Archives For maroon 5

AUDIO: That Time Adam Levine He’d Rather Me Be President Than Romney

Ralphie Aversa  —  01/20/2018 — Leave a comment

Reading a President Trump tweet about Adam Levine recalled a few of my conversations with the Maroon 5 lead singer (whom Trump was not referring to; the President was quoting a columnist with media outlet The Federalist). I believe my first interview with Levine was in the fall of 2008; the artist was in Mexico and in between album cycles yet called in to stump for then-Senator Obama. We made small talk over the Maroon 5’s forthcoming album (“Hands All Over”) and a Halloween party Levine had thrown a few nights prior. Then, we dove in to heavier topics such as the economy as it relates to the music industry and the general election.

I chatted with Levine again in October of 2012, as President Obama ran for reelection against Mitt Romney. Reminding the front man of our interview four years prior, I asked Levine if he would again join the political fray to support the 44th President.

“I’m going to do whatever the hell I can, because if (Obama) doesn’t get elected I’m f—–g moving,” Levine responded. “I’d rather you be president than f—–g Mitt Romney, and I barely know you!”

Of course four years later, other public figures would make a similar claim (and actually be tested on how serious they were) about a Trump presidency. As for Levine, he’s keeping busy with “The Voice” and his band. Maroon 5 just released a new music video for the single, “Wait.” The group will tour behind its latest album, “Red Pill Blues” from May to June and then again from September to October.

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VIDEO: Music Headlines And More On The PIX11 Morning News

Ralphie Aversa  —  03/21/2017 — Leave a comment

I joined The PIX11 Morning News on Tuesday with Scott Stanford, Sukanya Krishnan and Ojinika Obiekwe to talk about new music from Pitbull, Drake and Rick Ross along with potential songs of the summer. We also chatted about an album that will be released posthumously by Chuck Berry’s family. Then at the end, Scott compared my looks to an artist we play quite a bit on the show. Check out the full segment below.

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INTERVIEW: Magic! Looks To Make More ‘Chocolate Ice Cream’ On New LP

Ralphie Aversa  —  07/22/2016 — Leave a comment

Scoring an infectious song of the summer, touring with Maroon 5, collaborating with the likes of David Guetta and Shakira along with performing on almost every television show imaginable. These are the experiences that shaped “Primary Colours,” the sophomore album from Magic! that was released earlier this month.

“’Rude’ is a great song and so it never feels corny to sing; it always feels like there’s soul in it and there’s heart in it,” said lead singer Nasri Atweh. “Of course it was hard to sing it every night; it was monotonous.”

But the success of “Rude” only motivated the quartet as it wrote and recorded “Primary Colours.”

“If we could get that same reaction for other songs… because ‘Rude’ has a reaction that… nothing in the world has this reaction. Only like, chocolate ice cream has this reaction!” Nasri continued. “So when you get that for the one song you want it for all of the songs.”
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Matter-of-fact, “Rude” directly inspired another track on the band’s new release, “Dance Monkey.” Like most of the other songs on the Canadians’ second LP, it’s catchy and born in the reggae-pop sound that Magic! has become known for. Other highlights include the Sean Paul-assisted lead single “Lay You Down Easy” and its follow-up, “Red Dress” about a girl who takes forever to get ready.

“The guy’s waiting (for the girl to get ready),” Magic!’s front man explained. “And then when she’s looking all hot, he’s like, ‘Alright, let’s take your clothes off.’”

Another cut with the same playful sentiment is “Gloria,” which documents the love a man has for a woman even though she clearly should not be trusted.

“Gloria is a dirty, dirty…girl,” Nasri said. “’Glorias’ are everywhere, girls and boys.

“The fun thing about that song is that my character is so helpless because he just wants a girl as beautiful as Gloria.”

The problem? Nasri’s character takes Gloria on a cruise, only to return to their cabin one night with a bottle of wine and find her in bed with two other men.

