Get Inside the Mind of Steve Aoki

Get Inside the Mind of Steve Aoki
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Steve Aoki knows a little something about the music business. Get ready to learn from the master.

Steve Aoki knows a little something about the music business. Get ready to learn from the master.

Kevin Jackson Jr. (undertheshutter.blogspot.com)

Steve Aoki sat across from me with his legs crossed. I was about to go to school and learn from a living legend. Class was in session and the electronica professor started his lesson plan for the day.

“Sometimes I split my music up country by country. And also by what kind of event it is. Take for example—a rooftop party that is industry oriented. Last night, I was literally thinking about changing my set minutes before. I completely changed my entire set. I looked at it like this—the artist before me...I could tell he was playing all his new tracks coming out on his next album and I’m thinking there’s a lot of people from Spotify and all these different music streaming executives. And my label that is with Sony. So it’s like, I was scratching my head going, ‘Oh man. Should I really just be playing a house set?’ I was told it was going to be a rooftop party.” Aoki took a deep breath. We were just getting started.

The record producer nodded. He continued, “Sometimes you have to think on the fly like that. I just kind of went with my gut. I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to play an underground house set.’ I’m not going to play bangers for one. Unless I’m almost trying to have a listening party. But let’s talk about country by country.” Aoki looked at me as I was intently focused on every word he was saying. Aoki resumed, “People in Europe are not accustomed to American trap culture and American-based sounds. So I sprinkle it in but I’m really giving more of an EDM sound that I’ve been doing for a long time in Europe. So I keep maintaining that status quo with my music. In America, this is where I can play a lot of my newer stuff that would make sense in my set. The thing is—when you are a DJ, it’s like having a conversation with people. If I’m a scientist and I’m talking to someone who is not a scientist and all I’m doing is talking in a scientific language—they don’t understand what I am saying. The whole conversation is gone. It’s the same way with music. If you play music that people are familiar with and they have a familiarity with the sound they are going to be more enriched with the experience. And then you sprinkle in some new stuff that is new to them. You want to surprise people too. You want to give people what they want and also something different. If you give people something different too much it can be a throw off. It’s an interesting dynamic that you have to constantly think about.” It’s a good thing I wasn’t talking about science with Aoki. There would be no way I would pass that masterclass. I thought back to memories I had of my 10th grade chemistry class where a friend of mine ate my homework assignment one day and I got an ‘F’ for the assignment. Fun times.

Aoki continued on with his lesson. “In Mexico I play some old classic Mexican songs. Just to surprise them as well. I know some bits of the culture that I love. I’ll think about how that has an effect on culture or is connected with the culture of the people I am playing to as well.” I raised my hand. Steve Aoki allowed me to ask a question. I asked him what went on in his mind when he played the Electric Zoo this year. Aoki let out a sly smile. “I really thought about not just the crowd that I was playing to but the fact that I was in New York City. The fact that it was the 20 year anniversary of Dim Mak...I was thinking about that as well. It was going to get recorded and people are going to watch it when it goes online. In that respect, I’m playing songs that I want to promote. It’s not necessarily a fun set of songs that I really like. They are songs that I hand-picked. I’m like, ‘Okay, I want to play this after that song because if it’s with the story of the musical narrative that I am presenting as well as if it’s new songs that are coming out through my label or Dim Mak. Most of the tracks are the new stuff that I’m working on,” he told me with confidence. I sat in amazement. How does this guy do it? And how exactly did he make getting a cake smashed in a person’s face part of dance culture?

Steve Aoki was happy to tell me how. He said, “Before I introduced the cake to the shows as part of the thing to do, I think it’s important to talk about the question—why?” I asked him why. The music executive continued, “In 2009, it was my second time playing Coachella. It was my first time really having a budget to build a show. So I had some money that Coachella gave me. I used that money and then some to think about all the different props I would have. I had my set list and I already had what I would do at different particular spots in the show. I never really did that before. I would just play music and have fun. This time it was premeditated. It’s important that I know what I’m doing in the allotted time that I have programmed. I make sure that there would be no dead air because I am mixing at the same time. Of course it’s quick mixing. I sacrificed longer mixes so I could do certain things. Back then when I introduced the Super Soakers at one point. I also had girls dancing on boxes. I was pouring champagne on people. Stage diving on top of them. Bringing that punk attitude into the show. In 2011, every town I’m playing in, I’m thinking to myself, ‘What can I do to make my show more unique?’ I tried all kinds of things. Some of the things that were unique to my show didn’t get the attention that it should have. I made these custom robotic appendages to my hands that would light up in LED and spray water and they are really cool. But it’s not like people were going, ‘Yo, Aoki with those dope LED appendages. That’s what I remember.’ People love the show but it’s not something that sticks like throwing cake in a person’s face.” It was at this moment where I secretly wish Aoki would jam a cake at full force at my head. I was getting hungry.

Before I could daydream about all the different kinds of cakes I wish I was eating, Aoki carried on with his lesson plan. “There was an idea where I saw this video we produced. We put out a video for our label by the artists named Autoerotique. They directed this incredible video of these cakes exploding in people’s faces. So that’s where the idea came from. Blow out the candles and the cake would explode. I was like, ‘Yeah, you know what? I want to play this song and cake someone at the same time and see if there’s a connection there that people can make to promote the song.’ We shot it. We made sure to put it online to get it to go viral. That was an integral part in the whole dissemination of this new idea. It was specific to get a viral reaction and I’ve done it at every show. I’ve caked over 10,000 people,” Aoki told me. Before I could congratulate him on that high number, he said, “It’s just fun. It’s hard to retire something because this kind of thing wasn’t meant to last. It’s hard to retire something people like. Of course it has its critics because it’s a gimmicky thing that’s not supposed to take off. Whatever, it’s fun.” I’m all about fun. Steve Aoki was the best professor I ever had.

