Maroon 5 guitarist: 'This is what we do'

Three-time Grammy-winning pop rockers Maroon 5 will make a stop at Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach on Wednesday as part of its 40-plus-city co-headlining tour with Train.

The band's third studio album, "Hands All Over," with production help from legendary producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, came out in September. It was re-released earlier this month as a digital download with the new song "Moves Like Jagger" featuring Christina Aguilera.

The song has been performed live on NBC's "The Voice." Maroon 5's lead singer, Adam Levine, and Aguilera serve as two of the four judges on the televised singing competition.

Maroon 5's members are Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bassist Mickey Madden, drummer Matt Flynn and guitarist James Valentine.

Valentine, who taught guitar in Nebraska before moving to California, joined the band around the time it regrouped and changed its name from Kara's Flowers.

Valentine, who was friends with the band before joining, jokes about his first job with Maroon 5. "I was the guitar tech for one session because these guys didn't know how to change strings," he said, laughing. "They paid me 50 bucks... because I was around the studio."

Valentine called from his Los Angeles home and answered a few questions about working with Lange, the group's collaboration with Lady Antebellum, and experiences gained with the release of three albums.

Did you bring the R&B sound to the band?

I think a lot of people might get the idea that that was my idea because I came in about that same time. But it's more like I got into the band because they were switching to the R&B sound.... Jesse had primarily been a guitar player along with Adam, but the new R&B songs that they were writing meant that Jesse was leaning more towards keyboards and also that Adam was focusing more on his vocals and less on guitars. He needed to put the guitar down so he could work on hitting those high notes. So, that sort of opened up the position for me.

What was it like working with Mutt Lange?

We met with him and loved his personality, loved his take on the type of record that we should make and we sort of dove in with him.... We got to see his process, which involved working each one of the songs for as long as it takes. I think that's one of the big things we learned from him. He was in the studio every day... and we wouldn't stop until we had exhausted every possibility for the song. He has a tremendous amount of patience.

How did Lady Antebellum get involved on the song "Out of Goodbyes"?

Over in Switzerland (while working with Lange) Jesse and I were messing around on acoustic guitars and sort of came up with the chord progression. Adam wrote the lyrics and melodies really quickly over the course of maybe an hour, and before we knew it we had written this country song, which we never really set out to do.

After some brainstorming, we sent it out to Lady Antebellum, and they recorded it over there in Nashville and sent it back to us. So, we had this recording done and we had never even been in the room with them. They really sealed the deal.

What have you learned from the release of each album?

"Songs About Jane" (2002) - We never really expected the kind of success we experienced off of that. We learned a lot and we went through the whole crazy rock and roll treatment experience with that record. (Maroon 5 earned its first Grammy as best new artist in 2005.)

"It Won't Be Soon Before Long" (2007) - That was a tough experience because we were trying to live up to the hype of the first album.

"Hands All Over" (2010) - We have settled into a group, and it's like, "This is what we do." And it was a lot more comfortable making the record because we have already been through the crucible of making the sophomore album.

Patty Jenkins, (757) 446-2298, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com