Mars, "undisclosed"

What are you doing in Portland?
I am the band leader and artistic director of LoveBomb Go-Go Marching Band.

Is that how you met your wife?
We're not married yet, and no, that's not how we met. We met in a training course. We were both becoming certified yoga teachers.

That must make your sex life fantastic.
It most certainly does, and I could go into great detail, but I wouldn't want to bore your readers. Let's just say there are certain asanas that facilitate interaction, and we're both experts at those asanas.

Who approached whom?
The way I see it, she had an eye on me. I was admiring her, but I was kind of shy. At the end of the workshop, she wouldn't let me leave.

Did she lock the door, or what?
No, we were getting ready to say goodbye, and she said, "I don't want you to leave. I don't want to be apart."
[Mars' girlfriend: "That's not what I said."]
What did you say exactly, then?
["I said 'I don't want to leave.'"]

Aw.
So I tried to scare her away, by physically pushing the boundaries, and that didn't scare her off! I've just been in trouble ever since.

You started the band afterwards?
Yeah.

Do you tour around a lot?
We've toured in other projects together. This band is pretty new. We've been together about six months and we've done a lot of shows.

Why do musicians always have a reputation for messing around?
Because they're exposed to environments which are conducive to inappropriate behaviors. Ill-advised.

Do you have any crazy hookup stories from before you two got together?
Well, I do have a couple, in my ancient past. The thing is, it's kind of embarrassing to say, but I was kind of a late bloomer, and I was out playing at clubs when I was underage. I was eighteen, and I had never really had a girlfriend. I was playing music one night, and these two girls took me home afterward, and I was pretty experienced after that.

Was that your deflowering story, too?
Yeah, I'm afraid so. To listeners and readers, I would advise it was pretty crappy, because I was still drunk and they were drunk, and it was a mess.

You were just sober enough to remember that part?
Yep. Then they started following me around, at the club after that.

How do you make a relationship work in that same environment?
By constantly reaffirming my feelings. We have conversations about these things and schedule regular counseling sessions.

Have you always done that?
No, maybe for four months.

I've met people who swear by that. How does it help?
Well, we're exposed to a lot of attractive, interesting people, and we have to make sure there are boundaries.

I'm thinking of creative pairs through history, like John and Yoko, or Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. How do you two work together?
Like Simon and Garfunkel... no. We're like Patti Smith and her guitarist. I'm Patti Smith and she's the guitarist.

NEXT: "I was like, 'Whoa, we're not there yet...'"