Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller comes home to start his tour
Mac Miller is in love. With women.
Women in general.
His new album, “The Divine Feminine,” which was released Sept. 16, is “all songs about love, in every aspect.”
Of course, the elephant in the room (a very tiny elephant) is the girl he's been collaborating with most frequently, Ariana Grande.
“It's great,” he says. “We have a lot of fun in the studio.”
So ... he's still being coy about that, mostly. The Point Breeze native and Allderdice High School grad will be in Pittsburgh on Sept. 18 to kick off his tour with a show at Stage AE on the North Shore.
“I'm always back in Pittsburgh,” Miller says. “It's home. I was just there a few weekends ago. It's amazing. There's an unmatched feeling about being at home.
“Pittsburgh keeps on evolving and becoming more awesome. It never loses that feeling ... of, like, taking a deep breath.”
Miller reportedly signed to Warner Bros. in 2014 for $10 million. Before that, he concentrated on his own independent label, REMember Music, and early on, Pittsburgh-based indie label Rostrum Records.
When asked if money buys happiness, Miller says, “When you don't have a lot of money, you always have to think about it. I don't have to think about it, and that's a blessing.”
Miller likes to perform — a lot — but he'd rather be tinkering around in the studio. Not everybody knows that in addition to rapping, he's a self-taught musician who plays piano, guitar, drums and bass.
“It's my favorite place to be, ever,” Miller says. “I try not to be in there for the types of hours I used to be, but I always keep a recording studio close. Yeah, I just want to continue to keep getting better as a musician. I'm trying to become a better piano player, better guitar player, and experimenting a lot with playing every instrument on songs. I love music.”
Live, he lets other do the work — for the most part.
“I'll bring out a piano sometimes and a guitar,” Miller says. “There's a time and place for everything. Performing with a live band is one of my favorite things ever, but it's not for every show.”
Another thing he loves is pseudo‑nyms. Mac Miller is an alias (growing up in Pittsburgh, his name was Malcolm James McCormick). He also goes by names such as Larry Fisherman, Delusional Thomas, Larry Lovestein and The Velvet Revival.
“Sometimes, reality seems constricting,” Miller says. “So creating characters and stuff allows you to just kind of go to new places with your music.”
Michael Machosky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7901or mmachosky@tribweb.com.
