Here's one of the more enjoyable interviews I did at South By Southwest, with Mayer Hawthorne, a nice Jewish lad from my former home of Ann Arbor, MI who — much to his own surprise — has become something of a neo-soul hero, thanks to his excellent 2009 debut, A Strange Arrangement.
Actually, when I say this was an enjoyable interview, I'm fibbing slightly. This was done on the last full day of SXSW, so Mayer had already blown his voice out playing several shows over the three previous days, and I was working on two hours of sleep and a fairly massive tequila hangover. Plus, the Austin weather had taken a turn for the miserable that day, going from 70 and sunny to 45 and drizzly in less than 24 hours, which didn't help anyone's mood much.
But somehow, the mellow n' gloomy vibe worked for this interview (as opposed to the one I did later that day with the guys from Dr. Dog, which almost put the entire room to sleep, camera crew included), and it was a real treat to connect with this very down-to-earth chap about music and food — it didn't make it into the finished interview, but he told me that seeking out local delicacies on tour was just as important to him as digging for dusty wax. Clearly a man after my own heart, he politely asked if we could finish up the interview so he could get some sweet potato pie from some Austin soul food joint before they closed.
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