As the reigning king of youth club culture, Steve Aoki has transcended turn-tabling stardom with a series of international tours as a solo artist, a successful and respected label, Dim Mak Records, and a growing roster of projects as both a producer and remixer. At the end of 2009, Steve collaborated with Zuper Blahq (aka will.i.am) on “I’m In The House,” the first single off his new album following the 2008 debut of Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles. An Apogee Ensemble and Duet user, Steve talks about how he started his career, his creative process, and why pursuing the art of music was never meant to be his business.

When Steve started his label in 1996, he was just a 19-year-old student at UC Santa Barbara, spinning, partying, and playing in bands like hardcore/punk band, This Machine Kills. “We were putting on these small shows in my living room, but these big bands started playing there like Jimmy Eat World, At the Drive-In, and The Rapture,” he recalls. “I would record everything with three mics and this 4-track recorder. I have tapes and tapes of live recordings from that time.” From learning to record on the bands that trampled through his Isla Vista living room to setting up Dim Mak’s offices in a converted floral shop’s refrigerator, having offbeat, random environments to work in seem to be his secret sauce.

Building a remix

“There are two different processes with a remix and with an original work,” Steve explains. “The remix obviously gives you a slate to work off of with ideas that are already developed.” As is the case with most things, you can either take those pre-embedded ideas or you can rewrite the whole track with your own style. “I’ve done both, taking snippets of vocals that work and coming up with a whole new pattern,” he says. “The patterns are what’s important to me. Looking at patterns is a different way of creating a rhythm. When I look at recording, I’m hearing it in my head but I’m looking at it on the screen as shapes.”

It starts with a beat. “The first thing I look for when asked to do a remix is a drum sound that will work with the synths or the instruments that I’ll be using for the song,” Steve says. “A lot of producers have their signature kick, like Justice or Soulwax, and they stick with that sound on everything. When I’m working on a remix, I’m working on the architecture of the entire song. I already have an outline of how I’m going to structure it, and a feel of how the track is going to sound in the club.” Adding different elements to a track, Steve says, is what increases the intensity of each part to lead up to the climax.

It was never meant to be a business

Steve argues that it’s never been about the profit. In fact, he says he’s never really made any money from Dim Mak Records because he is constantly reinvesting its profits. “I was just 19 and had $600 to put into the project. Then we made and sold enough to pay for the next project, and the next project,” he says. “There were no employees. No one made any money. I just loved being in bands, doing zines and putting out records.”

At the inevitable fork in the road, Steve chose pursuing the art of releasing records over attending NYU for grad school. He was only torn with the decision until he heard The Kills, after which point there was no question his future was with music. “The label started because I needed to do what I believed in. Once I decided that, I totally devoted myself to the project. I went on tour with The Kills, tour managed them, and stood by them because I truly believed in their music.” Next on the list was Bloc Party, signed in 2003, who proved to be the label’s next lucky find.

This year, Dim Mak signed MSTRKRFT and The Bloody Beetroots. “We’ve done over 160 records, and evolved and adapted over the climate changes of the record industry because we were flexible enough to change. For example, the first single off the MSTRKRFT album was “Bounce,” and we gave it away and released it on iTunes at the same time, just to see what would happen. We ended up selling more on iTunes because we were also giving it away for free. It’s a whole different way of surviving in this age, you have to diversify and find out how to make your brand speak to its supporters and fans. You have to speak to them in a way that would make them want to be a part of it.”

Steve’s ability to recognize and tap into the needs of his audience, as well as being flexible enough to change with them, has played a key factor in the brand’s success. He kept his label talking the same language as his fans, from concept to product, start to finish, all the way from the first college party to the concert stadium.

For more info, visit: http://www.dimmak.com/