Q&A: Mike Posner on how tripping in Ibiza changed his pop chart prospects

TORONTO – Mike Posner was grappling with the pitfalls of faded Top 40 success when he popped a pill in the presence of Swedish super-producer Avicii and embarked on an night he’ll never forget.

It wasn’t exactly a shining moment for Posner, but the random drug trip helped spark his self-pitying “I Took a Pill in Ibiza,” which has turned into one of this year’s biggest hits.

The song helped relaunch Posner’s singing career, which hit a dry spell after his 2010 single “Cooler Than Me” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Ibiza” eclipsed that performance by hitting No. 4 two months ago and has racked up more than 424 million plays on YouTube.

The singer doesn’t take sole credit for the success of his latest hit. It was a little tropical spice infused by Norwegian producers Seeb that helped the song’s remix scale the charts.

Posner is enjoying the rewards of his resurrected popularity by joining pop stars Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas on tour this summer. He will play Montreal on Friday before hitting up Toronto on Saturday. Another run of Canadian dates will start in late August in Vancouver (Aug. 27), Edmonton (Aug. 29) and Calgary (Aug. 31).

Posner spoke to The Canadian Press about finding a second wind on the pop charts and his past experience writing for Justin Bieber.

CP: The “Ibiza” remix seemed to come out of nowhere earlier this year. Did you think it would be such a big hit?

Posner: No way. I believe the stuff is good and it warrants a lot of people’s ears, but I never know how that’s going to manifest itself. I just hear stuff in my head and my job is to create the art, the music that I want to exist in the world. When I’m creating it’s for an audience of one — and that’s me.

CP: You penned “Sugar” for Maroon 5 and Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend.” Now that you’re back on the charts are you saving all of your lyrics for your own songs?

Posner: I feel like I’m an artist at heart. I make my albums first and then if something doesn’t fit or doesn’t make sense, or I don’t sound good singing it, it’s on the table for other artists. And then there are some artists I go in the studio with to help with their projects — not a lot, but here and there.

CP: Is that what you did with Bieber for “Boyfriend”?

Posner: We wrote a version of it, gave it to him, and then he put his panache on it. He made it his own. A lot of times when you write a song you’re supposed to say they helped, but he really did contribute lyrically and make that thing his own. When I wrote (“Boyfriend”) it was all from my point of view, so he had to change it.

CP: You sing about doing drugs in Ibiza to impress Avicii. At the same time your song was climbing the charts Avicii announced he was retiring from live performances, telling the Hollywood Reporter that “the scene” of clubs wasn’t for him. What did you think of his sudden departure?

Posner: Each artist has to decide what success means to them. I don’t think he really loved playing live as much as he likes making stuff in the studio. While other people may see that as quitting … I look at it as a very powerful move in doing what he actually wants. You don’t get to choose what makes someone else happy.

CP: You’ve sang about loneliness, losing your way and feeling like a failure, but many people might assume that with your revived fame it’d be hard now to relate to those darker themes. Do you find it tougher?

Posner: I know it sounds ridiculous to a lot of people but it truly is lonely on the top. Most of the people you grew up with can’t really identify with what you’re going through. The definition of success is you’ve made it to a level most people don’t, so by definition you’re experiencing things most people don’t. And it can be lonely. But I think you get better at it with time.

— This interview has been edited and condensed.

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