I make soul music for hip-hop heads. It’s music I’d want to sample if I were a rapper.
I just want to make music as long as I can and reach as many people as I can.
I just want to have fun and party with everyone around the world. That’s the only rule, to have fun.
James Brown is the perfect example of flashy but classy. Classy doesn’t have to mean boring. His gear was flamboyant but without being so over the top. The cape was probably the biggest part of his persona. He looked like Superman.
My dad calls me ‘Mac’ a lot, from ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch Out’ – Little Mac is the main character. I was obsessed. I can still beat Mike Tyson on ‘Punch Out.’
A lot of people think I live in a soul bubble.
My intentions with any of my music is to keep it futuristic and updated and be experimental and try new things.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I definitely have a hearty breakfast before I do anything.
My dad taught me to play bass. He’s a bass player; he still plays in a band in Michigan to this day. He taught me to play bass when I was about 6. I used to just go to band practice with him, and whoever didn’t show up for rehearsal that day, I would take their spot.
Drums, bass, guitar, keys, I play a little of each of those.
Gary Numan had a huge influence on both my music and my style. He had his own unique fashion sense – that futuristic space style. It was out there.
Nowhere on earth has more soul than Detroit.
I grew up in Ann Arbor, about 25 miles west of Detroit. And when you grow up in that area, you get a healthy dose of Motown automatically.
I don’t want kids listening to my music thinking it’s for their parents. I want them to feel it’s theirs.
I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun doing anything in my life than trading verses with Daryl Hall on ‘Private Eyes.’ That’s as fun as it gets.
I shopped at J. Crew in high school, I studied computer science. I was a nerd-nerd, now I’m a music-nerd.
I consider myself to have a decent sense of humor. What’s life without a sense of humor?
I think that what happens is that all of my modern influences blend together with the older soul influences and you get Mayer Hawthorne.
I try to make sure that I make music that can stand the test of time.
I’ve always made sure that I tour with bands that people aren’t expecting me to tour with.
I think that Detroiters are some of the most resilient people in the world.