The Scout caught up with Maroon 5 keyboardist Jesse Carmichael by phone in advance of the band’s show on Wednesday.
Scout: Is there anything different about performing in front of a mostly college-aged audience?
Carmichael: We’ve actually been talking about that. There’s a marked difference. The crowds at these college shows have been the best we’ve ever had. Something about the fact that these kids are so excited … they have so much energy, it’s a great time.
S: You guys have toured pretty extensively. Do you have any favorite locations?
C: I always like touring in the U.S. because we’re so comfortable here, it’s our home. There’s something about being around people you grew up with that’s really comforting, but it’s been amazing to see the rest of the world. I definitely love all the countries we’ve been to for different reasons.
S: The band is pretty active on Twitter. What do you think aboutA1being able to connect with so many fans?
C: I think it’s fascinating to be able to look on your cell phone and see all these different people and their comments on one very different aspect of life. It makes me feel connected to people around the world.
S: What about using MySpace and Facebook to connect with your fans?
C: It’s great. When we first started touring in 1997, we would get peoples’ e-mail addresses, and then we would personally e-mail people about upcoming shows. Now that we have this opportunity to see our fans on [a personal] level on a daily basis, it’s like we’re making music with each other and we get to share it with our friends around the world.
S: What’s the most difficult part about being on the road so much?
C: I would use the word weird more than difficult. I was just thinking yesterday that we all lead pretty unique lives going from city to city every day, so there’s a lot of stuff we don’t get to experience that people do in normal lives. I don’t like the word normal, though, because who knows what that is? It definitely feels a bit alienating sometimes because the only people who totally understand what your life is like are people who’ve done the same thing.
S: You guys are in the process of putting out a new album. How has your music evolved since your previous albums. Will fans notice a difference?
C: There’s a big difference between this one we’re almost finished with and our last one because on that one we definitely went off the deep end a little bit in terms of making music inspired by Prince and Michael Jackson. We did a lot of experimenting, with drum machines and synthesizers, too. This record is a little more like the first one because you can hear everyone playing their individual instruments. It’s more organic. It has a really sincere feeling.
S: Is putting out an album stressful for you at this pointing your career?
C: No, it’s not stressful at all. I just love to make music with people I love. Hopefully it’ll do well because we want to reach a lot of people and share music that we like, but we’ll see what happens.
Maroon 5 is also sponsoring a food drive at Wednesday’s concert. The band encourages everyone to bring non-perisable items to the booth that will be located at the front of the Civic Center. All the food will be donated to the Peoria Area Food Bank.
