Photo by Jake Michaels

 

While he is touring all over the world, Mayer Hawthorne was in Paris for a DJ set at Free Your Funk party, Friday 3th june. He took the opportunity to buy some records at the store, we had the opportunity to ask him some questions…

 
 
 

The first track you released at Stones Throw ‘Maybe So’ was a cover of obscure soul 7’’ by The New Holidays! How did you happen to know about this tune?
I was introduced to this song by my good friend Brad Hales who runs Peoples Records in Detroit (one of the best record stores in the world). I loved the funky Popcorn Wylie production and the unorthodox vocals. It’s a rather strange song and I love strange music.

Are you a vinyl digger, collector? Do you still buy records? And have you got a favourite period, aesthetic?
No doubt you’ve seen me diggin’ for vinyl at Superfly! Yes, I still collect vinyl. I think most music sounds best on vinyl (except for some select rap cassette tapes). One of the best parts about touring is that I can check out the record stores all over the world. Currently, I’m obsessed with vintage roots reggae 45s. I like the darker, minor key joints. It’s impossible to be sad when you listen to this type of music.

You live in California. There is now a brand new wave of soul, jazz, hip hop projects from LA, as Kamasi Washington or Kendrick Lamar… You worked with some, maybe more. How are you in touch with them? (musically, spiritually…) What type of link could we identify between all of you?
Yeah I worked with Kendrick Lamar on my last album. Those guys are born and raised in Los Angeles. I LOVE LA, but I’m a transplant, so it’s cool to get the perspective of someone who actually grew up there. There’s something so authentic about what they’re doing. They don’t care what other people think about it, which I really respect.
 

After ten years, do you think there is a special musical flavor from this part of USA? Is there a sound ? and what could it be?
Of course, California has a distinct sound and feel. The weather is always nice, the weed is good, the women are beautiful. This all has a strong impact on the feel of the music. You have the beach and the ocean which makes for some very smooth music. West Coast gangsta rap which draws heavily from the Midwest funk of George Clinton and Zapp. It all goes into my music and creates something new – an eclectic blend.

And what do you keep in mind, in sound, from Michigan?
By the time I was born, Motown was already relocated to California, so I didn’t really grow up with it. I keep some Slum Village and some Detroit ghetto house with me. My music also has that rawness and honesty that comes from Michigan. For me though, it’s more of the work ethic of Michigan that stayed with me. My parents taught me that you have to work hard for what you want. The winters are easy in California and there’s more opportunities for jobs, etc… so I think that strong work ethic helped me to get ahead there.

Your last releases are more on a “modern soul” side (like ‘Tuxedo’ for example). Is it something you always wanted to do?
I always loved those modern, boogie funk records from the early 80s. I didn’t think anyone else really appreciated it, until I met Jake One (the other half of Tuxedo). I said to myself, “Wow, here’s another person who loves this very niche genre.” It takes a real understanding of that era to do it right. There’s a lot of nuance. It’s so easy to cross the line and end up with something really terrible.

“Man About Town” goes back to the seventies, but in a same time you keep a kind of sound design, more modern. Is it a way to meet (mix) your different facets in one record?
Honestly, I never think of my music in terms of decades or time periods. I just make music that comes to me, and all of my musical influences naturally blend together.

For “Man About Town”, there is a limited edition cassette tapes. A joke? or is there any message behind that?
No joke! I love cassette tapes. I still have all my original rap cassettes. I have some good friends who still have cassette players in their car. It’s actually a big hipster craze in the US right now. Stones Throw Records even had a Cassette Store Day event in Los Angeles and hundreds of people waited in line to buy cassette tapes.

It’s often mentioned that you started as an Hip Hop DJ. Is Hip Hop still a big influence in your music? Any collaboration with Hip Hop artist to come?
Hip-hop is always a huge part of everything I do. I couldn’t escape it even if I wanted to. It will always be a huge part of who I am. It’s in the way I talk, the way I dress, the way I mix my drums… everything.

After some guest musicians and featurings, you return to (almost) solo album. Why this choice: a therapy? A need for introspection?
This is definitely my most personal album. The lyrics deal with my issues of loneliness, so it felt right for me to be alone on the album.

DJ set, at Stones Throw Anniversary

Each month, we are focusing on a record label founded by an active digger. This month, Peanut Butter Wolf, aka Chris Manak, is a man of few words but his works speaks for him! DJ and beatmaker since the mid-80’s, he founded Stones Throw in 1996, originally to release his own works! LP’s, 7’’ or even tapes, Stones Throw became one of the most influential label of the last decades!

