Vox Hunt: A Favorite Song from '06

MH: I'm not. I'm really not. I know I have patterns and I've always tried hard to avoid them. There are definitely certain things in my music, if I'm looking back, "Well, that was a period where I was experimenting with a certain kind of chord structure or a certain kind of sound." I've tried really hard, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you what that sound, what that tangible sound of "me" is. I think rhythm is, when you talk about rhythmic sensibility, quite perceptive in that I like to have at least one thing that is at least common or familiar to the audience. Other than rhythm, the only thing I could say is that I take a great deal of pride in every single sound I use. I'm always making sure that I'm not using a pre-set or something that everyone else has done. I try to be original in every piece of music I do, and of course I probably fail every time.

Pitchfork: Let me ask you-- that moment in "Something Isn't Right" where he sings, "Do you re-mem-ber?" First time I heard that it reminded me of "September" by Earth Wind & Fire. I was sitting with my wife and I asked her, Do you think that's a direct reference to that song, or is it just a few notes that sound similar?

MH: There is a very slight reference there. It's a reference to the 11th of September because that's what the Earth Wind & Fire tune was called. I almost had it "Do you remember? The 11th of September?" But there was no way I could possibly put that in.

Pitchfork: So that's the kind of reference you're talking about, where you embed those kinds of things in the music.