Skipping to His Own Beat: An Interview with Mike Winans, Jr.
Interviewed/Written By: Ciara Lilly
Follow Ciara on Twitter: @CiaraLilly
When you’re born into a family of talented musicians, you’re expected to carry the family legacy. And for this third generation Winans, that’s not asking much.
Mike’s humility and talent has already taken him far. As a producer and songwriter for Bad Boy Records, Winans has worked with major artists such as: Chris Brown, Danity Kane, Case and Diddy. Now, he has raised the bar with his new solo album, “My Own Genre”.
“I’m just another person. I’m not a circus act. I’m just skipping to my own beat.”
CPM: What inspired your new album, “My Own Genre” and what can we expect that’s new from you?
Mike Winans : Well, two very good questions. What inspired it was that I always wanted to be able to not feel that I was pigeon-holing myself as an artist. Most of my accomplishments and music have come from me being a producer. And I’ve produced for a lot of artists that were labeled under one particular genre and there were certain songs that were really good for them, but because the fan base had already been targeted, the label had already put together the marketing strategy, they kind of bypassed on some songs that weren’t necessarily within the genre that they had been signed to, but would have been great for them to sing. And so, when it became my turn to become an artist, I didn’t want to have to keep myself to just that one style of music. So in my album you’ll hear a lot of my different influences, like of course my family is known for gospel, but like I say in the cover song, “My Own Genre, I like R&B. Most of the artists I’ve produced have been world-known R&B artists, but I don’t really listen to R&B, I listen to the more soft rock and country, because I get a lot of my melodies and concepts from that. So I feel that my style of music, my genre of music, is a bit different because it’s inspired by so many different types.
CPM: Last month you were at UNC-Charlotte, tell me about your experience in the Queen City? How did UNC-Charlotte treat you?
Mike Winans: I enjoy Charlotte- the city. I hadn’t really gone to Charlotte much until the union was formed between me and DocRoc Entertainment. My experience at UNC-Charlotte was very good. I did a meet and greet; signed some autographs; I did a small performance; went in the Student Union and just kind of kicked it with the different people walking through just letting them know who I was. It was kind of like an unconventional meet and greet. I got out and touched the people, found out why they were there in college, not just trying to be self-centered in what I was doing, but just talking to the students and I had a very good time there.
I also went to Johnson C. Smith University; and I spoke to some students who were in the Audio I class who were looking to become engineers and producers. I gave my history when it comes to the engineering and production, because before I started producing I used to engineer. And so that really started my career in production. And I encouraged them to stick with it, hard work pays off and if you really want to have longevity in this business, it’s best to know how to do multiple things. What really put me in a privileged position was learning how to engineer, because it made me an asset when everyone else was trying to produce nobody was trying to engineer. Then I got the call from Puff and Puff was like, “I want you to engineer these sessions.” Next thing you know I’m a songwriter and producer under his company, so had I not had the ability to engineer, I may not have gotten the opportunity to produce.
CPM: So it’s important to be multi-dimensional when trying to develop a presence in the music industry?
Mike Winans: It makes you that much more an asset to the business. One of the great things with me doing this “My Own Genre” project I didn’t really have to solicit any outside help, aside from the people I kind of came up with. I know what it takes to engineer a professional-sounding project; so from a quality standpoint, I had no question that the quality would be there. And then because it’s my project, I had that much more of an incentive to make sure the music was extra perfect. So musically, I was able to provide that, then the mixing aspect and then the massing, all of that was done in-house, so I actually saved thousands and thousands of dollars by having the ability to do it by myself and with my team. Just having so many different skill sets in the industry helps in so many different areas of the business.
CPM: What new artists are you working with?
