Steve Aoki

So we are here today at your house in Las Vegas to talk about your clothing line, Dim Mak. Talk to us a bit about fashion and music. Do they go hand-in-hand for you?
Well, when I think back to the to the beginning, I trace it back to when I first got introduced to music as a lifestyle. When you are a kid, you listen to music all the time. Music became a lifestyle choice for me when I was 14 or 15 years old, I was so compelled to pick up a guitar, to pick up a microphone and to record music. I started a band around that time, and I also picked up my first silk screen press. I got into a hardcore punk scene, and that scene has a DIY ideology.

When you are in a band, one of the first things you do before you go to a show is make a t-shirt. That culture is all about merch. It goes hand in hand. You buy your guitar, and you buy a silk screen press.
So Dim Mak was a natural evolution. Can you tell us a little more about how you got started?
Fast forward past college, I moved to L.A. and I started DJing. I always wanted to do more than screen printed t-shirts, I was interested in expanding. In 2006 there was a tradeshow in Las Vegas, called Magic, and they asked me to DJ at the tradeshow, but they were just starting out and didn’t have a lot of budget. I asked them for a booth in exchange for getting paid for the DJ gig. It was very modest, just some sweaters some hoodies, some t-shirts. I was trying to be a salesman, do the marketing, race over, do a DJ set, and after 3 days at the show, I got like 10 people interested in buying and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was a start, and that’s what got me so excited.

Now Dim Mak includes much more than just t-shirts and hoodies. What was the evolution of that like?
We finally got here through ups and downs, and now we have a full collection. It took us a long time. Dim Mak officially, officially started 3 years ago, with Japanese partners. What I have understood is that you really need a solid team of people that understand your vision, of people that are experts in the field and that can fill in all the spaces that you don’t understand or that you can’t handle for yourself. My Japanese partners handled everything at the beginning, and we only sold in Japan when we were starting out.
Why the name Dim Mak?
Dim Mak is a reference to my hero, the legend, the goat, Bruce Lee. He was my role model growing up. He spoke to everybody and he really influenced the world. I hope I can have an inkling of the influence that he had… he penetrated popular culture. When I started my label, I want to give homage to Bruce Lee and you can’t call it Bruce Lee Records. Dim Mak was cool, it’s mysterious, it’s badass, it’s a death touch, it’s a martial art move… it’s got a lot of mystery to it, its dope, it’s perfect.
What is your relationship like with your sister Devon Aoki? Does she influence you at all fashion-wise?
Devon has a huge influence on my fashion. She is five years younger than me. I remember when she was 15 and already working with Karl Lagerfeld and Jeremy Scott. She has worked with amazing photographers like David LaChapelle and Terry Richardson. I remember thinking, you are so young and you are crushing it.
I would always go to her for advice, she is very opinionated. I always trust her. She is a big fashion advisor to me, I always looked up to her in that way because she is very knowledgeable. It’s cool we always talk about collaborating, it’s only a matter of time.
Who else would you want to collab with? Who is a reference for you?
I have used my fashion collections to collab with my favorite artists. I got to work with David Choe for this collection and he became a close friend. I want to work with whoever is changing the game, who is influencing me or inspiring me.

So I read that you have 300 gigs a year, there are 365 days in a year. How do you balance all that?
I have toned it down a bit from 300 shows. I found a good number that allows me to do all these different things, that number is 250. When I was doing 300 shows, that’s when I was pedal to the metal. At the end of the day, I always try to challenge myself. I have realized, that you create your habits, whether they are good or bad, it is up to you.

What are some of your habits that have attributed to your success?
I have to be able to reset myself. Meditation is really important to me, to be able to stop everything, give myself 10 minutes and evaluate what my priorities are in life. There are always going to be toxic vices around like drugs or alcohol. I always think, does this help my end game? Does this make me happy? I try to focus on good habits, and it’s not always easy, it’s a transition. You can’t go from zero to anything overnight, you got to muscle through it, just like a workout, and once you make something a habit, it doesn’t feel like a chore anymore.

So your home is called, Playhouse. How important is it for you to play while you are working? To have fun?
You want your life to be fun, life should be fun. You can look at it two ways, glass half full, glass half empty. I am not the glass half empty guy. I was slowly able to make my creative pursuit my career. I take this life with humility and grateful energy, I give 110% percent. The journey is everything, the most important thing is to be happy in the present and doing the best you can with what your pursuit is.
The only thing that’s real is this second right now, the past is gone, the future is a huge question mark, and the only thing that exists is this interaction. The fame, the money, whatever, those things are just concepts in the brain, perception is not real, the only thing that exists is this human interaction. Take it for what its worth.