One year ago, Mike Posner performed at Scoop Orlando; only then, you probably didn’t know who he was. Now, a year later, Posner performed at Scoop and it’s safe to say, we think he’s cooler than you.
Click to See Slideshow from our Exclusive Interview
The Full Mike Posner Audio Interview
Mike Goldberg, manager of Scoop Orlando and Deko Lounge, arranged for KnightNews.com to have the opportunity to be Posner’s official liaison for the evening. He had just gotten off set at the Warped Tour in the Central Florida Fairgrounds, and we humbly picked him up in my white, 2009 Hyundai Sonata. He got in the car and said “man, it smells great in here.” I had fortunately just washed my car and scented it, although I was unaware that the leather seats I had just shined would be a resting place for the tuchas (Yiddish for “butt”) of a music superstar.
I was behind the wheel, staying well below speed limit to keep safe my precious cargo. Mike Posner, upon first meeting him, seemed a bit shy, and was definitely quiet, although this may have been a by-product of an exhausting day. According to his manager, Patrick, “he does a four-hour signing session for his fans every day, and two to three performances.”
Once we arrived at his hotel, I asked Posner if I could get him something to eat. In a reminiscent state, he asked about a chicken place where he once dined the last time he performed at Scoop. I suggested Huey Magoos, and his face lit up, as he had an “aha” moment. At this point, it was about 9:50 p.m., and I didn’t realize until I got their pallets wet and drove away that the restaurant closed in 10 minutes, yet they didn’t want me to return for another hour while they got ready.
Should I have gotten the food before Magoos closed and let it get cold while he gets ready, or should I have gotten the food and brought it to him an hour ahead of schedule and interrupt him? Check out the video below to see footage of this dilemma.
[Coming soon]
Patrick, who was very accommodating, ultimately agreed for me to bring the food right away. When I said the chicken would need an early delivery, he texted me saying, “ya that’s perfect…Mike wants that chicken.” They must have been hungry.
When I got to his room, he was working on his computer, sitting next to a bag of Riccola cough drops. I asked if he was getting sick, and Patrick interjected –in an effort to allow Mike to avoid speaking –that the cough drops save his voice. At this moment, I realized that Mike had seemed shy thus far because the constant performances strain his voice, and he was saving it to give his fans at Scoop the best performance possible.
When I reminded Posner and Patrick that we needed to make enough time for an interview before going to Scoop, Posner looked at me and said “Oh, you are going to be interviewing me?” I told him I was, and he seemed excited and asked, “What are we going to talk about, Jew stuff?” I don’t know if it was the sound of my voice or the very essence of my being, but he knew I was Jewish. That was the turning point for Posner and me. We were no longer interviewer and interviewee; we were both “members of the tribe.”
I made my way down to the lobby with my KnightNews.com crew and we began setting up our cameras, adjusting lighting and preparing my questions. After about an hour, Patrick came down to check on us, and was surprised to see the video equipment, and let us know that we could do an audio only interview. Apparently, Posner has hit a level of stardom where all video must go through his publicist, so we were unable to set that up in time.
Was I upset? Absolutely not. If anything, I felt that much cooler being around someone who must get video approval. We moved over to the couch, where Posner came over to lie down for the interview.
Since there was no video, Posner could just be himself, lie down and relax, not worrying about his posture, whether or not his shirt was on straight or if he had something on his face. I think this really helped him open up. Listen to my audio interview with Mike Posner below.
Once the video wrapped up, I told Posner that I was somewhat of a music artist, and played him “Who’s Goin’ to el Corral Tonight,” the famous KnightNews.com masterpiece. I guess he really took a liking to it, seeing as he kept singing my opening line, “Pollo, yea I said it, pollo,” once we got to the car and were headed to Scoop. He was also pretty observant, because once we drove past El Corral, he screamed out “There it is! El Corral!.” I felt cool, but not cooler than him.
Right as we were approaching Scoop Orlando, I called Mike Goldberg who had us park in the rear of the building to avoid the crowds. Once we parked, Patrick went inside first to give the necessary music to the house DJ. Once we were given the go-ahead, we went backstage and prepared for Posner to jump on set. Posner was still outside Scoop as I neared the stage, and it was obvious that many of the fans thought I was Posner. After all, we have similar haircuts and I looked like I was about to get on stage. However, just as a Chrysler 300 looks like a Bentley only until a Bentley pulls up next to it, Mike walked up next to me and suddenly I no longer looked like Mike Posner – talk about rain on my parade.
Posner jumped right on stage, grabbed the microphone and went right into his first song with absolutely no warm-up. Now, I am only impressed once or twice a year, and this was one of those times. He was exhausted from a day of performing, little sleep and a stomach full of Huey Magoos, and he just started singing without hesitation, as comfortably as I do in the shower: impressive. Only when he was done singing, he jumped into the crowd to be caught and passed around to his fans.
Mike spoke to the crowd about his first visit to Scoop a year ago, and how happy he was the UCF students showed him support and helped him get to where he is today. As he said in our exclusive interview, “I don’t want people to think I came and left.” Check out some video we shot of Mike from our backstage vantage point below:
Once he was off set, we all headed outside to my car, where fans rushed out the back of Scoop to get a chance to snap a photo or a quick video on their cell phones. Posner was very down-to-earth, and was welcoming of his fans who wanted a quick chance to speak with him. We all finally got inside the car, I cranked up the AC –we were all sweating profusely — and we left the parking lot. I had to use my advanced chauffer skills to weave through the crowd of people who tried to create a human blockade to stop my car. I turned to Posner and said “I’m like Jason Statham in ‘The Transporter’ with my driving skills.” He seemed to agree. Once I got us all out of the parking lot safely, we hit the streets and headed back to his hotel. On the way back, of course, he said “Hey, we just passed El Corral again!” So cool.
At this point, we were all so acquainted with one another that we were talking about menial topics like we were old friends. We chatted about everything from the transition from Napster to Kazaa to Limewire to Torrents, and the conversation eventually shifted to the fact that Microsoft Word Clip art never has what you are looking for – Mike seemed like he had a lot of experience at typing something into the clip art search bar and not finding what he needed. Randy Marsden, a KnightNews.com contributor, made a note to Posner that the cab driving next to us was the color orange, yet it was from “The Yellow Cab Company,” to which Posner burst out laughing.
It was this exchange of small talk that made me realize if Posner went to UCF, he would definitely be one of my close friends; we both watch Seinfeld, have a hatred of clip art and love observational humor. He may have a chart-topping single, but he is still just a really cool guy who has a life outside of his music.
I pulled up to the hotel, where Posner and his manager thanked me for everything, and left the car. But Posner stuck his head back in and, in a reference to the El Corral music video, he said, “You need to start your own chicken restaurant. You know, vertical integration!” He patted my arm, and thanked me again.
I pulled out of the parking lot having a whole new respect not only for Mike Posner, but for all celebrities. We see the glitz and glamour on television every day, but when it comes down to it, it’s a grind. Day in and day out, these people are trying to meet the demands of fans, agents, crowds and major local media operations – like KnightNews.com!
I, and the entire KnightNews.com team, would like to thank Mike Goldberg, the talented and ambitious, club manager and promoter of Scoop Orlando, as well as Romi and Keith Mawardi, for giving us such a wonderful opportunity. We’d also like to thank Mike Posner for taking the time out of his exhausting schedule to chat with me in my Hyundai and allowing me to buy him fried chicken and grab an interview. It’s certainly a story I’ll be telling my grandkids. You know, that is if a woman can ever bring herself to marry me and procreate. We can only hope.
