"The Hottest Band on Earth Should Get Everything They Want, No?"

"Within the band itself, everything was just fine," he insists. "We've always loved to tour and have a very healthy approach to it. We are Swedish, you see, so we are far more likely [on the road] to drink beer and whiskey than to rely on hard drugs. I've noticed more and more that such reliances tend to be in bands that play wussy music." He chuckles. "Let me elaborate: You meet very few metal bands that need to have sex with tons of girls and take loads of drugs. They are usually just really nice, polite guys. But pop bands, on the other hand, are far more likely to feel the need for drink and drugs, perhaps to overcompensate. We've never really needed it ourselves, but then, maybe because our shows are so intense, we are simply too tired afterward to do anything but sleep."

After a few months at home, they commenced working on the new record and, at the prompting of Interscope, secured the services of a new manager. This presumably came at the cost of Randy Fitzsimmons?

"No, no," Almqvist corrects, smiling enigmatically. " Randy is still around, but just more in the background."

Which is something no one could ever say of the decidedly non-imaginary Danny Goldberg, an industry veteran who has worked with everyone from Led Zeppelin to Nirvana. Recently the head of Air America Radio, he now runs his own management company. It was under his and Iovine's steerage that the band agreed to collaborate with name producers, and it was Goldberg, too, who underlined the importance of reaching as many people as possible, whatever the means.

In NYC, Pelle and company talk with SPIN.com's William Goodman further about working with Pharrell and touring with Maroon 5. WATCH THE VIDEOS:
>> "A little out of context"
>> "Black and white"
>> The new album
>> Sweden's music scene
>> Working in a posh studio

"The record industry is going through a devastating downturn at the moment," Goldberg says, "and rock radio has become far less powerful in breaking new acts than it once was. So we've had to look into other avenues. Hey, you've got to reach an audience somehow, right? You can't just do it by osmosis."

Which is why "Tick Tick Boom" now graces a TV commercial for Nike.

"I'm not saying it was the most comfortable decision we've ever made," Almqvist admits. "It did hurt a little." Before they conceded to it, Chris Dangerous adds, they did what they saw as a little necessary research: "We looked into Nike's current sweatshop status, and it seemed to be okay." Nevertheless, they chose to donate their fee to an anti-sweatshop organization. "It seemed appropriate," Dangerous concludes.

Goldberg's next plan was to expose them to a younger audience. When he learned that Maroon 5 were looking for a support act for their imminent nationwide arena tour, he didn't hesitate.