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Biofile Steve Aoki Interview

By Scoop Malinowski 

Status: DJ, producer, record label owner. Album Neon Future reached no. 1 for Dance/Electronic Albums in 2014.

DOB: November 30, 1977 In: Miami, FL

Childhood Heroes: “Bruce Lee, Malcolm X.”

Hobbies/Interests: “Actually, right now in my life, I’m so busy with work I have no time for a hobby. I run a record label (Dimmak Records) full time, I started a clothing line (Dimmak Collections), and I deejay and travel a lot, so. I’m more like trying to be organized and make sure that I have the right teams in the right areas and that I’m picking up the right people that can help manage all the different things that I’ve got going on. My main focus is the label, the clothing line and deejaying. And I’m producing music now too.”

Favorite Movie: “La Femme Nikita – is the first that pops in my head. I have more but I can’t think of them right now.”

Favorite TV Show: “Freaks and Geeks.”

Musical Tastes: “I love Dolly Parton. I love Block Party. I love Elton John. Michael Jackson. Prince. The Rakes. Oh No Oh My. Scanners. Whitey. And Pony Up.”

First Job: “I worked in a swap meet in LA when I was 12, I was like the busboy.”

First Car: “Isuzu Rodeo. (Color?) Black.”

Pre-Work Feeling: “Well if I’m not like having a serious hangover from the night before, I can deejay really good. If I’m not too busy thinking about my hangover. If it’s like a really big event, I get nervous no matter what.”

Favorite Meal: “Japanese food.”

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Green tea ice cream.”

Greatest Career Moment: “The best moment was when I signed a band called Bloc Party. And I got the test presses made of their first EP, that I released. And I started playing that. Right when I dropped the needle on ‘Banquet’ – before anyone turned – people were just jumping. Because they knew instantly it was a good song.”

Most Painful Moment: “My memory is the most painful moment of my career [smiles]. I leave needles everywhere, and headphones in Vegas and New York and Miami. I lose everything [smiles].”

Embarrassing Memory: “Got so many. So many. At The Troubadour when my shit was skipping and I couldn’t control it, at a Hard Fly show. Skipping like crazy and I couldn’t control it.”

Childhood Dream: “I wanted to become Bruce Lee.”

Favorite Performers: “Daft Punk. RK Fire. Uffie.”

Last Halloween Costume: “What was I? Yellow Peril. (What’s that?) It’s like a yellow costume and I just made it up. I was like attacking people [laughs].”

People Qualities Most Admired: “I like, I like fucking real people, that – it’s such a vague word ‘real’ but. But like you could kinda figure somebody out in 10 minutes, talking to them. Like what they’re gonna bring out, what they’re gonna say first. People that don’t want to like climb some ladder, they just want to be themselves and they’re really proud about of being themselves. I don’t know if that’s a word – what is that word [smiles]?…People that are truly original.”

Education: UC Santa Barbara (Woman Studies and Sociology).

Steve Aoki Tomorrowland set in Belgium.

(Note: Met Steve at a Fashion Week event in NYC during US Open a few years ago. Had no idea who he was but he had an interesting presence and appearance and he was kind enough to do this spontaneous Biofile.)

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