Steve Aoki gets serious when he talks about cake.

Steve Aoki gets serious when he talks about cake.

Kevin Jackson Jr. (undertheshutter.blogspot.com)

I was curious about who inspired the electro house musician to get involved in the industry. Aoki’s eyes lit up with excitement. His voice got louder. “The first artist that really opened my doorway into production from the level of a DJ would be Daft Punk. I wouldn’t even call them DJs. They are beyond that. It’s not about how skillful they are at mixing—they are playing their music in their own way with their own perception. They have a production that goes with the music. That was the foundation for me. Their live tour in 2007—them in this pyramid playing their music. Their live album is still one of my favorite albums to date. I just never saw a DJ do that sort of thing before. That was the first time where it made sense a DJ could headline a festival. ‘Cause it was like you are so entranced by the music with them as aliens just kind of chilling on top of a pyramid. Just the whole production around that. You can’t take your eyes off the stage. That was incredible. That was a huge thing for the electronic community. And then Jus†ice was the second time where these guys took the music and made it their own thing. More rock ‘n’ roll. More punk. They had a wall of amps behind them. With a heavily distorted sound that was almost like a fuck you to the status quo of dance culture. It was like they were saying, ‘We are the punk rock rebellion to the conservative electronic space.’ When I saw and heard them—it was nuts. I was lucky to become friends with them and support them as an ally and contemporary from LA. We forged this alliance. The headbanger and Dim Mak squad. They went at it like it was a mob. The ‘fuckin’ people came from that culture to represent. That was another huge influential step for me. I started taking production more seriously and making music more seriously. At the time, I was just doing remixes and having fun. I would not even consider my remixes along the same lines as some of the artists that I liked. I was just pumping out these remixes. Some of them were pretty shitty. Some of them were okay. But nothing was on the level of the artists I was signing onto Dim Mak. Then I started trying to take it more seriously and giving myself more credit. It took me time to get there.” Aoki’s studying paid off. He is now the man that runs the game, from top to bottom.

As his student for the day, I asked Aoki how he was able to keep up with his exhausting touring schedule. The dance artist let out a small laugh. He told me, “I have a valid interest in the things I am doing so I have to be with it. If I don’t have an interest in it I just wouldn’t do it. The interest in itself is the driving point to get me from point A to point B. Like when we land in New York and I want to do something—it’s not like I’m doing press because I have to do it. I want to do it. I want to get my word out there. I want to go to the top of the Empire State Building to see the view and take pictures. Maybe take a selfie. Or I can hang out with a friend who I haven’t seen in a very long time. I do all these things because I genuinely want to be there. I’m an experiential person. I love to experience culture as much as possible and touring allows me to immerse myself in new environments. That’s exciting and it’s also refreshing. Whatever it might be, it’s different and unique. I was touring a lot by myself in the beginning from 2007 - 2011. I was alone. More places were booking me because I was playing for smaller places for much smaller fees. A 500 cap room for a thousand bucks or less. There was a lot of opportunity but I was missing out on a lot of experiences. I got to the point where I needed someone to go on the road with me because I didn’t want to miss out. It’s all a blur.” That’s where I became confused. How could this master not remember the awesome countries he visited? I had to find out more.

Aoki looked at me and sighed. He told me, ”I went to all these amazing places but I didn’t remember shit. Just hotel rooms and the venues. I’m like, ‘Fuck that, I ain’t going to be through life just remembering hotel rooms and the inside of a car to get to a show and dinner. I just want to experience more. That’s when I brought people on the road with me. I would pay for a filmmaker to be with me. I’m paying these people to make sure when we go out on tour we have a good time. In the back of my mind, I’m thinking, ‘If we don’t have these experiences, that would suck because then what am I doing with my money?’ So I remember that. And I always go, ‘We gotta do this right now.’ It is the incentive to keep going. When you book a trainer to work out with you, you don’t go, ‘Yeah, let’s just chill out.’ You’re not going to do that. You book a trainer for a session to work out. I book these guys to explore with me.” With Thanksgiving being over, Aoki’s words made me feel guilty for not having a gym membership card in my wallet. I was tempted to ask if I could go on the road with him but I knew better. There was a lot I had yet to learn. I told Aoki I had the opportunity to watch his documentary I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead. He slowly nodded his head and explained the process behind the film.

“It opened up my doorway to a therapy session. It was interesting to understand the history and the psychology. It opened up this conversation about my family. About my father. That’s when it sparked a family discussion. I couldn’t navigate there all by myself,” Aoki said to me. Tenderly, he continued, “I needed someone to lead that. We had to get a level of trust and friendship. I needed to get to that level before we even went there. I was never intending to go there in the beginning. It just naturally went there. We were filming for three years. I forgot about the documentary because it just continued to film. I got to the point where I didn’t want to see any of it. It’s one thing to talk about it. It’s another to go back and watch it. It’s easier for me to talk about it when I’m comfortable.” Before the bell rang and class was let out, I asked my teacher what was next when it came to his career.

“My next album is my next major project. I’m also producing for other artists too. There’s been a change. Before it was all about how this music was going to fit into my world of electronic space and dance culture. Now I just want to produce great songs for great people.”

Class dismissed.

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