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Get your first Yo Gabba Gabba CD featuring a track from Weird Science!

“Hi everyone, check out Yo Gabba Gabba! Music Is… Awesome, featuring the song “Go Crazy Remix” that we performed for the show. We’re in good company with I’m From Barcelona, Chromeo, The Roots, Biz Markie, Money Mark and The Little Ones, just to name a few! Click HERE to get yours from iTunes, and head to http://www.yogabbagabba.com for all the latest information!”

Official Link

TRIPLE J RADIO PLAYLIST

this is off the top of my head so i could be mistaken…

it was a 28 minute set so i cut it to the basics.

1. RIFOKI “SPERM DONOR”

- This is coming out on DIm Mak next year. It’s the lead track of our EP (Rifoki is Bob Rifo and myself, recorded with us two and Congorock and a sick drummer from Bassano de Grappa all produced in Italy)

2. Autoerotique “Gladiator” Steve Aoki & DJ AM Remix (Dim Mak)

3. NASA “Gifted” ft. Kanye West, Likke Li, Santigold Steve Aoki Remix (Anti)

4. Mustard Pimp “Cherry” (brand new single on Dim Mak)

5. MSTRKRFT “Heartbreaker” ft. John Legend Laidback Luke Remix (Dim Mak)

6. Laidback Luke/Diplo “Hey” Foamo Remix (Dim Mak)

7. Steve Aoki “I’m in the House” (Dim Mak)

8. The Bloody Beetroots “Warp 1.9″ ft. Steve Aoki (Dim Mak)

Jerk Slow/Move Fast Interview w/ Steve Aoki

OH MY GOD IT’S

STEVE AOKI

During his recent trip to rock the shit out of Guelph, Steve Aoki took some time to ramble on to us about his self-described ‘boring’ life on the road, his label and more pressing issues such as hair. When the interview was completed we got the sense that Steve Aoki’s life may really be a little more conservative than first presumed…. but we’ll let you be the judge of that the next time he visits your town.

1) If you had to get rid of one thing… Moustache or Hair?

Hahaha wow. Never thought of that one. Fuck… That’s tough. Maybe ummm…

*How about half and half? Mushroom cut/trimmed moustache?

Hahahaha, I’ve had a none moustache and I’ve had a mushroom cut….. Wow… I’m stuck, I can’t imagine not having a moustache or long hair. I guess I’ll shave my hair…. That way I could just wear a wig… But I guess I could always get a fake moustache….

2) Is there a particular brand of shoes that you’re especially fond of?

Supra’s…. I designed a model for them plus I always wear them. I work with Josh on the designs and throw back sick ideas and ways to redesign.

I love Supra’s cause they’re high end looking skate shoes for kids.

3) First album on Vinyl?

The first seven inch I ever bought was DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s ‘Nightmare on My Street’. I got a lot of my first vinyls from my old brother. When he was between like sixteen and eighteen he was really into the British mod thing and had a scooter and listened to a lot of the Jam, Madness, The Who. The first record I ever bought was like a Youth of Today LP. But what I really collected growing up was cassette tapes, Easy-E… DJ Quik’s first album… I lived in the suburbs… New Port [Beach, California]… At the age of thirteen all I knew was N.W.A was the coolest shit… West Coast Gangster Hip-Hop.

4) Is there a particular moment/show in your career when you persuaded to fully commit to a career as a professional DJ?

That would probably be Coachella 2007, it’s held right in my backyard… Only three hours away, and you know, it’s one of the most important festivals in the world, if not at least North America, and that was really important because it brought me out the clubs and parties and opened me up to playing to a wider audience.

5) When listening to the latest Black Eyed Peas album and reflecting upon its mainstream success, it becomes evident that electro music consistently influenced almost every track. Considering that you have been affiliated with the Black Eyed Peas in the past, I was wondering if you had any direct or creative influence upon their latest work.

You know, they came up in LA, they were just grinding it out and they blew up… They’re really good with timing. Will is a really intuitive guy and he is able to borrow from a lot of different genres and generalize them a bit and make them appealing to the masses. I’m just in one world and what he took from this world he was able to turn it into something powerful. To me, it makes total sense, you have to speak a universal language that’s not so technical and he’s able to do that… It’s a unique skill to have and not many people can do it.

6) The electronic music is often characterized by excessive drug use, hard drinking DJ’s , eccentric styles, high decibels, chaotic behavior, and music that rarely seems concerned with anything other than intoxication, sex and dancing…. It has to be asked, is electro dance music becoming the reincarnation of hair metal?

