Maroon 5 open to collaborate with Pacman

MANILA, Philippines - Grammy-winning American rock quintet Maroon 5 is open to collaborate with Pinoy boxing hero Manny Pacquiao should the opportunity present itself.

This was revealed by the band in a presscon yesterday at Edsa Shangri-La, which was followed by an exclusive one-on-one with The STAR, prior to its gig at the SMX Convention Center last night.

“We don’t know how that’s going to go about, but we’d love to write a song for him,” frontman Adam Levine said in an answer to a question if they were willing to collaborate with internationally known Filipinos like Pacman, who has done some recording himself. 

The band, whose other members are Jesse Carmichael (keys, guitars), Mickey Madden (bass), James Valentine (guitars) and Matt Flynn (drums, percussions), came to town as part of the Asian tour of its latest and third record Hands All Over. This is the group’s second visit to the Philippines; they were here three years ago.

Maroon 5 also talked about how special the making of Hands All Over had been. “For one, we did it in Lake Geneva, Switzerland. The place is paradise. (The two-month writing and recording) drove us a little crazy, but the place gave us focus,” said Adam, adding that the album was the group’s first collaborative effort with legendary producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange.

What is the songwriting process like for the band? “It really depends. At times, it starts with the bass lines, or the beat of the drums. Inspiration comes from all over the place,” Adam said.

Ever since the group’s mainstream debut in 2002 via the massively successful album Songs About Jane that churned out such hits as This Love, She Will Be Loved, etc., Maroon 5 has had sold 10 million albums in the US and 15 million worldwide.

More than keeping the hits coming, how do band members keep their chemistry going?

“We’re all really good friends, we’re very open with each other and always communicating. Yes, we’ve tried to spend some time apart for space, but that’s been unsuccessful so far,” James said with a laugh, “because when we go home and are off tour, we find ourselves hanging out with each other a lot of nights, probably more than we should. We probably should separate, sometimes.”

The STAR also asked if the statement of Adam in one interview wherein he said they’re at the peak of their career is truly reflective of what they feel as a band, James said, “Adam said that some years ago. Maybe now we’ve just sort of settled into a nice continuous flow.”

Adam said, “It’s inevitable, because once you’ve realized you’ve been around for a long time, it’s gonna be ups and downs, it’s gonna be peaks and valleys. But there are a lot of things going on right now. Synergistically, we’re still connecting as a band.”

For his part, Mickey said, “But we’re very grateful to have really loyal fans that show up continuously wherever we tour, and for us that’s really important. And we always work the hardest.”

Are they looking to embark on other creative pursuits in the future?

Adam said, “Producing is something I want to do badly, now that I know what I want and what I don’t. It’s a very exciting prospect.”

“Mentoring new bands is also something that the band is very interested in doing, and we think it’s a natural progression for us,” Mickey added.

Have they ever imagined they would reach this level of stature in the global music industry?

Adam said, “This big? Definitely not, but we have the highest hopes when we started. When we released our first album, we thought we made a massive failure. I was so upset, I couldn’t hear the words, and I was freaking out. But we were wrong, thank God!”

Hands All Over featuring the chart-topping Misery, Give A Little More and Never Gonna Leave This Bed is released under MCA Music.