ES: So congrats on your Grammy nomination! This has to be a huge honor for you guys.
MRM: A bigger than huge honor. This album was not even supposed to have actual songs with lyrics on it! Haha. It was originally going to be an instrumental album but we kept adding more and more songs, now here we are a year or so later and it's our highest selling album to date and we've got our first Grammy nomination because of it.
ES: And "Can't Sleep" was also nominated for an award. That has to be gratifying considering all the controversy surrounding the song itself and the music video for it.
MRM: Hey, we knew underneath all that nonsense the song itself is powerful and speaks to a lot of people. Do we think it's our best song? No. But we're proud of it, it's one of the better songs we've done and if it's the one that wins the Grammy then we just see it as an overall trophy and acknowledgement of all the great songs we've done over the years that obviously never got noticed by awards people but we think should have won something.
ES: What is next for the band? We heard a while back you said something about you guys already working on the next one? A RandB album?
MRM: Yea RandB mixed with funk, amongst a few other influences. But that's the main gist of the sound. It's a romantic album. It's gonna be called The Last Romantic Left and his Phunky Phresh Phlow. All love songs. With a sexy feel. We been recording since last fall and we finished it recently. Can't wait for the world to hear this new sound man. We recorded in Paris, France with Daft Punk and this great writer/producer/artist named Matt Pokora. We also recorded in Toronto a little with an idol of mine, Drake, and his producer 40. We also did a bunch of stuff in L.A. with people like Timbaland, these great funk/jazz/rock producers called The Soul Collectorz who have worked with Maroon 5 and True Hollywood Story on their early albums. We wanted that sound they used to have. We've recorded some tracks I wrote with Travis Garland and I did some writing with a good friend of mine, the one and only Mr. Tito Craig from True Hollywood Story. Some of the songs Tito and I wrote will be on his upcoming second solo album "A Different Swag" and some will end up on our (new Chants of Reign) album. We'll see. Um, Childish Gambino came through and did some stuff with us. Wrote some cool songs with him. We did a bunch of stuff and created a whole new sound. It's gonna be so dope! Might be our best album yet. We could be standing here again next year! Haha.
ES: When does that come out?
MRM: Right now the plan is October. Expect the first single sometime in the summer. It's a sexy song. Co-wrote it with Travis Garland and 40 produced it. Travis is just a musical genius man. There's 18 tracks on the album. Just did the last song (for the album) a few nights ago. Drake is featured on it. It's straight fire.
ES: But obviously we know you for your acting. Whats ahead for you in that arena?
MRM: Got two movies coming out this year. Two VERY different roles. Two very different films. In April I got a comedy coming out, my first ever comedy. A little nervous but I got faith people will find it funny. It's called "Ted". Seth McFarlane wrote and directed it. Amy Adams plays my girlfriend in it. I play Boston stoner man-child who refuses to grow up and has a talking teddy bear he takes everywhere with him and it's about the crazy hijinks we get into. He's the real star of the movie. And Seth voices him as well. It's pretty hilarious, I think. Then this fall I got a thriller coming out I'm really really excited about called "The Intern". I sort of play a younger version of Jon McAfee. He's the guy behind McAfee internet security software. He had a crazy situation where the government found out about him trying to expose some stuff and how he tried to make money off of it and we based some of it off his book but also added a fictional character played by Alex Pettyfer who we sort of see the movie through his eyes and he's the one who has to ultimately bring me down. It's very much like Training Day, which is one of my all time favorite films, but we aren't cops. It's the corporate, computer technology world, which in my opinion, has bigger stakes. You will know what I mean when you do some research on our film, on McAfee and what he knows about what the government is doing, and some of the issues this film raises. It's gonna be quite the controversy but we are ready for it. It's a very smart and timely film that will have people talking that's for sure. And Alex gives a tremendous performance. I've been a fan of his for a while and I was happy to finally have worked with him. We've actually become good friends.
ES: Yea, I remember you have mentioned before he was one of the young actors you were excited to see more of. Him and Sebastian Stan.
MRM: Yea. I'm so happy to see Sebastian in (Captain America 2) Winter Soldier. It's gonna be a huge look for him.
ES: What are some other actors you want to work with?
MRM: Other young up and comers or...
ES: No, just anyone.