No… No… Not at all… Hair metal was huge and commercial, this is underground. Especially in North America, but I think it all depends on the territory, it’s all relative. For example, the Bloody Beetroots are huge in Italy. Probably one of the biggest bands in the country. But you gotta think in the 80’s of one of the biggest hair metal bands. Such as Bon Jovi. They were absolutely huge… Its not like we have any equivalent near that scale. I think the closet thing to compare it to is punk rock, like the huge punk rock bands… Dead Brains… The Germs… The Stooges.

And as for the partying, of course its around but me personally, I don’t do any drugs and lately I’ve really haven’t been drinking that much at all either. I still have the booze in my rider but at this point its more for sharing with the fans.

7) Have you ever passed out on stage?

Yeah… Actually I’ve blacked out on stage before… Passed out on the turntable. It’s actually quite a sad story which really left me feeling like an idiot.

I was on the verge of signing a big contract with this Vegas club and I was playing at a club for a Daft Punk after-party. It was supposed to be Me, [DJ] AM, and Busy P but… Pedro couldn’t make it. So it was just AM and I hanging out with Daft Punk and we were just pumped because AM and I were just the biggest Daft Punk fans and Guy-Manuel and Thomas are just such cool dudes. So I was drinking just so fucking excited but like… Las Vegas is like the most musically ignorant city in the world. Anyways… I was just pounding shot after shot after shot and eventually I blacked out and just remember being carried out of the club. Then I had to write out a letter of apology… They said I was never aloud to drink in their clubs… and yeah… Like a moron… I lost the contract.

How involved in the day to day running of Dim Mak records are you able to be while touring?

I still play a major, very involved role. The day-to-day micromanagement stuff I don’t handle… I have a really good team established with people that know how to get things done. I set the wheels in motion and get a lot of the A-B started and they can run with it from there most of the time. We’re a pretty good machine at Dim Mak but I’m still very hands-on with the executive decision… It still comes down to me… I’m constantly on my BlackBerry. At this point a lot of guys on my team have been with the label for a while and have a lot of hands-on experience. The label has been around for thirteen years… For eight years we had no funding, then I eventually got some help financing the bills but now were gearing back to becoming more independent again.

9) For the past two years it seems like you have been touring like a man possessed, rarely stopping to smell the roses. When considering all the late nights, traveling and heavy drinking that go hand in hand with such a lifestyle, one must begin to question how much longer you can go on for. What are your Future plans? How long can you keep doing this?

Stamina is very important to me… I don’t want to burn myself out… I’ve been very blessed and fortunate that I haven’t acquired many bad habits… I don’t do cocaine or smoke cigarettes, which I think makes me very lucky considering the environment I’m constantly in… It’s easy to get in that mess. The only thing that’s going to slow me down is my hearing. My doctor thinks I need to take a break… Maybe live on an island… Just to get away from all the noise. Just as I have been fortunate to avoid the drugs, cigarettes, etc., I have been unfortunate about the hearing… but its something that’s different for everyone. Such as a band like Boyz Noize… there’s so much going on in their music, they play it so loud every night… And they’re fucking fine! Same thing with Diplo. I just got back from tour [in Asia] with him and I would ask him if he wanted to use my earplugs and he would crank it even louder… He’s fine… Some people get lung cancer… Some start losing their hearing I guess… Whatever.

I think I have to blame the hearing on a weekly party I used to have in L.A. There were these Ion speakers that would sit like six inches from my head and it would blast so fucking loud in my left ear… While I was DJ’ing with my left ear piece. Sorry… I kinda started rambling off track their… but as for future plans, I plan on DJ’ing less and start doing LA more. You know, become more of a home buddy less of a DJ. Eventually its going to slow down a lot… I’m not planning on being a DJ forever.

Jerk Slow/Move Fast

NORTH BAY CANADA GIRL WINS A DIM MAK PACKAGE

i take pics of home made tees i see on the road and every so often the dim mak team picks a winner to send some goodies… i dont know who this girl is but she lives in North Bay, Ontario Canada. If you know her tell her she won a prize. leave a comment on this post with a contact and a pic of the tee and she’ll be sent something from dim mak.

DIM MAD TOUR – DARK ALLEYS IN HONG KONG W/ DIPLO

During the Dim Mad Tour, Diplo and I explored various scary and dark places… This was the seediest part of Hong Kong and I’m not even sure what we were trying to find but we ended up getting freaked out by strange noises from above!

http://www.vimeo.com/7184375

PLUSSIXFIVE interview w/ Steve and Diplo during Dim Mad Tour!

Steve Aoki and Diplo were in town for a gig at Zouk as a part of their MAD DECENT Tour. We managed to have a little chat with both of them – about fashion, influences and their music. Jump for the full interview.

So how many times have you guys been to Singapore already? You must like it huh.