 
 

When did you start digging records?
I started buying records in the late 70’s. 1979 is when I really started having a “record collection” of mostly funk and soul 45s that were coming out at the time. In around 1986 and 1987, I started buying used records and “digging” as you say.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
I couldn’t afford to buy many LPs at first, but I guess Prince-‘Controversy’, Tom Tom Club’s debut album, and Kraftwerk-‘Computer World’ were 3 of the first albums I bought, all in around 1981. For the most part, I was buying 45s and some 12” singles like Kano-“I’m Ready” and all the stuff Sugarhill Records was releasing. When the electro crazy started in 1982, a lot of the songs were only coming out on 12” single and even when there was a version on 45, like “Planet Rock” for example, I preferred having the long version that was only on 12”.

Do you have a particular style or favorite period?
I guess the mid 80’s are still one of my favorite periods. As for style, there’s a lot.

Are you still digging’, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
For a while, I got really addicted to Discogs, but for now, I’m trying not to buy records because at the moment, I have tens of thousands of records in storage and I’m in a kind of small house so I need to get myself into something bigger!
 

Madvillain
‘Great Day’
 

What was your first release on Stones Throw?
Just go to Discogs and it will tell you the answer: ‘My World Premier’ by Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf…

Why did you choose this name : Stones Throw?
Stones Throw was a saying that my mom used and Charizma and I thought it was strange because we hadn’t heard anyone else use that expression. When I thought of the name of the label, I wanted something that had relevance to Charizma since he passed away and the label was kind of a dedication to him and that was the first thing that came to mind.

What could be your editorial/esthetic line?
It’s not quantifiable. It’s art, so I kind of gave up trying to describe it to anyone, but if I had to, I try to only release records that I would wanna buy as a fan of music.

How do you decide on the choice of reissues/issues?
I rarely do reissues. I have to really love something to reissue it because I know that there’s very little chance for a “reissue” to succeed. It’s definitely a labor of love to reissue an old record.
 

Quasimoto
‘Microphone Mathematics’
 

Yesterday’s New Quintet
‘Superstition’
 

Stones Throw digs every format… LP, 7’’, boxset and even tapes! Do you collect all formats yourself?
I do. I just spend $1000 on sealed tapes from the 70’s and 80’s that were $3 each. I couldn’t believe the total ended up that high when the tapes were so cheap each. Tapes are trickier than vinyl because the felt inside wears out after about 20 years and it’s harder to fix them than say a vinyl record that doesn’t “break”. Vinyl just gets static. But I collect a lot of things. Music videos, magazines, 8×10 promo pictures, you name it.

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
Keep it raw.

How do you find brand new talents ?
I find them all different ways. These days, I follow a lot of artists on soundcloud and Facebook. I don’t even know how I find out about stuff. It’s harder to keep up with new artists than it used to be because artists don’t really need money to buy equipment or record in a studio the way they used to have to, so there seems to be way more competition.

Aloe Blacc’s Stones Throw LP was a huge success. Is it easy to manage for an independent label?
When I discovered Aloe, he did everything himself. The first album flopped and after the success of Mayer Hawthorne, he said, “I can do retro soul too” and he did and it was a success, bigger than I personally could have ever predicted. He made a song that for whatever reason, people really identified with and he toured in Europe heavily. And eventually, he was managed by the creator of American Idol so his success just kept building as by that time, he had a team beyond Stones Throw helping him. Aloe is a very smart businessman which is the biggest reason why he is successful.
 

Matthew Larkin Cassell
‘All I’m Missing Is You’
 

Mayer Hawthorne
‘Maybe So, Maybe No’
 

Madlib’s numerous projects are Stones Throw’s trademark! Is there any plans of future releases by Quasimoto, Lootpack or Yesterday’s New Quintet?
I talk to Madlib all the time, but I realized a long time ago that when Madlib is finishes a project and submits it to me, that’s when I can release it. I was very thankful that he did the score for the Stones Throw documentary and he and I are talking about new things, but nothing is currently on the Stones Throw release schedule from Madlib.

Here at Superfly we dig Tuxedo’s first album! what’s the story behind this project?
Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One are both big fans of late 70’s and early 80’s soul/funk/disco/boogie. They’d share these types of songs with each other and eventually tried to make music together and Tuxedo is the result of that relationship. Mayer is a great producer in his own right, but with Tuxedo, I believe Jake One did the majority of the production and Mayer wrote melodies and lyrics over it.

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
It’s hard to say. I am actually surprised by how popular it still is but I’m thankful for that. Stones Throw started out in 1996 as a VINYL ONLY label. I didn’t do CDs when I started it, nor did I do digital because there was no such thing as digital at the time. iTunes didn’t start until 2001 and the iTunes store didn’t start until 2003.

https://www.stonesthrow.com/

Myron & E with The Soul Investigators
‘Broadway’