Music from the heart
Name: Mike Posner Born: Detroit, Michigan, US Zodiac: neo Capricorn Chinese Zodiac: Rabbit Studio album: 31 Minutes to Takeoff
About two years ago ... I was still writing and producing for other artists. I've been doing that since I was 13. But I got tired of having to channel my ideas through other people, so I started writing and singing my own songs.
One time ... I told my Mum I was going to the basement to work on some music. My Mum said, 'OK', instead of, 'Get a real job'. She's been a strong supporter of my music for a long time.
It's tough to think of anything negative so far in my career. I've been blessed with good fortune in the past few years and especially in the past few months. Give me a few more years and I can get some low points for you.
As a college student at Duke University ... I was making music in my room. Nobody knew who I was, so I decided to put these CDs [mixtapes] on the internet for free. I told my friends to tell their friends about it.
For whatever reason, people liked my stuff. Within a few months people knew the words of my songs. That was really big for me and allowed me to do what I do now.
When Duke won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball championship in 2010 ... I was in Los Angeles with some friends who also went to Duke. We had a fun time. I really wanted to be there so bad, though. I watched the game on TV. At the time I had a lot of friends on the team. I was just so happy for them. They always supported my music when I was in school.
My all-time favourite Duke basketball player is ... Steve Wojciechowski (Wojo). Compared to other big names that came out of Duke, he's not that famous. Now he's an assistant coach at Duke. The reason he's my favourite is because he is a really short guy, wasn't fast and couldn't really jump high, but he worked harder than everybody else and played exceptional defence.
My dream collaboration ... would have been with Kurt Cobain [the late lead singer of Nirvana]. I grew up with his music. I had an older sister who listened to him, too. Nirvana is the first band I listened to through headphones.
My latest album is called ... 31 Minutes to Takeoff, because something happens 31 minutes into the record. I can't tell you what it is because it would ruin the surprise. You're just going to have to listen to it and find out.
The music industry is ... actually a lot less mysterious than people think it is. It's different from other industries where people with the best products do well. So my advice for people who want to get into music is to perfect your craft and try to work harder than the people around you.
Music is ... a dream come true for me. If you love music and it's in your heart, there really isn't a lot of downside to being a musician. I love music and I would be making music if this was my job or not. This doesn't feel like work. If there's a microphone in front of my face, I'll be happy.
