In 10th grade, I was kicking it with the seniors. I introduced myself, and they were like, 'Yeah, Demetrius is cool, but we're gonna call you Pac.' That was it! It could be worse!
I've always been a late bloomer. My body developed late. From ninth to 10th grade, I grew like 3 inches. Just kind of stretched out. I was like 6-1, grew to 6-4 in 10th grade.
I am a 10th class pass in Hindi. From 7th grade to 12th grade, I was in Delhi; before that, I was abroad. I came in not knowing a word of Hindi in 7th grade and learned Hindi and passed the exam in 10th. I think I was north of 50 percent, so I feel very proud of that accomplishment.
I got into a fight in my 10th-grade year, and it was on ESPN. It was a mistake, and you learn from it. Starting from the seventh grade, everything's been magnified like that. It's kind of like you have no childhood.
I thought, 'Could I ever call myself ugly as a character?' And it was like, 'Yeah, I'd love to be able to say stuff like that.'
Everybody say I give them Pac vibes. I ain't gonna lie: I ain't really grow up on Pac, but I kinda see it - just off everything I do, though.
From early on, when synthesizers were first introduced into music, I liked the idea that you could get a big sound with them, electronic, but like an orchestra. And I could play it all myself. That was exciting.
From early on, when synthesizers were first introduced into music, I liked the idea that you could get a big sound with them - electronic, but like an orchestra. And I could play it all myself. That was exciting.
When I left for Milford I was in the 10th grade and had never read a book from cover to cover. From the fifth grade on I felt if you studied intently something was wrong. The coolest kid in class was regarded as the leader and you fell in behind him or you were frowned upon... and whatever else that entailed.
Literally, when the pilot came out for 'Glee,' I think we had a watching party or something. We were all seniors, and everyone all of a sudden in the show choir were so excited. We were like, 'This show is awesome. It's so cool. This is exactly us.'
Avicii's melodies were so simple and cool, and they were actually similar to the melodies I played on piano. I thought if I could teach myself how to produce and get those melodies out of my head and into the computer, maybe I could make some cool music, too.
There was nothing worse you could be than a tweener. There was nothing worse you could be, and there were so many good guys that were so good that were tweeners, and they couldn't make it... And when you got that label, it was going to stick. It's like getting branded.
I went to school in Long Beach, and all the seniors I used to kick it with called me Pac.
You know what would be a fun game? If Pac-Man was on a beach, and he was chomping coconuts. You could see how tan you could get your Pac-Man.
I never went to high school. I never really finished eighth grade. I was kicked out of seventh grade once and eighth grade twice. Mainly for not showing up and not doing it. Then I went to an alternative high school for part of what would have been ninth grade and part of what would have been 10th grade.
Games like 'Call of Duty' and 'NBA Baller Beats' have so much to them. I was more of the 'Pac-Man' generation where we were excited to play table tennis on the TV.
But...as bad as it was, I learned something about myself. That I could go through something like that and survive. I mean, I know it could have been worse--a lot worse-- but for me, it was all I could have handled at the time. And I learned from it.