EDM's @steveaoki on His Success, Drug Influence & Being Inspired by His Late Father, Rocky Aoki‏ / @kingsthings

EDM's Steve Aoki on His Success, Drug Influence & Being Inspired by His Late Father, Rocky Aoki‏ 

EDM producer and artist, Steve Aoki, sat down with Larry King on the Emmy nominated series  “Larry King Now” to talk about the multi-billion dollar Electronic Dance Music industry, growing up the son of Benihana-founder Rocky Aoki and how he broke barriers to become one of the top DJs in the world.

The “Forbes” list DJ discussed the influence Las Vegas has had on EDM culture and explained to Larry why Sin City's hotel owners continue to throw down the big bucks for DJ's to perform. “Vegas is definitely the city that has the money to pay the biggest DJs in the world to keep coming back on a consistent basis. So there’s no other city like that in the world that has that kind of income to generate… People that are sitting at the table buying 50 bottles of Cristal and Dom Pérignon, celebrating whatever they’re celebrating with whatever money that they got, seeing the DJ they want to see,” Aoki explained. (clip below)

He also addressed the stereotype of EDM, telling Larry that drug use is rampant at any large music gathering not just EDM and dance music festivals “it’s important that there’s education, there’s awareness […] a lot of people think, “Oh yeah, if everyone’s doing it, then it should be fine,” but they don’t realize that people do die, people do overdose, people—I mean, it’s more dangerous than what people think. (clip below)

When asked about caking someone in the crowd during a show Aoki told Larry, “Two years later, my show evolved, and I was, ‘okay, we’ve got to do something new’. So I introduced the idea of caking someone in the face to the show.”

Steve Aoki also chatted about the influence his late father Hiroaki Aoki, the founder of the Benihana chain of restaurants, had on his career and why he hopes to one day raise his kids like his father raised him. The “Neon Future I” artist concluded his interview with a game called ‘If You Only Knew’ where we found out about his most embarrassing moment and his love for pop boy band One Direction. (clip below)

The episode is now LIVE on Ora.tv and Hulu.com (episodes premiere daily 5pm EST)

Clips:

How Does Steve Wynn Manage To Pay DJ's 400k Per Night?

Steve Aoki discusses the influence Las Vegas has had on EDM culture & why Sin City's hotel owners continue to throw down the big bucks for DJ's to perform.

It's Unfortunate That Drug Use Is So Closely Associated With EDM Culture

Steve Aoki says that drug use is rampant at any large music gathering not just EDM and dance music festivals.

I Wanted To Show My Father I Could Do It On My Own

Steve Aoki chats about the influence his late father Hiroaki Aoki, the founder of the Benihana chain of restaurants, had on his career & why he hopes to one day raise his kids like his father raised him.  

Quotes:

“Even from day one to where I am at now, the most important thing is how you connect with the audience. Because you have to, I mean, you’re having this conversation. You’re playing music.”

“Well the music is speaking, that’s how I see it.” -- Aoki on having a conversation with the audience

“It’s how you get everyone interacting with your music. And if you’re able to keep their focus and attention on what you’re doing. That’s- to me, is what, really, if you can really engage the audience, and make them remember your show, I feel like that makes a good DJ.”

“It’s important that there’s education, there’s awareness. Since there’s a lot of young people there, there needs to be more awareness on what it means, you know, what can happen. Because a lot of people think, ‘Oh yeah, if everyone’s doing it, it should be fine’ but then they don’t realize, that people do die, people do overdose- I mean, it’s more dangerous than people think.” -- Aoki on people doing drugs at his shows

“It led me, it shaped me to become who I am- that’s for sure.” -- Aoki on growing up as a minority in Newport Beach, CA

“I know that if he knew that if he treated his kids with any sort of privilege, that they wouldn’t be able to understand how to find their way out of situations.” -- Aoki on his father never helping him financially

“That’s exactly how I want to raise my children when I have them. Because if you have that lap of luxury, and you don’t understand how to deal with situations on your own, you’re never going to truly grow.”

“I decided to become vegan, you know, my father’s running a steakhouse and I was into animal rights, and I was a punk, and I went into women’s studies- you know I graduated with women’s studies, it’s something he would never understand. He’s a patriarch in many ways, did a lot of things in many ways that it did not make sense to follow in those footsteps.” -- Aoki on not following in his father’s footsteps

“I don’t think about the money when I’m doing what I’m doing. That’s one thing that I don’t want to ever lose.”