Entrevista com a MTV sobre parceria com Carlos Santana

MTV News: You've written a huge hit for Santana. Is there a nugget of wisdom, something that Carlos said to you during all this time, that really sticks out as memorable? Rob Thomas: Everything he says is real and genuine. He doesn't realize he's doing it. It's not like he puts himself in a teacher-student position. It's just that he is! He's a teacher of music, a teacher of life, and you know he's been around some of the greatest musicians in the world. MTV: Were you able to show up at any of his concerts while he was touring? RT: You know what's funny? When we did this, I would tell my friends, "Well, I just wrote a song that I think Santana's gonna use on his record," and they were like, "That's cool." And then I was like, "Hey, I just performed with Santana and I just sang 'Black Magic Woman,'" and everyone was like, "Oh my God!" That was it, my friends freaked out, and that's what really made me realize the scope of what I had walked into: when I was sitting there on the stage singing "Black Magic Woman," and they were just getting ready to start it, and Carlos comes up to me on the side stage and asks, "Do you know 'Black Magic Woman?'" I mean, everybody knows "Black Magic Woman," are you high? MTV: Where was that? RT: That was at Jones Beach, here in New York. It's one of my favorite places to play and see a show, so it was nice to be a part of that. It was amazing. MTV: Was it funny to have the hottest Latin single, when there were all these Latin stars out with singles of their own? RT: I think that it was important for Carlos most of all. No one will ever accuse Carlos of jumping on any bandwagon whatsoever. He was there, and it just came together at the right time. Not to mention that I just married a Latin woman, and that puts the Latin fire into me, which helps. MTV: How are you enjoying being a newlywed? RT: I love it. I mean, you're with the right person and you know it when you meet them and that's why you get married. MTV: Where did you meet? RT: We met in Canada. She's a New York girl. She's my "Spanish Harlem Mona Lisa," only she's from Queens, but that doesn't sound as good. "Queens Mona Lisa." So I had to take a couple of artistic liberties with that one. MTV: Have you talked to Carlos since all these nominations came through? RT: Yeah, he's real excited. It's amazing, because Carlos isn't happy unless he feels that he's connecting, and that's what this whole record was about. For so many musicians, it wasn't really Carlos's comeback, because he never really went anywhere. He was never a radio guy. That wasn't what he did. He was this great jazz player; he was this great rock player; he was the guy in the clubs until three o'clock in the morning still playing after he was done with a gig, because that's what he loved to do. And the whole genuineness of that adds that much more to his project. [RealVideo] MTV: Do you feel that working with him has influenced what Matchbox 20 is working on currently in the studio? RT: You can't just walk away from something like that without being slightly influenced. I will forever feel like I have taken something away from working with Santana. MTV: Where are you guys with the new record? RT: This record is exactly what we want it to be. We spent the same amount of time on this one as we did the last one, if not more, not resting on our past successes. Everything that we did on this record was as if no one had ever heard of us before. We sweated over all the tones and made sure that it was exactly right, because we wanted it to be just like if it were our first record. [RealVideo] MTV: Are you trying not to be superstitious about the sophomore jinx? RT: We try not to worry about the curse at all. We were so fortunate with the first record and we feel so fortunate to be making the new record. We're just gonna make a really good record and put it out, and do the best we can, and we hope that people come along with us on our little journey and listen and dance. MTV: What did your bandmates have to say about this Grammy nomination? RT: I'm fortunate that my bandmates are my friends, and they're a really good group of guys. When they knew I was doing it, they all called within three days, and when it did well, they were all happy. You know, they give me a hard time about it, but it's all in fun, so we're all happy. Basically, we're just five guys that are really good friends, who travel around and play music together, and we try not to lose that

Voltar