Whether you know it or not, you’ve already seen him: in the video game NBA 2K9, perhaps, or next to Lindsay Lohan at a DJ booth. He’s made the rounds with his sister, actress and model Devon Aoki, and guest-starred – as the DJ, naturally – in the video [13] for Cobra Starship’s “Send My Love to the Dancefloor, I’ll See You in Hell.”
But on October 11, you’ll have the chance to see Steve Aoki in the flesh. University Union announced yesterday morning [14] that the celebrity DJ will open this year’s Bandersnatch Music Series with a Monday-night performance in the Schine Underground. A yet-unnamed student DJ will kick-off the show.
Widely considered one of the world’s best DJs – at least according to magazines like Paper and BPM, who awarded him the title – Aoki is probably best-known for founding Dim Mak Records [15], the label that launched Bloc Party and MSTRKRFT, and remixing artists from The Killers to Snoop Dogg.
But Aoki’s also notable on his own terms. Grab a copy of his debut, 2008’s Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles [16], and you’ll get a taste of his aesthetics.
“I think for a lot of kids, it’s an introduction to what electro is or defines what electro is to me,” Aoki said of the album. “There’s a huge dividing culture between people that listen to Tiesto and people that listen to Justice.” Weirdly, Aoki doesn’t come from either background. “It’s hard for me to classify what I am because I like so many different things,” he said during a Vice magazine interview [17] in early April. “My roots have never really been in dance music, they were always in live music ... like hardcore and punk.”
You might not guess that from Aoki’s stable of hip-grinding, fist-pumping tracks, which include remixes of Drake’s “Forever,” Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” and Michael Jackson’s “Dancin’ Machine.” His most recent release, March’s “I’m In The House,” features Zuper Blahq [18] (will.i.am’s electro alter-ego) and charted at #29 in its first week in the UK. The accompanying music video [19] is both trippy and entrancing. Watching it, I felt like I’d entered a world with a population of three: Zuper Blahq, a half-naked Steve Aoki and myself.
Expect that same dynamic at Aoki’s October 11 show — Speakers don’t do justice to Aoki’s beats unless the volume is high and the crowd is ready to rock.
Aoki will play at the Schine Underground at 8 p.m.; doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, September 22 and are $5 for SU/SUNY-ESF Students and $7 for faculty/staff. Purchase yours at the Schine Center Box Office (443-4517) or online at http://students.syr.edu/boxoffice [20].
