Mashable Interviews Mike Posner

Mike Posner did an interview recently with Mashable. Check it out below!

Mike Posner’s NSFW “Be As You Are” video is a motivational comeback

It’s been a minute since we’ve heard from Mike Posner, the man most famous for being cooler than you. But now he’s stepping back into the spotlight with a new look, sound and outlook with his “Be As You Are” video, the first visual from his comeback EP, The Truth.

The NSFW video features people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and races holding signs displaying negative stereotypes and nasty names that have been verbally hurled their way.

After ripping up the signs, they strip and skinny dip in the ocean. Posner joins them after tearing his “afraid” label in half, which symbolically starts this second chapter in his career.

The Truth is Posner’s return to releasing music under his own name. Fans who have been waiting for another electro-pop swag fest might be surprised to hear the all-instrumental collection, which is more singer-songwriter at a coffee house than dorm room party-ready.

Lyrically, Posner has never been more honest, and even those that have loved him for years are going to find they’re meeting a whole new man on The Truth.

Q&A with Mike Posner

At a recent, intimate show at New York City’s Rough Trade Records, Posner told Mashable what’s taken so long for his solo return, and how he’s moving forward musically.

Tell me about the past several years. What happened?
Posner: The short answer is that after my first album, 31 Minutes To Takeoff, I recorded a ton of music — two albums worth, in addition to writing songs for other artists — but I had postured myself in a position where if I didn’t have another hit single, my record label at the time [J Records] couldn’t fiscally justify releasing another full album of mine. They’re not the villains of the story, they’re just doing their jobs. I would’ve done the same thing if I were them. Those two albums that are sitting in purgatory somewhere … Laptop purgatory!

Do you have any plans to do anything with those unreleased albums?
I would love to release them in some form, but there’s some business I need to figure out. Basically, the way it works in music is that if you work with a producer or a guitarist … anyone that helps you make the song or album … most of them don’t get paid until you decide you’re going to release the album. On one of them I did a couple of songs with Pharrell. He makes music all the time, but he hasn’t gotten paid for those songs until we decide to release them. If I’m just putting them all out for free, I can’t afford to pay Pharrell the full rate that he usually gets. I want to figure out something that compensates them, because they helped me make the thing, but that doesn’t make me broke.

People have been waiting years since your first album to hear some new stuff. When you were writing and recording, did you worry a lot about fans being disappointed because this new sound isn’t what they knew you for?
I used to think of my fans of kind of a burden. They were a weight I carried around into performances, interviews and studios when I was writing. I thought, wrongly, that they would only love me if I continued being the 21-year-old version of myself. I was artificially trying to be that guy. Like any relationship, the fans and the artists are growing at the same time.

Are your fans are supportive of this new sound?
It seems like it. I’ve been doing shows at The Hotel Cafe [in Los Angeles], and people come and they already know the words to the new songs. Those people responded well. I do have people that write me and tell me the new stuff I’m doing is terrible and that it’s the worst thing to ever happen to music. The majority of feedback is people saying, “I really enjoyed your old stuff, but this new stuff is a whole new level. I’m so happy you had the courage to be yourself and grow, because it gives me courage.” I’m sure there’s some dude behind a computer screen somewhere who thinks I’m terrible, but it’s my job not to give a fuck, about either one of them really. I’ll just keep doing my thing.

Mashable.com