Maroon 5: Adam Levine’s ‘Voice’ Work Inspires New Songs

Maroon 5’s Adam Levine is juggling a lot these days. From his time spent on NBC’s The Voice, to performing at the Oscars, to just plain being married to supermodel Behati Prinsloo, you would think his heavy schedule would have a negative impact on the rest of the band.

Not so, guitarist James Valentine tells the Oakland Press in a new interview, emphasizing how Levine’s full plate of activities has actually had a positive impact on the band’s recording process over the years.

“I think because we toured so intently [in the early years] making the records was a little bit of a vacation for us from the road,” Valentine said. “But now our touring schedule is a little more relaxed because we have Adam doing (The Voice), so while he’s doing the show we just work on the music and one thing rolls into the other.”

The time away has also allowed a new dynamic to take shape when it comes to new music altogether.

“The dynamic of the band has changed a lot in general, as well as in the way we’ve approached making records. We used to spend such a long time making records.”

Maroon 5 is busy touring behind their ultra-successful fifth album V. As reported by Inquistr, the tour has received plenty of warm reviews as Adam Levine leads his bandmates cross country. Most recently, Maroon 5 passed through Columbus Ohio to an extremely welcoming audience.

“[The] capacity crowd in Nationwide Arena was happy to heed [Adam’s] call,” one reviewer wrote following the concert. The writer also directly attributed the energy of the crowd to the Maroon 5 front man’s ability to leave them howling.

“Levine, 35, all tattooed arms, J. Crew hair and a rolled-out-of-bed wardrobe complete with a Columbus T-shirt, was the picture of calculated nonchalance. Mic stand in hand, he pranced down an arrow-shaped catwalk, clapped and flailed his arms — equal parts charismatic and dorky. Not exactly moves like Jagger (a few brief moments of Levine shredding on guitar, however, boosted the cool).”

Maroon 5’s origins as a band hail from Los Angeles California, but under the dubious moniker known as Kara’s Flowers. It wasn’t until Adam Levine and the rest of his bandmates attended college together that Maroon 5 was born (in fact, the name Maroon 5 is reportedly related to the name of the school they all attended: Five Towns.)

The band went on to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2005 thanks to their debut album Songs From Jane. And since then Maroon 5 has become a household name with countless chart-topping hits that include their most recent songs “Animals” and “Sugar.” Front man Adam Levine has achieved super stardom in his own right, appearing in a multitude of cross-promotional platforms that include NBC’s hit TV show The Voice.

[Photo credit: Christopher Polk / Getty Images]