“We’re looking forward to making that video.”

In the meantime, Magic! will continue promoting the new album before performing a handful of dates in July and August, including a free concert in Syracuse, N.Y. on August 27. The group then plans to head out on tour this fall.

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INTERVIEW: How Adam Levine Found Rozzi Crane And Why Moms Love Him

Ralphie Aversa  —  05/23/2015 — 1 Comment

Could you imagine hanging out at a Cinco de Mayo party with friends, sipping on a beverage… and then checking your phone to find out that you have an email from Adam Levine?

Rozzi Crane doesn’t have to “imagine” that because it happened to her in real life.

“I was like, ‘I gotta go!’” Crane recalled telling her friends at the party during a chat on “Ralphie Tonight.” “I didn’t tell anyone for like, six months.”
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Crane waited until the paperwork was signed before informing everyone that she was in fact, the first signee to Adam Levine’s 222 Recordings, an imprint on Maroon 5’s home label of Interscope Records.

The 24 year-old attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and met a mutual friend of Levine’s in a songwriting class. They started working on music with another mutual friend who was managed by Maroon 5’s manager. That is who sent “The Voice” coach a YouTube link of Crane performing.

For all intents and purposes, Levine “turned his chair around” and signed the near-USC grad. She walked, but is a semester’s worth of credits away from a degree.

“I’ll do it at some point. I’ll finish it.”

In the mean time, Crane is promoting and touring behind her EP, Space, which features the single “Psycho.” No the song is not about an ex, but rather those who perhaps think you’re a little crazy for attempting to achieve your dreams.

And if your dream is to one day receive an email from Adam Levine, then maybe this is the song for you.

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The 57th GRAMMYs Red Carpet Radio With ‘Ralphie Tonight’: Day 2

Ralphie Aversa  —  02/07/2015 — Leave a comment

Some sights and sounds from day 2 of “Ralphie Tonight” at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for Westwood One’s “Red Carpet Radio” at The 57th GRAMMYs. The busiest of the two days saw GRAMMY nominees, pas winners and more stop by to chat with “Ralphie Tonight.”





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INTERVIEW: Magic! Sets Sights On 2015

Ralphie Aversa  —  01/07/2015 — Leave a comment

The band scored a monster, chart-topping hit; arguably the song of the summer. But even the end of the year, with 3 million copies of the single “Rude” sold, Magic! was far from interested in talking about the past.

“We think about it but we try not to overly think about it,” lead singer Nasri Atweh told me after the band performed at “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” in Times Square. “We have a lot of work to do for the next song, which is called ‘Let Your Hair Down,’ yunno to make that a popular song.”

The Canadian pop-reggae outfit already has its third single lined up from the album, Don’t Kill The Magic, called “No Way No.” In New Zealand, Australia and Canada this will be the fourth song released from the album – as the album’s title track was also serviced as a single in those countries.

“We have a lot of work to do because we’re not going anywhere,” the singer explained as the band stood around him on a frigid night in Times Square. Perhaps true to their Canadian roots, the guys wore yellow suits paired with skinny ties and a white dress shirt; no coats, no scarves, and except for Atweh no gloves. With five layers on my upper body alone, I was cold just looking at them. And I didn’t grow up that far from Canada.

“We’re just starting,” the front man continued, “so we’ve got to catch up to the success of ‘Rude.’”

The bar is set high. “Rude” cracked the top 10 in 10 different countries, topping the charts in the UK in addition to the States. The single sold a lot of units abroad as well, achieving platinum-or-better status in four other territories besides the U.S.

Prior to performing “Rude” with Wyclef Jean at The American Music Awards, the band told me that they would once again tour the globe following the holidays. That was not an exaggeration. Magic! will head to Jamaica soon where the quartet will film the music video for “No Way No.” Then it’s back stateside with a performance at the DIRECTV Super Fan Festival the weekend of the Super Bowl.

