- [Off camera] OK, guys. Here we go, rehearsal.
[Off camera] Ready, Steve? We are rehearsing, beginning.
- [Walkie talkie] Ready, guys. OK, here we go, rehearsal.
- [Off camera] Ready, and playback!
[Playback of “This Love” by Maroon 5]
- [Interviewer] I looked
at my schedule.
It was almost exactly a year ago
that I met you guys at lunch
and did the first interview.
- Earth, Wind and Flower.
- That's right.
- Had a scrumptious salmon pasta.
- Tell me a little bit about what the year's been like for the band.
- So many shows. Got the mic?
I got a mic. I'm cool.
There's so many shows, and so many tours, and a lot of —
I mean, when we got —
last time we talked, I believe we
were still in a van, or maybe the RV?
We've just been in so many different vehicles,
and done so many weird things, and been, you know,
having the best time, and the worst time,
and just the whole spectrum of emotions.
[Percussive music beats]
- [Interviewer] I know we talked about this a year ago,
but so we can get it on camera,
can you tell the story of Maroon 5
and how you guys evolved from Kara's Flowers to this?
- God, go for it.
- A brief history of Maroon 5 is
that the four of us — - [Laughs]
- Minus James Valentine, met in high school 10 years ago.
We started the band when we were in ninth grade,
and all throughout high school just played.
Got signed in 10th grade to an independent label,
and then made an album that we took around to labels.
We were big into Green Day at the time,
and Rob Cavallo signed us.
He was their producer and A&R guy.
And then, he left our record label, and we were stranded,
and the album we put out wasn't doing well.
We got off the label.
We started from scratch,
and at this point, we were just a band, just the four of us.
We were starting to get influenced
by a lot of new styles of music.
Adam was really listening to a lot of Stevie Wonder
and Lauryn Hill, a lot of soul and R&B singers.
We got James when he moved out to L.A. from Nebraska.
He joined our band three years ago,
and we changed the name to Maroon 5,
’cause the music was totally different
from our old band, and we wanted a fresh start.
And ever since then, it's been just this great climb uphill.
- Yeah, and now, we're totally famous.
It's really cool. - [Laughs]
- [Off camera] Should we have a go at this?
- [Director] Yeah. So, when he’s there, you have to be that side.
- OK.
- [Interviewer] Even a year ago,
when I asked what might be the second single,
you said “This Love.”
So, you stuck with it,
and now, you're making the video.
Tell me a little bit about this song, and —
- This song was just written at
the most emotionally trying time in my life.
I was in a relationship that was ending.
There was just a lot, it was a lot of
really bad things going on with my personal life.
And then, I was really excited on the other end,
because the band was about to go make [‘Songs About Jane’],
and I was ecstatic to be having, you know —
to go into the studio.
We’d been waiting for so long,
’cause we’d been together for a while.
So, that was really exciting,
but then, I was really upset about my relationship ending,
and she was literally leaving town.
She was literally leaving town within days of
me writing the lyrics to “This Love.”
So, I was in prime emotional condition to write a song.
[Playback of “This Love” by Maroon 5]
- [Levine] I mean, I think when we started out
making the record, we thought we were —
or I really wanted to make an R&B record, straight up.
That's what I wanted.
And then, it kind of evolved and changed,
and everyone's opinions kind of factored in,
and we came up with this kind of weird hybrid
of a lot of different things.
And I think that's what's, you know —
people are responding to, ’cause it's —
we didn't set out to do anything different, really.
We just set out to do what we love to do,
and that wound up being different,
in the context of what is popular today.
So, we're really happy about that.
- [Off camera] And roll camera. Here we go, playback!
- This is rock and roll.
[Playback of “This Love” by Maroon 5]
- [Levine] Sorry, cut. Sorry.
[Playback of “This Love” by Maroon 5]
- [Interviewer] We just talked to John Mayer like a month ago,
and he talked a lot about you guys in the interview.
Do you feel like you kind of won over
a lot of John Mayer fans on that tour?
- Absolutely. I mean, with the review in ‘Rolling Stone,’
it's so weird how —
I mean, he's loved the band for a long time, and just like —
when ‘Rolling Stone’ finally decided to
review our record, at the top,
it said “John Mayer's Favorite Funky Soul Band.”
I was like, “What?” - [Band laughs]
- I guess he's kind of an honorary member.
But it was really weird, but he's been wonderful.
You know, he took us out on the road with him,
and exposed us to his audience.
- [Interviewer] I mean, are you glad
that it's happening this way?
You know, are you happier that it's kind of
been more gradual, and you've really
been able to build up a fan base nationwide?
- So much happier that it's been gradual,
and we've been able to build a fan base nationwide.
Yeah. Like I said, you know, we've
seen bands who have not really made it and that have —
because they are kind of identity-less,
’cause they've been just touring,
or they haven't been touring. They just —
their record comes out, and,
like James said, it just either happens or it doesn't, and
regardless of what happens now, from now on,
we still know that we have fans,
and that we can play a show
and fill a room with people,
which is really kind of the point.
You know, they sing the lyrics back,
and that still blows my mind every single time.
I can't believe it.
[Playback of “This Love” by Maroon 5]
- [Levine singing] - [Director] Not bad.
- [Jesse Carmichael] They're calling us back, I think,
’cause they just had to change the lights.
- We're making an amazing video
that I'm so excited about,
and I can't wait until MTV plays it.
- [Interviewer] Can you tell us what the video is about?
- The video's like —
Really quick, really quick, really quick, really quick. Here we go, here we go.
OK, the video, really quickly,
the video is about exactly what I just said.
My relationship ending, my ex-girlfriend leaving town,
good old emotional conflict.
Sorry, gotta go. Yeah!
- It's by [Sophie Muller].
- [Off camera] I’ll take the lav from you.
- [Levine] Alright. - [Off camera] Thanks for your time.