One would be forgiven for being confused by Mayer Hawthorne.
Born Andrew Mayer Cohen, and raised in Ann Arbor, Mich., this goofy looking white guy writes music that sounds like classic Motown and is damn near as good. If you’re into the new wave of neo-soul—Lord, yes—you’ll be into Mayer Hawthorne.
The Vanguard recently caught up with Hawthorne by phone from Los Angeles, while he and his band were getting fitted for suits in preparation of a whirlwind national tour to support his fantastic new album, A Strange Arrangement.
<i>This interview as been edited for length and clarity.</i>
Daily Vanguard: So tell me how you got started as “Mayer Hawthorne.”
Mayer Hawthorne: Mayer Hawthorne started out as just an experiment, really, a side project for fun. I was primarily a hip-hop DJ and producer, and never had any intentions of recording a full album of soul music, or doo-wop, whatever you want to call it. And then I met [Stone’s Throw Records chief] Peanut Butter Wolf when I moved out to L.A. a couple years ago and he heard the two songs that I had written, the only two songs I had written as Mayer Hawthorne, and he just bugged out.
He asked me to record a full album for Stone’s Throw. I never expected to do that. And that was less than a year ago, in November, and we dropped the heart-shaped single, and it just sort of took of. We didn’t even really promote it or anything. And that’s kind of how it’s been. It’s been almost an accident.
DV: Have you always been into the Motown sound?
MH: Yeah, definitely. I grew up 20 minutes outside of Detroit in a very musical family. We were always listening to old vinyl and my father taught me how to play bass when I was 6 years old. I used to play with his band. I play drums, too, and piano. We were always listening to Motown and soul music. That was a huge part of my upbringing.
DV: How’s the reaction been? You’re kind of making this soul music that is traditionally a black musical form. Have you ever seen a reaction when you were playing live, like you were different than what the audience expected?
MH: The common reaction is definitely surprise when people see what I look like after hearing the music. But I gotta take that as a compliment, it tells me I’m doing something right. I think anyone who listens to my album can hear the tremendous amount of respect I have for the music, and can tell that I’m a serious student of the music and am putting it forth in the most genuine form that I can. Hopefully people will respect that and listen to it with an open mind.
DV: Lyrically, the record is definitely similar to those early pop Motown records, in that it’s a lot about love and relationships. Is that why you pursued those topics?
MH: When I recorded the first two songs, I really didn’t think about it at all. It was just a whim, for fun. I really didn’t put any serious thought into it. Based off of the success of those two songs, I tried to maintain that with the record and not over-think anything. Just keep it really natural, and just record whatever came out. And for whatever reason, love and relationships are what came out.