MRM: Oh. Well, Sebastian (Stan), for one. Um, the obvious legends like Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchette. Um, Mickey Rourke would be awesome. Val Kilmer. His performance in Tombstone made me want to be an actor. It's still my favorite from an actor ever, to this day. Um, Mark Strong. Joel Edgerton. Those guys are the new chameleons. I been studying up on them. Daniel Day Lewis to me is the standard. He's maybe the best ever. Would kill to work with him. Some other young guys, ummm, Andrew Garfield is really really good. I like his style. Jared Leto I think is this generation's Daniel Day Lewis. I really do. he is talented, so dedicated, it's scary. Plus he's an incredible singer and songwriter as well. The dude is just a freak of nature. I hope to emulate his career in a lot of ways. Would kill to work with him one day, that's for sure. Umm, I mean, I dunno. I've already worked with so many great ones already. Denzel, Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Joaquin Phoenix, Bruce Willis. Just did a film with both Sean Penn and Gary Oldman, two of my idols. Got to work with Leo (DiCaprio) in Inception. Maybe I'd like to work with Ed Norton and Philip Seymour Hoffman again. For real this time. I mean I was technically in a film with them, Spike Lee's 25th Hour, but I was just an extra. I'd actually like to have scenes with them one day, haha. Oh, and maybe if I had the clout I could get Gene Hackman to come out of retirement. That dude was the boss. I just wanna work with the best.
ES: What about some of the younger female actresses we have now?
MRM: Um, well I think Kate Winslet is an absolute legend. She is the one of the best to ever do it. So it would be an honor work with her. Leo just raves about her. Um, Jessica Chastain seems good. Rachel Weisz is super underrated. I think she's one of the best we have out there. Uh, you know, Anne Hathaway. I know alot of people have their opinions on her but I'd love to work with her. I have yet to see her give a bad performance. I think she's super talented and she seems like a cool person. So maybe her. Yea.
ES: You said after working with Jennifer Lawrence on Trust Me you wouldn't work with her again because she 's so intimidating. Do you still feel that way or no? And what do you think of all her success now?
MRM: She deserves it. She's one of the best if not the best of her generation. I always knew she was gonna blow up. And I was just kidding when I said that. I was intimidated yes but of course if the opportunity came I'd love to work with her again. Why not? She's a super fun person to be around. There's literally nothing fake about her, which is rare in this town. And most importantly, she pushes you to be at your best, which at the end of the day is what it's all about.
ES: You said recently you have an interest in directing?
MRM: Yea. That's the next step. I'm writing a couple things right now. Not as intense as my first movie I wrote and directed back in 2010, "Look At Me Now", which was about a girl trying to escape the porn industry and a guy struggling with his sexuality. I'm working on two romantic comedies that are from the guy's perspective, in the vein of stuff like 500 Days of Summer, Don Jon, That Awkward Moment, stuff like that. I really wanna continue that movement of showing how this generation of young men is more sensitive than year's past and how we struggle to find love as well. It's a new time and the rules of dating have changed. People are getting married later or not at all, friends with benefits and 'hook up' culture has become increasingly prevalent, single people of both genders are allowed to be 'discovering themselves' for much longer than before. I mean think about it, back in the 70's or 80's or even early 90's, if you were still single and living alone and not earning a big income by the time you were in your late 20's or early 30's people saw you as a loser. Nowadays people are still figuring things out well into their 30's and even older. It's crazy. And that has a huge impact on the dating scene. We keep pushing that deadline back of when is it time to finally have your shit together. So I got one movie I'm gonna direct and write, not star in at all, about a guy who tries to get out the friend zone and stuff. He learns from different people the art of seducing women. I been talking to Leo (DiCaprio) about doing it. Miles Teller, Rosie Huntington, a couple other young female actresses are on my radar. Then another one I'm working on that I may star in and direct is about a guy and girl who are friends and in their early 30's and make a pact that if they aren't married to someone within 5 years they will marry each other. I think it's pretty clever and funny. So it's exciting. Doing Ted which was a comedy and just being a generally happier more positive person as of late in my life, along with my extensive research on the chemistry and science of dating, has made me quite fascinated with these types of stories and dedicating my time to telling them. I believe in the power of movies and I think this generation needs these stories more than ever. No one believes in love anymore and I think I have figured out the domino effects as to why and maybe these films can help solve that.
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