SA: This is my fourth time, I did ZoukOut, and then two other gigs, and now this one.
Diplo: It’s my second time, I came around here for the first time last summer.

Why did you guys decide to hook up and come down together this time around?

Diplo: Steve just released one of my records on his label, and I have a label as well, and we always wanted to do a tour and do some shows together

SA: Yeah so we have six gigs in Asia over two weekends – Beijing so far, Bangkok, here in Singapore, Japan after and so on.

We checked out your schedules – it was packed out. Why not spend more time in Singapore?

DP: Well we’re playing on a Sunday here, and we’ve got a gig in Japan tomorrow night – Monday Night parties are pretty crazy over there.

SA: Tomorrow’s gig is with Masterkraft and Motor as well so that’s gonna be great.

DP: Monday is gonna be cool.

SA: It’s gonna be like a festival. “Monday Festival in Osaka”.

So lets talk a little bit about the fashion side of things. Steve, we know you started Dim Mak with your sister, but do you both take creative control of designs?

SA: Dim Mak is actually not with my sister, but together we have our own line that will be coming out next year – it’s a denim line. But yeah, Dim Mak has primarily been a Tee line, with about fourteen pieces a season, we do three seasons a year, and we’re expanding the line – getting the cut and sew, and doing denim and outerwear. It’s a growing brand.

Were you guys into board sports when you were younger?

SA: Yeah, yeah definitely. I used to skate.

DP: Yeah I skated; I surfed too.

SA: He surfed all over philly. Just Kidding.

DP: I surfed all over the park. I surfed last summer. I went to Hawaii a month ago just to surf and DJ.

And does that still influence your music and direction?

DP: The style goes back and forth between what we do and skater style from back in the day, not so much surf style, but definitely skate.

SA: The skate style is definitely a part of our world. There are tones of skaters that come to our shows. I’ve worked with Supra too – I did a signature shoe with them. I have a line with Krew as well, but I’ve known those guys since I was fourteen, I used to skate on their ramp with Muska and the rest.

DP: I just did a shoe with ES, it’s a collaboration with Mad Decent.

We’ve seen your shoe with Supra Steve, are there any future plans in the works?

SA: Yeah, this is the tenth colorway, and we definitely have more colorways coming. We actually remodeled the strap shoe as well.

It’s every skateboarder’s dream to have their own shoe, so you guys having your own shoes as musicians must be great…

DP: Yeah, I guess we’re into the same skate culture, and the music culture kind of blends together.

SA: Lifestyle is diverse. Skate kids, surf kids whatever, they all come to our shows

DP: What I like about the kids who are into skating, is that to me its always been more about the art side of it too, a lot of these kids are producing something that’s not just functional, but they’re always doing different interesting projects, which combines functionality and art.

Steve you also hooked up with WESC recently to do some headphones, tell us more.

DP: Anytime I DJ when Steve was around, I’d end up with the headphones on my head.

SA: We’ve actually made a new pair of bongo headphones, they’re actually the same model as the Ed Banger ones are – the cheaper, smaller model. Those are coming out. They’re all colorful and everything.

How would you guys want to people to remember you in 20 to 30 years time in terms making your mark on the music industry?

DP: I think for my label, Mad Decent, a lot of kids are into it and I think that it defines them a lot when they’re younger – the different music that they’re into and the culture and the parties. Especially like Steve, who has a huge following and the kids are defined and associate with Steve when they’re growing up. My label also does a lot of cultural stuff like films and tv projects, so I think we’re more on like the academic side of things too, so I want to kind of archive what’s happening right now with music and culture.

So how important would you say new technology has been in pushing you guys out there?

DP: We definitely utilize it a lot to get the word out, I mean, Steve and I don’t have a lot of backing from major labels, so we took advantage of technology. When the major labels were struggling to get the artistes that they signed any exposure, we’re just doing it on our own, like playing shows and uploading them to youtube.

SA: Also, the music that we have, I would still consider as an underground thing. We’re not on tv, we’re not actors. The music that we make that surrounds our labels is all really part of our own world, and that’s a big part of the reason why people are coming out.

It’s time for last words…

DP: errr..stay in school, don’t do drugs either

SA: GO TO OUR WEBSITES..MADDECENT.COM and DIMMAK.COM for the public service announcements.

You guys are selling your tees here at Zouk Deli yeah?

SA: yeah yeah, we’ve got Mad deent tees, major laser tees, dim mak tees, aoki tees, a panda tee, you know for Chinese people..

DP: green tea (tee)…brown tea (tee)….english breakfast……

PLUSSIXFIVE

MY HERO

“i’d rather be hated for who i am, than loved for who i am not.”

I LOVE EDIE SEDGWICK & THIS SONG..

CATS!

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