rock band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2003. , the band has released three studio albums, Almost Here, Santi, and Fast Times at Barrington High, and four EPs. On 8 October 2011, the band announced they would go their separate ways.
History
Band beginnings (2003)
William Beckett (singer) and Adam T. Siska's (bass) plans for starting a band together came to fruition on March 4, 2003 recruiting Mike Carden (guitar) after his former band, Jodie, which had members of Victory records act June, broke up then eventually adding AJ LaTrace as a lead guitarist and Michael DelPrincipe (Little Mike) as a drummer. They recorded their self-titled debut EP,
The Academy (2004), for the Chicago-based label LLR Recordings. LLR Recordings had previously released Beckett's solo project Remember Maine's debut album
The Last Place You Look in 2002 and Mike Carden's solo folk album in 2003. 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 impressed. The label Fueled by Ramen immediately signed the band.
In 2004 the band headed to Florida to record their Fueled by Ramen debut Almost Here, produced by James Paul Wisner, who has worked with Dashboard Confessional, Something Corporate, Further Seems Forever, and Underoath. After recording the album and doing a summer tour, the band underwent a lineup change. Thomas Conrad, formerly of Chicago local band 5o4plan, replaced LaTrace as the second guitarist/backing vocalist and Andy Mrotek, formerly of Last Place Champs, replaced DelPrincipe as the 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 and the following summer, the band embarked on their first headlining tour alongside Plain White T's, Days Away and June. On Billboard's charts Almost Here peaked at #7 on Top Heatseekers, #16 on Independent Albums, and #185 on The Billboard 200.
On October 26, 2006, The Academy Is... had announced via the blog on their official website that Thomas Conrad and the band had parted ways. Michael Guy Chislett joined the band to replace Conrad on guitar.
While touring as a main act on the 2006 Warped Tour, the band began the process of writing songs for their second album. Once finished, the band flew to Los Angeles to record their record with Butch Walker. As of December 23, 2006, the band had officially finished the recording process and the album, entitled Santi, was released April 3, 2007 on the Fueled By Ramen label. The release of this album was listed on Blender's 25 reasons to love 2007. On January 26, 2007 a sample of "LAX to O'Hare" was released on the band's AbsolutePunk profile. The album peaked at #32 on the Billboard 200.
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