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Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > October > 08 > Entry
Interview: Mayer Hawthorne
Doug Coombe
Mayer Hawthorne’s “A Strange Arrangement” is one of the most unlikely albums of the year. Hawthorne, a 29-year-old white guy (birth name: Andrew Mayer Cohen) from Ann Arbor, Michigan, decided to goof around in the studio and record a couple of songs in the style of the vintage late ’60s/early ’70s soul he was raised on. A presence in the midwest hiphop underground, he did pretty much everything: wrote the music and lyrics, sang, played all the instruments. Encouraged by Stone’s Throw label head Peanut Butter Wolf, who signed him on the basis of that pair of songs, Hawthorne recorded an entire album in a similar vein. The result is an addictively listenable record that sounds at once retro and timeless. For instance: Hawthorne’s “I Wish It Would Rain” has nothing to do with the 1968 Temptations song of the same title. But it sounds as if it could have been recorded the same year, not four decades later.
Mayer answered some questions via e-mail from Orlando, Florida, where he was performing Wednesday night.
Austin American-Statesman: So, perhaps in ignorance, I don’t think of Ann Arbor as a big hiphop or R&B scene. Can you tell me a little about your background?
Mayer Hawthorne: Ann Arbor is a big everything scene. It’s a great place to grow up - very diverse and very free and forward thinking. It’s only about 25 miles west of Detroit so the music scene is pretty much the same. I used to DJ in Detroit every week, and groups from the D would come to Ann Arbor to perform all the time. I’ve been playing in bands since I was in high school. Rock bands, funk bands, hip-hop…whatever. My dad taught me to play bass guitar when I was 6 years old and I used to sit in with his band sometimes. I took a few lessons, but I picked up drums and piano mostly on my own. I got really into hip-hop around ‘94. I saved up and bought a pair of 1200s and a Gemini mixer and taught myself how to DJ. For the past 10+ years I’ve been DJing and producing hip-hop.
How did you get into all this ’60s and ’70s soul and R&B that you draw on for this record?
Some of it came from my parents. They introduced me to a lot of oldies and Motown. And some of it came from digging for the original samples to my favorite hip-hop tracks.
I hear bits and pieces of different songs, styles and singers on your album, but “The Ills” is the only one where it’s clear to me — though correct me if I’m wrong — what your model is: The arrangement, the vocals and the lyrics all seem like a tribute to (and update of) Curtis Mayfield’s 1970 remake of “Move On Up.” Do I have that right?
Curtis Mayfield is obviously a huge influence, but there are a million similar songs from that era. “The Ills” was the last song I wrote for the album. I had a lot of songs about love and heartbreak, and I felt like I needed something positive and uplifting to balance out the album. The danceable tempo, heavy percussion and triumphant horns give it that feel.
What is your working method? Do you sit around with these old records and think, ‘Hey. I’m gonna take a piece from this Delfonics song and a piece from this Al Green track and a piece from this Stylistics song”? Or are you so deep into this stuff that you barely even think about your influences?
It’s definitely more of a subconscious thing. I’ve been collecting records since I was a little kid - all genres too, not just soul music. I listen to just as much rock, jazz and hip-hop as I do soul. I think that clearly comes out in my music. I’m a modern artist living in 2010 and I’m not out to create “throwback” or “retro” (stuff). I just focus on good songwriting and having fun, not how to sound like Al Green.
Did you actually set out to make an album of this music? Or was it just a goof that turned into something bigger?
I never planned on writing or recording a full album. It was just something I was doing for fun, internally. I’m a serious student of music though, and a perfectionist in the studio. I take the music very seriously with anything I record, but I don’t take myself so seriously as a person that I can’t have fun with it. I think it’s the fun factor that’s been drawing a lot of people to the project.
In this past Sunday’s New York Times, Ghosface talks about how much he likes your music, and he said, “You would think he was a black guy, to have the soul that he’s bringing to the table like that, but to find out no, it’s even more incredible.” Isn’t it a little late in the game to express incredulity that white people can play “black music” convincingly?
Blah, blah - who cares anymore? Good music is good music, whether your skin is black, white or neon purple.
Ghostface said you want to work with him. What do you have in mind?
I wanted him to rap over one of my tracks, but then he was like, “Why don’t we just do a whole album?” Ghost is a legend and a true innovator. I don’t know exactly what we’re gonna do, but It’s exciting and totally surreal to have the chance to work with him.
Last question: Whose “I Wish It Would Rain” is better — yours, or the Temptations’?
The Temps is a classic but I like mine better because it’s new.
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