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Jerk Slow Move Fast recently had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Aoki during his trip to Guelph covering various topics such as shoes, music and Dim Mak Records.

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.

To read the rest of the interview head over to Jerk Slow Move Fast.

Via: Jerk Slow Move Fast