MetroFanatic: Heath, would you call yourself a hipster?
Heath Pearce: I don't really know what the true definition of hipster is.

MF: Hipsters are people who wear Mickey Mouse t-shirts outside.
HP: Yeah, I have a few Mickey Mouse t-shirts, so I don't know if that makes me a hipster. But the way I dress, I just try to express myself. If that puts me in a hipster category, then so be it.

MF: Is it just Mickey, or are there other Disney characters?
HP: I've got a lot of them, I got some Sesame Street ones.

MF: My son's got a Sesame Street backpack. He's four.
HP: (laughs) That might make me a hipster then, if four-year-olds are wearing the same stuff. I was at a second-hand shop at Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, and they just got a shipment of a warehouse full of Mickey Mouse stuff. And I found this vintage Mickey Mouse sweater that I wear sometimes. I paid 25 cents for it. It's kinda what started the whole thing. I'd much rather go find a unique piece somewhere that nobody else has, and take the extra hours to find that diamond in the rough, than buy off the rack, that you might be in the same room and everyone has on the same thing.

MF: You're a west coast guy, do you fit well in New York?
HP: Yeah, absolutely. New York's got a unique style. It's very expressive in some ways. The larger part in New York doesn't have a style or trend that it follows, but the city allows you to be yourself and express yourself how you want to. People are open to that.

MF: Enough about clothing. The big trade last year, were you shocked by it?
HP: I was. I definitely didn't see it coming. Obviously, the first thing that happens when you get traded, before they tell you where, your mind starts going through the process of who needs you, where it is. It's crazy how many thoughts you can have in a few seconds. To get a chance to come to New York and be a part of this team is a real honor for me, and I'm excited to be here. The funny thing is, I went to dinner with Dax McCarty and Jonny Borrajo, when they came to play the Galaxy last year, and I said, man, it would be so fun to play with you guys, and to play with Dax again after playing with him at Dallas. I don't know the exact time frame, but less than a month later, I was traded.

MF: Maybe Dax put in a good word for you.
HP: Maybe! Maybe I owe it all to him. But we were talking, I was in LA, playing for Chivas, which kinda sits in the shadow of the Galaxy, I wanted to be in a marquee, big city team.

MF: You're in a marquee team, but according to the MLS Players Union, you're also making a marquee salary...
HP: (looks shocked)

MF: That's what the numbers say! And now Kenny got shipped away because of his large salary, do you feel any pressure?
HP: I don't really compare numbers to performance, because if you did and then you compare the average salary of the guys on the team and them compare to DPs, would you put 10 or 100 times more...

MF: Yes, if your last name is Marquez!
HP: (laughs) So I don't really compare that, obviously, the salary was part of the trade. I'm just here to do my best and help the team get results and hopefully help the team with a championship this year.

MF: Left or center, do you have a preference?
HP: I don't have a preference. Fives years I spent in Europe, I spent half the time playing left midfield, half the time playing left back. Got into Chivas, actually we went to play a cup game, down a man, and I moved to center back to cover, and became a center back from that point on. The position has grown on me, I enjoy the organizational aspects, having more control, more power on the field. Being able to direct guys, have more of a leadership role, as opposed to outside back, where it's very isolated, very individual position. As a center back, I can try to help the left back at times, and tell him to be in good spots that I know of.