By Steve Newton
Maroon 5 are pretty huge these days. Huge enough that they’re playing the Super Bowl halftime show today, for what that’s worth.
I interviewed the band’s 24-year-old frontman, Adam Levine, when they weren’t nearly as huge. It was back in May of 2003, when they were touring North America with Matchbox Twenty, supporting their debut album Songs About Jane.
I wasn’t a big Maroon 5 fan, and I’m still not one, although that tune about having the moves like Jagger has gotten stuck in my head before.
At any rate, that interview from 2003 took place over the phone, when Levine was at a Thai restaurant in Toronto. On the way out he realized there might not be enough spicy plum sauce for his liking, so he had to go back and get some more. Gotta love that spicy plum sauce.
As the interview wound down I asked Levine about the recent three-star review of Songs About Jane that appeared in Rolling Stone, which led to him admitting that he liked–but did not love–the five-star-getting White Stripes.
(Hey, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather see the White Stripes play the Super Bowl halftime show than Maroon 5 any day.)
Have a listen:
Wow. An honest review.