Then in February, Magic! hits the road as the supporting act on Maroon 5’s world tour. The trek begins on February 16 in Dallas, with North American dates continuing through the start of April. Towards the end of May, the schedule picks back up overseas.

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INTERVIEW: Sia Wrote Songs For Rihanna, No Doubt, Maroon 5 While Creating New LP

Ralphie Aversa  —  07/13/2014 — Leave a comment

Singer/Songwriter Sia called in to “Ralphie Tonight” to support her chart-topping LP “1000 Forms Of Fear” and talk about its unique creation and unorthodox promotion.

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NEW MUSIC: Maroon 5 – ‘Love Somebody’

Ralphie Aversa  —  04/18/2013 — Leave a comment

Maroon 5 is on a roll – four straight singles have gone to number one on the Billboard Pop chart, with the latest being “Daylight.” The follow-up to that track is “Love Somebody” from Overexposed.

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INTERVIEW: Adam Levine Still ‘On The Right Side of 30’

Ralphie Aversa  —  02/22/2013 — Leave a comment

Adam Levine turns 34 next month. Yes, it’s already on the Maroon 5 lead singer’s mind.

“I thought about that today, I was like ‘Sh*t, I’m gonna be 34 or 35, how old am I?’” Levine admitted during an interview with “The Ralphie Show.” “Still the right side of 30! Hanging on for another year.”

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Almost two years have passed since the debut of NBC’s “The Voice.” With the TV show, Maroon 5’s recent success, and a new fragrance line, Levine is as busy as he’s ever been since the band launched in 2001.

“It’s just one of those things (where) you roll with the punches and kind of go with the flow,” said Levine of how he’s handling his new schedule. “You have to match the energy of the moment.”

That isn’t always easy for the singer.

“It’s not as tough when were on the road, actually,” Levine explained. “Once you’re on the road, you have a singular purpose: you want the show to be really great, and that’s your job. When you get home and you’re not on tour, then all of the other peripheral things start to kind of take over.”

The aforementioned new fragrance line is one of those peripheral things, and Adam has been flying coast-to-coast to promote the new product with Macy’s.

“It’s good to keep people guessing, right?” Levine responded when asked why he decided to launch a line of cologne and perfume. “I think that it hasn’t been done particularly well, so there’s a negative stigma attached to it.”

The singer is quick to point out that on Twitter, he didn’t do anything at first to help said stigma. But Levine then reasoned with a line of thought that Maroon 5 adopted on its last album, Overexposed.

“You can just hate something, which is one way of dealing with it, or you can take an opportunity that falls in to your lap, and use it to make something good,” he said. “I will not sit here and tell you that I don’t love to make money because I do love to make money. However, that’s not the only reason why I’m doing a lot of these things.”

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INTERVIEW: Neon Trees’ Lead Singer Weighs In On Latest ‘Glee’ Cover

Ralphie Aversa  —  11/29/2012 — Leave a comment

Neon Trees lead singer Tyler Glenn enjoyed the “Glee” cover of “Everybody Talks,” but it wasn’t his favorite.

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“I liked the ‘Animal’ version better,” Glenn admitted in an interview on “The Ralphie Show.” “But its fun… we’re never going to stop someone from covering our music.”

Guitarist Chris Allen disagreed – favoring the latest performance to the previous. Drummer Elaine Bradley is just happy that the band’s music is still featured on the hit TV show.

“We want to be gracious,” she explained. “It’s flattering that they covered it.”

Neon Trees will be able to play its own tracks live for fans next year, when the band supports Maroon 5 on tour.

“Adam (Levine) and (James Valentine) saw us play a couple years ago… one of the Christmas shows, in Buffalo,” recalled Glenn. “Adam made a comment that we really reached for it and we just didn’t like play live and were boring so I think he liked that.”

Owl City will also join the bands for 31 dates. The trek begins in mid-February and runs through early April.

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