A Drink With Miguel

Coffee in the Morning. Tequila in the afternoon.

At first blush (and trust us, “blush” is the right word), Miguel’s presence permeated with carnal emotions. But mainly, his sense of emotion, life balance and excitement for his bold new album, Wildheart, won the hearts of his favorite fans. We had the pleasure to invite Miguel into The Shag Room (so fitting, right?) for the first ever LIVE interview with A Drink With. Hillary and Miguel chatted about sex, self-confidence and of course his new album. Tequila anyone? Visit A Drink With for the full interview. 

ADW: HAVE YOU EVER HAD A DRINK WITH YOUR FANS LIKE THIS BEFORE?
MP: Not as sexy as this is. Not at all as sexy as this is, but I’ve had a drink with my fans after a show, so yeah.

ADW: WAS THERE A SPECIFIC MOMENT WHEN YOU STARTED TO REALIZE YOU HAD FANS?
MP: There are a couple of times that I can remember. Seeing people at the early shows and then seeing the same people at the next shows. You think, “Oh wow, people are really into the music.” As you keep working and there’s that consistency, you start to really, really figure out that people are paying attention. After the Grammy’s [was another time]. On tour is where you really get to gauge.

ADW: YOU’VE SAID YOUR MOST RECENT ALBUM “WILDHEART” IS THE CLOSEST YOU’VE BROUGHT FANS TO YOU. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU KEEP PRIVATE OR ARE YOU AN OPEN BOOK?
MP: For the most part I like to share my perspective. I think there are some things in life that are worth keeping to yourself, especially in a world where everything is so voyeuristic. I think privacy is important. You know, my personal relationships I keep very, very close. I don’t like to exploit my romantic relationship– my relationship with my woman. I think that’s very special, and it should be protected.

ADW: HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO STAY GROUNDED AND HUMBLE DURING YOUR SUCCESS?
MP: It’s all about who you surround yourself with. I will say I have the advantage of having a really down-to-earth family. My mother and my father are both very chill people and raised me to be the same. So that, and keeping in mind that you can’t take anything– be it positive or negative– to heart. I think it’s all about knowing who you are, what your intention is and just trusting your instincts and going with that. Wherever that strikes a chord with people, and however people receive it has everything to do with their own perspective, and you can’t control that. It helps you keep things in perspective.

ADW: WHEN DID YOU FEEL YOU HAD A STRONG SENSE OF SELF?
MP: I think it’s a continuous thing. I think we are consistently confirming and reaffirming our principles, our beliefs, our insecurities and our strengths. For me, I think it’s just a matter of experience. It’s been more about, “What does happiness look like to me? What is success to me? What is wealth to me?” The more and more an individual defines that, the less likely they are to make decisions to appease the opinions of others; the more it becomes about how they really feel about things.

ADW: I HEARD YOU SAY IN BETWEEN RECORDS THAT YOU HAD SOME LIVING TO DO TO FILL THE TANK OF INSPIRATION. WHAT KIND OF LIVING DID YOU DO?
MP: Man, spending time with friends and family. Just kind of realigning and recalibrating. I guess really taking a look at myself and answering those questions like, “Where do I stand? What do I believe in? What am I willing to sacrifice for what I want? What’s too far?” I think the sooner we answer those questions for ourselves the more likely we are to allow ourselves to dream. It’s when we don’t do those things that we’re just kind of going with the flow of things and not really focusing on how we feel about life and the direction we want to move. And it’s so easy because there are so many distractions in this world to keep you off-balance.

ADW: WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST CREATIVE? WHERE DO YOU WRITE?
MP: It’s my job as a creative individual to absorb everything. Creativity for me comes in the most random moments. It’s unpredictable and I think that’s the best part about it.

ADW: WAS THERE A SPECIFIC MOMENT WHEN YOU KNEW YOU WANTED TO HAVE A CAREER IN MUSIC?
MP: Man, I wish I could tell you. To be honest, I’ve always just been in love with music, you know? It might be that it just made me feel something. I wanted to make people feel something. That’s all I remember early on. The music made me feel something. It’s like, how can a kid know what romantic love is? But you still feel it. When you hear Donny Hathaway sing “For All We Know” or “Roxanne” by The Police, you think, “I don’t know what this song is about, but it feels cool.” Or “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Even if you can’t wrap your mind around the experience or it’s not something you’ve experienced, the emotion is there. That’s powerful, man.

ADW: DO YOU HAVE A HAPPY PLACE? ARE YOU ON A BEACH? AT HOME?
MP: Near water is always good for me. Anyone else here love water? I grew up in San Pedro in Inglewood in Los Angeles. Where I grew up is less than five miles from Venice Beach, so I was always close to the water. San Pedro was a port city. I was always close to the beach there. So yeah, happy place for me is definitely by water.

ADW: YOU’VE SAID EVERY OUTFIT YOU WEAR HAS A STORY. CAN YOU TAKE US THROUGH TODAY’S LOOK?
MP: Today I’m just in my blues. I’m pretty much a jeans and t-shirt guy. I think I can really take it there with my choice in accessories. Today is just about being comfortable and it’s kind of warm outside. It’s perfect Chicago weather. It’s not too hot, but there’s a little bit of humidity. It’s summertime; so cottons are great.

ADW: WHAT DO YOU DO RIGHT WHEN YOU GET OFF STAGE?
MP: First thing I do is take a shower. A nice hot steamy shower. Gotta protect the vocal chords. You probably don’t want to come to my show in stilettos. I want you to come looking sexy and feeling sexy, but we are going to party. So I get off stage drenched in sweat from crowd surfing and jumping around on stage, legitimately. Like, really crowd surfing. It’s going to happen tonight.

ADW: WE’RE GOING TO SWITCH GEARS A LITTLE BIT AND PLAY A LITTLE TRUE OR FALSE.
MP: Oh man, here we go! Is that why we have the tequila?

ADW: TRUE OR FALSE? YOU ARE PART OF THE MILE-HIGH CLUB.
MP: [Laughs] Can I plead the fifth? True.

ADW: TRUE OR FALSE? YOU’VE KISSED IN A MOVIE THEATRE.
MP: Oh, yeah.

ADW: IF YOU COULD HAVE A DRINK WITH ANYONE, WHO WOULD IT BE?
MP: That’s an interesting one. A drink with anyone… Hunter S. Thompson. I feel like that would be interesting.