My grandma Ricky - that's where I got classic look from. She was the most stylish person ever. She had her own clothing store and even her furniture was stylish. I got my "Flashy, but classy" motto from her, too. Whenever she walked in the room, she was always the most stylish person in the room.
Hip-hop was my first real love, one that was my own and wasn't my parents' music. Initially, I was inspired by hip-hop fashion. Over the years, I kept the hip-hop sensibility, but make it my own.
Having stuff that fits you perfectly makes the craziest difference. I remember the first times that I was introduced to that - having a shirt that's actually tailored to your body and not just made for your average American. It just changes your life.
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.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I definitely have a hearty breakfast before I do anything.
I really love rap music. I grew up in the '80s and '90s with Public Enemy, N.W.A., LL Cool J - I'm a hip-hop encyclopedia. But I got kind of frustrated with the chauvinistic side of rap music, the one that makes it hard to write songs about love and relationships.
I grew up in the '80s and '90s listening to Public Enemy and Mobb Deep and the Smashing Pumpkins. I don't even know what it was like in the '60s - I wasn't alive then - so the Mayer Hawthorne sound is taking what I can learn from the classics, and blending it with my hip-hop DJ and producer background and punk-rock bands that I played in as a kid.
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.
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.'
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.
I consider myself to have a decent sense of humor. What's life without a sense of humor?
I've always made sure that I tour with bands that people aren't expecting me to tour with.
