--If Max Pittion is so particular about his work, does he even wear sunglasses during live performances?

Mayer: No, I don't. I don't wear sunglasses on stage.

O'Gara: Eye contact is important, after all (laughs).

Mayer: I want to keep music and the business of this brand separate. They're completely separate. I think it would be a mistake to involve Max Pittion in my music career. Sure, I might wear sunglasses for outdoor daytime shows, but that's not promotion. A lot of celebrities use their name to promote the things they've invested in, but I don't want to do that.

For me, the common thread between music and my brand is passion. I enjoy making albums, and I enjoy executing ideas.

I've been interested in a lot of things up until now, and I've had a lot of ideas, but I gave up on many of them because I thought they were impossible to execute. But I think that's a good skill to have. That's how I learned that if something takes shape, it means the concept isn't wrong.
Max Pittion had countless discussions with Tommy to get to this point. This process was the most important, and without it, I don't think we would have been able to bring such meticulous items to market. But on the other hand, if we had stopped halfway, it would have been a waste of time. In fact, there were times when I thought, "I can't do this anymore," but in the end, I still find myself interested in this project. I'm always thinking, "What about asymmetrical sunglasses?" Tammy, how about making one pair round and the other square?
O'Gara: How about making one pair bigger than the other? (laughs). We could add text. We could add your name.
Mayer: Let's add the owner's name!
O'Gara: What? That's a lot of work. (laughs). Maybe we should do that at a trunk show.
Mayer: Use classic machinery.
---It's not a second business, it's serious.
Mayer: I've never had my own product before. This is mine. The CD isn't my product, but I feel like Max Pittion is mine. At the same time, the idea is based on the brand itself, which is great because it gives me direction and direction.

Yes, the music is my product, but even making videos isn't my own. And it's not like I'm doing it the way I want to. As a musician, it's more important to have an image of who I don't want to be than an image of who I want to be. People are all pretty much the same, and we all make the same mistakes. So, the image of who we don't want to be is common to most people, and those songs have more impact. But even if you have a hit song, you still worry about whether you'll be terminated at the end of the year if you don't make a certain amount of profit, and that's what determines whether you do something. But we're fearless now. We just want to make cool stuff, that's all we want.

O'Gara: And we are.

Mayer: It's not about how much money we can make.

O'Gara: What I look for is passion and quality.

Mayer: It feels really good to have your own brand. It's great to have a place where you can really channel your creative energy.

(Back to 1/3.)