Mike Winans: Right now, I’m working with an artist named C.J. Holland, he is signed to Lava Records and he’s distributed through Sony. He’s a young kid, kind of reminds you of a young Justin Timberlake, he’ll be like a competition for Justin Bieber. I also just finished producing some songs on Carl Thomas’ album which will release in January. And it’s very ironic, unfortunately with the passing of Heavy D, which was amazingly surprising because I was not only working with his upcoming project, but he and I did a song together that’s due on Carl Thomas’ next album. So we were finishing up the negotiations with that and he passed. Joe, I’m finishing up on his album right now that will release first quarter. And then several others that if I say their names now it probably won’t mean much until their album comes out. I like to work with artists that are new artists that haven’t come out with an album and then artists who are established. I usually don’t do a lot of work with artists that are on their second or third album. It’s usually new artist or established artists; it’s not that’s what I prefer; it’s just how the ball is rolled in my court. Like Chris Brown, I was the first producer he had worked with for his first project. I didn’t work on his second and third album, because at that time the business is different, a lot changes, there’s a reason why I usually work with a new artist. You can really put together some great work when you’re working with a new artist because they’re green, they don’t really know so they don’t have an ego yet. And then established artists, I love it, because they’ve been around for a while, so they’ve had ups and downs. I’m working with a lot of different artists, but the main artist I feel is probably going to do the best or sell the most albums is C.J. Holland because he has more money behind him and he has a machine in Sony that’s going to take him to number one.
CPM: With the holidays approaching, tell me about your Christmas album.
Mike Winans: I did the Christmas album last year; we released it late last year just a few days before Christmas. It’s an evergreen project meaning it’ll be released every Christmas. And what I’ll do is as it gains more popularity, I’ll then add an additional song on it each year, so that the person who purchased it last year has something new to look forward to. It’s called “Timeless Noel” and it has Christmas themes, but it’s not your typical Christmas album. It’s a well-produced album and it’s not just subject to the Christmas season. It’s a project that I went back and got with some of the guys who had helped me learn how to produce when I was younger, because as you grow in life and you meet new people sometimes the people who helped you get to that level you don’t necessarily have the same relationship you used to have. So I wanted to go back and get with those guys and they helped co-produced the “Timeless Noel” project with me. And it was great, because it was like old times again. I think it’s a great project, it’ll be available every holiday season and it’s available on the site, www.mikewinans.com, on iTunes and all that stuff.
CPM: What new projects are you working on? What should we be looking out for?
Mike Winans: Well, really, I’m very excited about the “My Own Genre” project. And I’m going to be doing a lot of promotion and touring and really focusing on that project. Of course, I produce all the time. I’m always in the studio with an artist, but I’m really going to take some time and really promote this project because it’s closer to my heart.
As a producer, when you produce other artists, you have to keep in mind that that artist is going to go out and sing those songs. So there are certain things that you can’t necessarily say or certain things that you cannot even do musically sometimes because it’s not being asked of you. One of the challenges is once you develop some type of notoriety as a producer many labels want you to produce a song similar to something that they have already heard. And I felt even though God has been good and it has been a blessing being a producer, but I felt that I haven’t been able to express myself musically as I wanted to through other artists.
It’s difficult to kind of live vicariously through them when the label wants you to do something similar to something you’ve already done. “My Own Genre” gives me an opportunity to have an outlet, and then to talk about my own experiences and not feel like I have someone looking over my shoulder when it comes to the music I’m putting out. Of course, none of it is raunchy; all of it is thoroughly produced. But the label gave me the ability to be able to concentrate and do whatever I wanted to do musically. So I feel proud of this more than anything I’ve ever done, because it’s my true expression. I’m going to spend a lot of time really focusing on this project; we’re going to take this project to the top, no question about it!
So that’s what I want people to look out for. It’s going to be a movement, because I feel that great music has many times taken a back seat to commercial music. And I think that day has come to an end, and I’m not the only one that feels that way; but I feel that I’ll be one of the catalysts that will usher in great music again without having to think so much about how commercial this music is going to be.
I feel good because I feel like this project is everything I wanted someone to hear from a song from me. As opposed to some of the songs I’ve done, which I’m proud of, but there are certain songs that I feel like need to be heard that would be a benefit to society as opposed to just entertainment.
For more about Mike Winans or to purchase his new CD, visit www.mikewinans.com or visit iTunes.
