Street: What was your transition from “Haircut” to “Mayer Hawthorne” like? Mayer Hawthorne: I started my career as a hip–hop DJ and producer. I’ve been doing that my whole life really. I’ve only been singing for a couple years. So, this is definitely something that is still very new to me and something that I’m still learning every day. But it’s something that I’m really enjoying.
Street: How would you describe your own music style? MH: Well, my style I always describe as “flashy but classy.” You gotta be original and do something different and unique and stand out from the crowd. But I always make sure that I keep it classy.
Street: Tell us about your new album “How Do You Do.” MH: “How Do You Do” was a big step for me because it was the first album, with "A Strange Arrangement," where I was really trying to make songs that I would want to sample to make raps. That’s where the whole thing came from. I was a hip–hop producer and I was tired of paying for sample clearance so I decided I would just make my own samples. But “How Do You Do” was the first time I was actually able to approach it from the perspective of just making the album of songs that really represented me.
Street: How was it working with Snoop Dogg for “Can’t Stop”? MH: Snoop understands the magic rule and that is that the song is number one. After all these years, he still has a tremendous amount of love and passion for music. That’s an amazing thing. And all kinds of music, not just hip–hop.
Street: Are there any other artists you would like to work with in the future? MH: There’s a ton of artists out there that I would love to work with. Anybody who is creative and is trying to do something new and innovative – that’s who I want to work with.
Street: What upcoming projects have you been working on? MH: I’m in the studio right now working on my third full–length album. I’ve also got a couple other really interesting projects that I’m working on so get ready for a lot of it!
Street: How would you describe your own music style? MH: Well, my style I always describe as “flashy but classy.” You gotta be original and do something different and unique and stand out from the crowd. But I always make sure that I keep it classy.
Street: How do you feel about coming to Penn? MH: I’m super excited! I’ve never been to Penn. I heard it’s beautiful. I’m anxious to try out some of the food Penn’s campus has to offer.
Street: What kind of show can Penn students expect? MH: You can definitely expect a show. That is the important word there. We don’t do concerts. This is a show. We work harder than any band in the world to make sure nobody ever walks out of a Mayer Hawthorne show disappointed. We’re like a football team, you know? We analyze the footage from the night before and we study and we make improvements every night to make sure that every night the show was better than it was the night before. You’re going to definitely want to be there.
Street: What’s the sort of direction you will take for this show? MH: Well, I’ve got my live dance County that’s coming with me. I’m gonna be singing songs from the new album as well as stuff from the first album and there’s always a few surprises in there as well. No two Mayer Hawthorne shows are ever the same. It’s a different one every night.
Street: What’s your typical day–to–day life on tour like? MH: It’s incredibly fun but it’s a job just like everybody else. We work longer than a regular nine–to–five job. A lot of people think we just go around the world and party — and we do — but we also, you know, we pull into a city and there’s not usually much time to hang out. We pull in and we set up our equipment and we sound check and we usually have time to grab a quick dinner before it’s show time and then we pack and haul up, hop in the bus and we go to the next city and we do it all over again. A lot of people think we go and do a show and then we hang out there for like a couple days and chill. That’s not usually the case. We don’t get to go home after a show. It’s very little down time. But it’s what I always wanted to do.
Street: How have you responded to the new attention from the media? MH: I make music that I think is fun. Whoever listens to it and loves it, I love you, and whoever doesn’t like it, that’s totally all good too. I don’t make music to be the most popular artist. I make music that I think is dope. I understand that it’s not for everybody. If you don’t like it, there’s a million other bands you can go listen to and that’s fine.
Street: What’s the craziest thing a fan has ever done for you? MH: There’s been a lot of crazy stuff. I don’t know. I think the most memorable moment for me may be like the really young kids that come to the show sometimes. Kids will come with their parents every once in a while. I’ve had kids who will come up and they’ll just run up and pose next to me and then somebody else will snap a photo and they won’t even say hi, like I’m a cardboard standup. That’s always hilarious to me. It’s super humbling.
Street: Any last words? MH: I heard that Penn students actually voted for me out of a group of like a hundred bands and I just wanted to say how much that meant to me. That out of all those bands, you guys chose me to come to perform that was really incredible to hear that. I’m super honored. Can’t wait to come to party with y’all. Cheers.
*He plays tonight at 8 p.m. at Harrison Auditorium with Cheers Elephant in SPEC's annual Fall Concert.
