INTERVIEW: How Steve Aoki went from the Lost Man to the biggest name in EDM, slaying demons all the way
In an exclusive interaction with Meaww, Steve Aoki speaks to us about figuring out life in college, the reason he opted for Feminist studies and sociology in college and why his foundation predominantly supports organizations dealing with brain research.
DJ Steve Aoki is a popular EDM artist who is known worldwide. Aoki was able to conquer his demons through education, self-awareness, and his music.
He has played up to 250 shows in a year and has collaborated with music giants such as Snoop Dogg, Linkin Park, Will.i.am, among many others. He was also nominated twice for a Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album Wonderland-2013 and nominated for another Grammy Award for Best Music Film 2017-Steve Aoki - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead.
College is a tricky time for most people and many are trying to figure out what to do in their life. Steve Aoki's college life was no different, "In college, I was trying to figure things out, I didn’t know where to fit and how to fit in. It’s a very long journey. There is no fast track from that period of time to where I am today. It took years and years of critical self-awareness, self-determination, understanding on the world and understanding myself. With a passion for learning.
"Be it of different cultures who I am in today’s society what I can do to help myself help others and how to better equip myself to do that. Education was part of that process. At the beginning of the school, I was lost I was trying to figure things out and many in that phase feel the same. We don’t know where to fit and how to fit in."
"Now I am in a position where I know how to connect with people and that has taken many years. At the end of the day, I found that the most meaningful way to connect to people was through my music because that was the best way to express myself. And I am continuing to learn how to harness it better and better," he continued.
I wanted to enrich my life through the courses I picked
"When I was in college I also learned one important thing which stays to this day which is finding out and discovering what detached me. And giving all of yourself towards that. When I started school I was more pragmatic, majoring in economics and business and you know in school the traditional approach is to get a job, get a job with the degree.
I was an average student that was because I had no emotion and passion to learn and I discovered other classes that gave me that passion. I found a lot of wisdom and life insights. That passion drove me to reconsider what my whole purpose is to school. Then I realized I through school I wanted to enrich my life. I wanted to reconstruct how I feel and shape me for the better."
I want to unlock these doors of the brain that can allow us into things that we can’t imagine yet.
"The Aoki foundation started five years ago. The idea came about before embarking on a tour. I am more methodical in my approach when it comes to engaging with the fans or how to get them more involved. And that’s when I thought I need to start a foundation where people that come to my shows would be involved in charity work.
"I didn’t want it to be about me I wanted it to be about us. At the end of the show, we all donated $1 to a cause. At the time I had led a Facebook survey asking peoples opinion on where the charity should go to. The highest votes were for disaster relief.
"I mean we're here to party but were here also to help people. We can party and have a good time but if we party with a purpose that’s the best one. We did that and people loved it and eventually, the foundation started gearing towards brain research and brain science. That’s really something that fascinates me and I am passionate about. The human brain is the most important phenomena in the universe yet we know very little about. We are focused on two areas."
"One is eradicating diseases that affect all of us. At some point, you and I might know someone suffering from a brain-related ailment and there’s nothing we can do about it. So we need to learn more and hence we’re helping with the funding the research towards regenerative medicine. And two I want to explore and understand the brain.
"I want to enhance our creativity, I want to unlock these doors of the brain that can allow us into things that we can’t imagine yet. With the hope that we live longer, better, healthier and happier life. I look at the future in a very positive way. With technology and research, we can do a lot more for our and that’s why we work almost entirely towards brain research because it’s a fascinating and unexplored terrain."