Ep. 102 - MIKE POSNER ("I Took a Pill in Ibiza")

EPISODE DETAILS: PART ONE Scott and Paul do a little housekeeping, including sharing listener-submitted additions to their "terrible artist mashup" game from last episode, announcing the winner of the signed Lamont Dozier CD contest, and sharing more information about our friends at Pearl Snap Studios.   PART TWO - 6:28 mark Mike stops by Songcraft World Headquarters to talk about the outside-the-box method he used to build an early following among college students; why he devoted himself to learning to play piano and guitar AFTER he'd scored a major hit; the reason he hates having a coffee table in the recording studio; why he originally told Adam Levine that Maroon 5 couldn't have "Sugar;" the surprising ways that Merle Haggard and Hank Williams, Jr. inspired "I Took a Pill in Ibiza;" and the reason Mike's label isn't allowed to hear his albums until they're finished. Plus, Mike performs two songs live and acoustic that will challenge what you think you know about him! 

ABOUT MIKE POSNER Singer-songwriter, record producer, and poet Mike Posner emerged from the Detroit music scene to build a grassroots following by releasing mixtapes during his college years. After signing with Clive Davis’ J Records he broke through to national prominence with the double Platinum-selling Top 10 single “Cooler Than Me.” Subsequent hits as a solo artist include the Platinum-selling singles “Please Don’t Go” and “Bow Chicka Wow Wow,” which featured Lil Wayne. Posner is perhaps best known for the worldwide hit “I Took a Pill in Ibiza,” which has been streamed more than two billions times (with a b!), and was the second most-streamed song of 2016. “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” earned Mike a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year and turbocharged his reputation as an in-demand songwriter and collaborator. In addition to his own artist output, Posner is a behind-the-scenes songwriter of “Beneath Your Beautiful,” a #1 UK hit by Labrinth, “Boyfriend,” a multi-Platinum single for Justin Bieber, and “Sugar,” another multi-Platinum chart-topping hit for Maroon 5. Other artists who’ve released songs by Posner include Big Sean, Talib Kweli, Pharrell Williams, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Nelly, T.I., Snoop Dogg, Avicii, Iggy Azalea, Nick Jonas, Cher Lloyd, and more. Beyond his solo work and his songwriting and production collaborations with other artists, Posner is also one half of the alternative hip hop duo Mansionz. He has released a book of poetry, Teardrops and Balloons, as well as a poetic spoken word album called I was born in detroit on a very, very, very, very, very, very, very cold day. Mike’s most recent single is “Song About You,” which is a prelude to his forthcoming studio album, which will be released in January on Island Records.