snaps workshop
steve aoki word s / ki s h la l
Never being one to shy away from all things considered extravagant, producer and record label owner Steve Aoki has had a few things to answer for in recent times. Riding the wave of EDM’s long awaited popularity has seen him be invited and nominated for a Grammy. “Oh my god, they were awesome”, his zeal at the very mention of the ceremony completely taking me off guard. “You know I’ve never been to the Grammys before? I’ve never been invited and not only to be invited but nominated and to be respected in the highest accolades of music history is just like, I can’t even describe the feeling, it was awesome.” It’s instantly clear that Aoki is far from the diva he’s been set out to be, but to his critics’ disdain he was as gracious and humbled as I hope I’d be if I got the chance to rub shoulders with pop royalty. The dance category wasn’t televised but this is America we’re talking about, a land where electronic music was once niche and unfamiliar to the masses but not anymore. To dance music fans, Steve Aoki has
never been an unfamiliar name but the explosion of EDM has seen him take a giant leap. “Because of what’s been happening right now with dance music I’ve been playing a lot more places that aren’t clubs and more ticketed venues, and I’d rather play to fans who are going to buy tickets to a show rather than [play] in a nightclub where you’re not sure if the people who are there actually care about your music.” As the conversation moves on it becomes clear that Steve’s humble demeanour all comes down to his roots and where it all started – throwing parties in his dorm room. “We turned our living room into a space and, we collected money at the door. It was about five bucks a head and about 80 people could fit into a space that should only fit like 20 and we gave all the money to the bands and we didn’t really keep anything.“ At the end of it all 400 bands played in Aoki’s living room including At The Drive-In and Jimmy Eat World. It’s no surprise that the future is not one strictly contained by the walls of EDM. “I want to collaborate with millions of people, a million and a half people”, he laughs going onto say that he wants to explore “every kind of genre, from rock, pop and I’d love to go in deeper and find interesting artists in world music, more Indigenous music artists and work with them too.” While he isn’t a purist’s cup of tea it’s undeniable that Aoki’s fervour is contagious. “I want to keep learning and challenging myself to not just put out the same particular kind of sound but have the influence of the world, you know?” And he has the power to do just that. With the boom in EDM comes the demand of constant touring but that has come under scrutiny too. Last year his rider was leaked on the internet and the exuberant list brought its fair share of flak. “I don’t really care about that” – but Aoki’s justification of his rider that follows projects differently. “When I travel on the road I try to be as detail oriented as possible. We have five people or sometimes more and when you’re on the road if you don’t treat yourself as well as you do at home you’re going to get sick and I like to eat organically.” It wasn’t his love for fruit that was getting criticism and Steve was aware that it was his “baller shit” that caused a stir. “There’s all this shit that’s totally unnecessary on a rider, like the two bottles of Cristal which I
just took off because I don’t even drink”. When I ask why he would even put the Cristal on the rider since he refrains from a recreational dabble in drugs or alcohol he confesses, “I’m just collecting them, I have 80 bottles at my house”. A room full of Cristal isn’t a bad party trick to pull out once in a while. His nonchalance disappears as he stresses that the performance rider is all very necessary. “I have cakes and I have boats and I have king sized mattresses and a canon gun and I use all of that!” His flamboyant stage antics have come with a price and he admits, “I stopped doing the high jumps into the crowd for safety’s sake”. While his stage antics are being turned down, Dim Mak Records has moved into unexpected territory. The release of Booka Shade’s Honeyslave EP on Aoki’s label was a real surprise. While touring comes with the downside of exhaustion and undrinkable Cristal, it’s here that Aoki met the legendary Germans and got them on board. “I’ve been a fan of Mandarin Girl and the thing with Dim Mak is that we’re looking to support newer artists riding this evolution of sound. I’ve just been influenced and inspired by a plethora of diverse sounding artists like Booka Shade.” As I hear the beeps of what I think is an ATM in the background, I remember I’m speaking to one of the busiest touring artists on his way to Australia for Future Music Festival. “I love coming down to Australia”. I hear his interest pique as he continues without prompting, “You have something unique down there. It’s an accessible culture that a lot of places probably dream of having.” I’m taken aback upon the realisation that Steve Aoki isn’t the supercilious reveller we all have made him out to be but an unlikely pioneer of what used to be an underground music culture and something we have taken for granted in Australia for a long time.
Steve Aoki plays at Future Music Festival on at the Flemington Racecourse Sunday March 10 alongside Avicii, Dizzee Rascal and more. facebook.com/steve.aoki
soundcloud.com/ steveaoki
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