Detroit’s multitalented soul singer/songwriter, Mayer Hawthorne, joined Sonos Studio to celebrate his first Grammy nomination. The evening was gracefully orchestrated by him chatting about the artwork of his past and recent albums, with plenty of emphasis to his love for vinyl. In his own words “Vinyl is not perfect. It has hiss, pop and crackle … Life is not perfect. Imperfections makes it great.” Hawthorne puts a whole lot of attention to the color, texture, art and more in his own material. This is exemplified on his hanging-by-a-string falsetto and breakbeat production “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” from his album A Strange Arrangement released by L.A. label Stones Throw.
As much as the eager fans wanted for him to perform, the evening ended with a very on point DJ set by Mayer himself, that took the room through different eras; Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain”, Spinners’ “It’s A Shame”, Beastie Boys’ “Shure Shot”, and ending with a very fun “Mah Na Mah Na” all in 45s. When chatting with him for a bit he shared that he just plays random records which leads us to believe that he must have a fantastic collection and we are close to being convinced — as he mentioned — “everything sounds better on vinyl.”
Photography & Words: Farah Sosa
For more photos from an Evening with Mayer Hawthorne, click through the photo gallery below.
