Steve Aoki Interview

Making his debut at Stereosonic this November, BBM chat to legendary DJ, producer and record label owner, Steve Aoki. Iconic in the electronic dance realm, Aoki has a name and a face you could never forget, playing over 200 shows a year, crowd surfing at every opportunity and working with the likes of will.i.am, Laidback Luke and Diplo. With his much-awaited new album set for release on 30th September, you can find him either on stage or in the studio, jetting from one country to another every day. Living a life most could only dream of, we couldn’t wait to talk to Aoki about ‘Neon Future 1’, spending his summers in Ibiza, and what to expect at Stereosonic 2014.

Hi Steve, how are you?
I’m good.

Excellent. So, I know you’ve just stepped off a plane. Where in the world are you at the moment?
I’m back in Ibiza. I’m living here over the summer, I’ve got a villa and I play every Wednesday at Pacha.

Where were you flying from?
Majorca. I did a really crazy run this weekend. I started off at Creamfields in the UK, then went to Barcelona that night, and in the morning played at Mystery Land, then back at Creamfields, and then went to Austria for a festival and then to Holland for a festival, over four days. It was pretty hectic.

Is your life generally like that?
Yeah, I definitely back the shows as much as I can, I prefer to do multiple shows in one day than spread them out. It’s all organised, like tonight, I have a day off in Ibiza, but I’m spending it in the studio. So even on my days off I have work. I don’t mind as long as I get enough sleep so I’m not dragging my heels through the day.

Do you sometimes not know where you are?
All the time [Laughs]

Talking of constant touring, you’re part of a stellar line-up for Stereosonic, is it your first time at the festival?
Yeah, it’s my first time at Stereosonic, so this will be my first time to a OneLove festival.

So you’re no stranger to touring Oz?
No, I love touring Australia, it’s definitely a major highlight of the year and I’ve been hearing so much about Stereosonic. I remember when it first started and now it’s such a big deal, like, a very competitive festival.

With regards to electronic and house music, do you think they’re changing everyone’s perception of what a festival is?
Well, when I go to festivals like Tomorrowland or E, I put into the production and developing not what would you would expect, then it’s like an experience that you don’t forget. Tomorrowland is one of my favourite experiences of a festival, to make you feel something different.

So when you do a show, do you have a strict process or can it be quite unpredictable?
I have somewhat of a guideline of what I’m gonna be playing, because when I’m thinking about my set, it’s not necessarily experimenting with tracks that I want to test out – I’ll do that at clubs. Festivals are more like your final exam when you’re at school, something you’ve been studying or planning for, so I am testing some stuff out but I’ve already tested it out. For instance, I’ll be playing brand new material and debuting that at festivals, like, this is a new song that is coming out, and, in a way, we’re reclaiming the way we broadcast our music. The way I see it, it’s our version of radio. Radio might not play any of these songs, but I have the power to play it and it’s going to touch people in a certain way if they like it. At Tomorrowland I debuted a lot of new material from my new album, ‘Neon Future 1’, and when I go down to Stereosonic I’ll be debuting Part 2, because it’s split into two parts, and maybe the new Linkin Park song, because it will be closer to when the album comes out.

There isn’t going to be that much of a break between the release of Part 1 and Part 2 then?
It’s more like six months; I don’t want to make it too far apart because I wrote both in the same time frame, so they’re in the same conceptual state, but Part 2 is a little bit more emotional and deep, the songs are a little more progressive and Part 1 is more of a party, like ‘Delirious’ with Kid Ink, ‘Rage The Night Away’ with Wocka Flocka Flame, and ‘Free The Madness’ with Machine Gun Kelly, they’re hip hop artists and dance records, so it’s more fun.

Why was the release of Part 1 pushed back?
I was finishing one of the songs and I thought everything was finished, but the problem is, every song I’ve worked on for this record, there’s so many other people involved, so it took so long to finish mixing one of the songs properly, that I thought it was finished and the vocalist was not happy with it, so we went back and forth so many times that we had to push back the date, and it really was a sad moment for me because I was ready for it! But it’s all done now and there’s no pushing back September 30th. I’m just happy that album one will be ready to go, and that’s why I don’t want to have a date for album two yet because the whole process isn’t finalised.

You’re still in the process of making Part 2?
Yeah, I mean, the music side of things is pretty much finished, it’s just making the sound and getting everyone to sign off, because you’ve got the artist, the management, the label and there’s so many fucking people!

When you’re not in the studio, you’re playing around the world. Is Ibiza particularly special to you for this?
Yeah, it’s become my second home, I moved out here in June and I’m staying until September. It’s a really incredible place for dance culture, I definitely consider it the mecca of dance music, like you have all different walks of life and culture represented on the island. You have so many different DJs and sounds and you really get a taste of everything. There’s a diverse audience from all these different countries, so I love playing out here and every week is different. Even the island outside of the club culture is such a beautiful place.

We saw that you’d been scuba diving in Ibiza, is seeing new places and doing new things a part of touring that you enjoy?
I really do my best to see as much as possible. It’s difficult sometimes when you’re doing three shows in a day, but when we have time, we do try to explore and I travel with a photographer and videographer, so we try to see as much and do as much as we can. I do my best to document it and put it up on my YouTube channel or Facebook so everyone else can see what’s going on.

And is there anything that you’d like to do in Australia?
Maybe shark diving. I like swimming so maybe go to the Great Barrier Reef, I love Bondi Beach and staying around there, but we’ll see.

Thanks for your time, Steve!

Watch Steve Aoki ‘Delirious (Boneless)’ featuring Kid Ink

By Charlotte Mellor

You can catch Steve Aoki at Stereosonic 2014.