 
|
|
|
|
|
 Dave Matthews: Death Becomes Him
Elliott Smith: One Of Us Is On The Moon
Train: Back On Track
Howie Day: Cutting Class And Kicking Ass
Michelle Branch: She's 'Everywhere'
|
|
|
Browse Bands by Name
|
|
Or enter a band name below to search:
|
 Bands Main
|
|
|
|
|
|
After a show in Idaho, Maroon 5 flew to New York a day before the "SNL" taping to record their version of "Everyday People" for a Sly & the Family Stone tribute record due this summer. The track's producer, Nile Rodgers (Duran Duran, Madonna), helped them land a spot on the LP alongside artists such as Lenny Kravitz, the Roots, Black Eyed Peas, and John Mayer featuring blues legend Buddy Guy.
It was of course exciting for Maroon 5 to accept these two prestigious invitations for the same weekend, but given that magazines, radio stations, and summer-tour promoters all seem to want a piece of the band lately, successes like these are beginning to blur into each other.
"Things happen all the time these days that make us think we've made it," Levine explained. "Then something else happens that's even cooler and more amazing, and we think we've made it again. We keep making it every couple of weeks."
If ever there were a poster band for patience, Maroon 5 would be it. The early days in Kara's Flowers, when Levine, Carmichael, bassist Mickey Madden and drummer Ryan Dusick were fresh out of high school, was like a dream of rock stardom come true. Signed to a major label, they were given the same flattering treatment as most bands caught in the major-label A&R net cast in the wake of the success of Live and the Goo Goo Dolls. The tour buses, industry buzz and monetary advances were doled out with promises of even more.
"We were really young and arrogant, and we were basically pumped full of bullsh--," Levine recalled. "How we were going to be really big ... how we were the best ... 'Oh, here's some money.' "
The bubble eventually burst, like it did for most of their peers, when The Fourth World didn't live up to the label's expectations. By that time, Levine was writing songs that incorporated influences he picked up since recording The Fourth World, like Prince and early Stevie Wonder. His new direction clashed with the label, and the band was promptly released from its contract.
Levine and Carmichael left Los Angeles to attend college in New York, where they infused their jam sessions with hip-hop and R&B inspired by Missy Elliott, Maxwell and the work of producers Timbaland, Rodney Jerkins and the Neptunes. Upon reuniting with Madden and Dusick and adding guitarist Valentine in L.A., the future Maroon 5 were born.
"We started wanting to do something that was a bit more audacious for a band of five skinny white dudes to do," Levine said. "It felt dangerous and cool."
Without a label but armed with the experience of having been through the industry's proverbial sausage grinder, Levine and company took matters into their own hands and began writing new songs and working the local circuit.
Label sharks again started circling, but this time Levine was apprehensive about jumping in for a swim. After catching a show at the Viper Room, James Diener and Ben Berkman made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
Having spent years holding executive titles at the majors, Diener and Berkman related to the plight of Kara's Flowers, and agreed with the band's gradual approach. They signed the group to their three-month-old Octone imprint in February 2001. The soulful, swaying "Sunday Morning," they said, is what convinced them.
|
|
|
|
Photo: Octone/J
|
|
|
|
|
