Who knew picking up a guitar in the 6th grade to serenade girls could lead to an album years later?

DVC student Michael Pittman, 19, recently released his album entitled, “IYDLIT,” on Dec. 12.

Pittman himself has worked with blues, jazz, death metal, hip hop and much more.

His main focus for this album, though, was jazz and hip hop.

It all started when he picked up a guitar to impress and serenade women when he was younger.

After awhile, though, he found he enjoyed it.

“I love music,” Pittman said. “It carries so much power. It’s something that everyone can understand to and relate to regardless of what country or ethnic back ground you come from.”

The plan was to make music that could compete with songs heard on the radio today, but a little bit different in style.

“There’s a lot of crap music out there,” Pittman said. “I see it more in hip hop than anywhere else. I wanted to make something that sounded different.”

He worked on the album for a year and a half.

It was produced at his home and the Music Technology Center located in the music building.

Since entering DVC two years ago, Pittman said his knowledge of music has expanded.

“When I first came here, all I had was a bunch of ideas,” Pittman said. “But I took music classes like song writing and music theory. They’ve been so mind blowing. It helped me become a little more organized.”

He also gives a lot of credit to Doug Michael, who is a part-time instructor at DVC.

“Doug really gave me direction,” Pittman said. “All of the beats I did myself, but Doug would give me insight on different tracks. He helped me explore different ideas.”

Aside from his album, Pittman has also started his own record label called 19 Year Records.

He welcomes all artists who have a desire to really make a career in the music industry.

“Being involved in a record label is exactly what I want to do,” Pittman said. “I’m always looking for artists to collaborate with. It’s also for artists who have ideas and just want to take the next step.”

Pittman also said that while he had been doing music before DVC, he felt that after he came to the school it became more cemented.

He also performs frequently outside of DVC. While he’s performed many times in M-101, which is where a lot of concerts take place, he can also be found at The Red House in Walnut Creek and Rooster’s Roadhouse in Alameda.

Even though his album came out last year, Pittman has plans of revising it for production purposes.

“DVC has really taught me a lot,” Pittman said. “They taught me so much in the short amount of time I’ve been here.”