Q&A: Steve Aoki

(Credit: Dove Shore)

No one does more to prove that DJs are the new rock stars than Steve Aoki. He stage dives. He whips his hair around like the lead singer of a thrash band. He collaborates with everyone from Will.i.am to Travis Barker to Rivers Cuomo. He drops the occasional hardcore track (check the mosh-pit-worthy “The Kids Will Have Their Say,” off his debut artist album, “Wonderland”). And when Metromix reaches him by phone, he’s on a party boat.

“It’s kind of amazing,” he says of the Holy Ship! cruise, the first all-electronic event of its kind. “I just hung out by the bar area with Diplo and Skrillex.”

Aoki’s been active for over 15 years, ever since he founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, and began throwing house parties while still a student at UC Santa Barbara. Since then, he’s DJed across the globe, lured Hollywood A-listers out to his Dim Mak club nights in L.A., and helped launch the careers of other artists from Bloc Party to Klaxons to MSTRKRFT.

Over the past year, he’s focused more on his own production work, culminating in the January release of “Wonderland.” As befits his DJ-as-rock-star persona, it’s an epic listening experience, filled with hands-in-air anthems in a variety of styles, all peppered with vocals and cameos from Aoki’s long list of industry pals: Barker, Cuomo, Will.i.am (under his Zuper Blahq alias), Kid Cudi, LMFAO, plus hot newcomers like Wynter Gordon and Nervo.

Between deafeningly loud announcements on the Holy Ship! PA system, Metromix chatted with Aoki about the new album, his “Deadmeat” tour with dubstep DJ/producer Datsik, and his massive kicks collection.

What was the inspiration behind calling this the “Deadmeat” tour? Why not call it the “Wonderland” tour?
It’s ‘cause Datsik’s on the tour—I wanted to kind of make it more neutral. And the thing is, there’s a million Wonderland festivals happening, as well. So I was just like, OK, we’ll just call this “Deadmeat.” I have a song called “Deadmeat” on my album, and it just seemed to fit.

“Wonderland” is actually named after the street you live on in the Hollywood Hills, correct?
Exactly.

Are you worried you’re gonna have fans cruising up and down Wonderland looking for your house now?
I doubt it. There’s actually a lot of celebrities that live up on my road. They might find out about them before they do me.

And I guess you probably also get lookie loos up there driving by the John Holmes murder house.
Yeah. LMFAO used to live in that house. They lived there before their crazy rise to their crazy world, at the same time I moved into my house. It was kind of funny.

It seems like everyone, yourself included, had a huge year in dance music in 2011. Any personal highlights from the past 12 months?
Europe was a really big deal for me in 2011. I played a lot of festivals over the summer, including Tomorrowland, Exit Festival, Oxygen. And the collabs were really big. “Turbulence” [with Lil Jon and Laidback Luke] came out last year, “No Beef” [with Afrojack], “Tornado” with Tiësto. Those were all great records that got a lot of great response. And it all kind of set up for my album.

I know some of the tracks you mentioned will be featured as bonus tracks on some versions of “Wonderland”—but for the most part, it’s all brand-new tunes, right?
It’s all brand-new tunes. It’s all featurings, really, from different vocalists. And it covers a wide range of my production sounds. I’m really happy to get this out there to show people the diversity of sounds that influence me. I’m an electro kid, but I love some progressive vocal house records. I love dubstep. I even love some pop records. Working with Redfoo from LMFAO kind of opened the door—while we produced the song [“Livin' My Love”], we chatted about music theory for like six hours. [Loud ship announcement interrupts him] Hold on a second.

You really are on a boat! Based on your appearance in the “Electric Daisy Carnival Experience” documentary, I have to ask: How big is your sneaker collection?
You know what’s funny? I haven’t even seen that movie. So I have no idea what’s in there. But my sneaker collection, it’s the same thing I’ve been doing with my records: I’m shaving it down, I’m trimming off the fat. I don’t know how many sneakers I have, but I definitely have 300 to 400 pairs. I’ve been donating them to charity or giving them to friends or selling them. A lot of it was just swag—you just get stuff from companies. Now, whatever sneakers I really cherish, I want to keep them organized and presentable. That way, there’s value to it. Otherwise, it’s just like I’ve become a hoarder.

Since you’re also a rock guy, which reunion are you more excited about: Van Halen or Sabbath?
Oh, man, definitely Sabbath.

I had a feeling you were probably more of a Sabbath guy.
I mean, Van Halen’s dope. I was playing “Eruption” in my set for like four years. [Ship siren goes off] You know just as much about this as I do.

I think I’d better let you go. I wouldn’t want you to miss those ship safety procedures.