EP #14 Steve Aoki’s AMA: A DJ’s Crazy Schedule, Cryonics to Live Forever, and the Making of Pursuit of Happiness

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Life is too short. I need to just, I can't drink myself the way that I was doing at my shows every single night. I'm not going to have a long career and my father passing away the year before that. A lot of things happened where I started thinking about longevity and health and, and, and, and like, you know, what is, what is this like ride that I'm on? Is it supposed to be short and like, you know, and I'm like no, I don't want to end this. I love my life.

And a massive transformative purpose is what you're telling the world. It's like this is who I am, this is what I'm going to do. This is the dent I'm going to make in the universe. So I want to go to a conversation with you Steve, on life's big questions with Steve Aoki. So let's talk about some of the big questions. I want to get your thoughts on it, share mine and have a little fun here. So the number one big question a lot of people ask is how do I find happiness? And you know, it's if you believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. And we'll get to that other big question like what is the purpose of life? How do you find happiness? So what are your thoughts there?

Yeah, I mean my biggest, I'd say my biggest track that I have to date that goes along with what you're saying is a remix I made for my friend back in 2009 and I still closed with my close my sets with it. It's the name of the song is Pursuit of Happiness. So you know, I'm like, I'm always living that life on the journey to happiness like I like and I find it, you know, when I look at all the different things that I do, I really feel like I am the luckiest man in the world because When I play a show, and this is why I'm so addicted to the stage and addicted to playing and, and deal with all this. All the stuff we're talking about, like the no sleep and all those issues is that when I hit that stage and I'm playing to people and. And I see their faces are like. They're not just happy, they're exploding. They're abundant with.

They're joyful. Yeah. With joy.

Abundant with emotions. And they're just like screaming it out. So vulnerable to the world. Like, this is the time where they want to be giving their whole selves out. It's like, this is what I do. I. I want to bring happiness through music and connect with strangers in this way. And we're connecting at a very intimate level. And it's. It's like the best, the best feeling in the world.

So what I hear you saying then, in how do I find happiness is. And it's interesting, right? Because I do believe it. It's. You find happiness by giving happiness or supporting happiness in other individuals.

Yeah. It's like being. Finding a way where you could be of service to people, where you make. You, you. You are bringing some level of happiness with your service. I think that's. At the end of the day, like, my service is music. My. This is the. You know, I always say this is the most natural way for me to be expressive. So luckily I'm able to create this music and then. And then, you know, deliver it, deploy it to people at scale and I get to be a part of that delivery. So that's really important to me because I'm not just a producer. Like, I can't just live in a studio. I just can't. I need to be out there connecting with people through that music. And then when I see them happy, it's like when you give a gift to someone at, you know, and you watch them, like their face light up or their eyes go bigger and they're just like, oh my God, you got. You like, it's like, you are.

You caught me REM sleep. Oh my God.

It's such a self interest. You know what I mean? It's like that, like, makes you happy so.

Well, I mean, it's like the purpose, the purpose of relationship, when you're really in a great relationship is to have someone to give to, not to take from. Yeah. So I mean, listen, why. Why do concerts or why do your shows need to start like, you know, so late? Why can't they like, start at noon and end at like 6:00pm I mean.

Oh, trust me, I love, I love the afternoon parties. I do play the pool parties and the festivals are like, you know, I mean, they just go into the wee hours of the night, you know, and like, and if I'm headlining, I mean, that's, that's just how the name of the game is forget about it. With Ibiza and in European standards of nightlife, it's like peak hours 3am like I'm on a 3:30am in Ibiza every, every week. And that's when that's, that's a peak hour. That's like people have dinner at 1am and they start going out at 2am and then they, you know, they're in the club like raging face at 3:30am and I have to go with them till 6:00am you know, it's. I. Peter, I wish it was 3:30am yeah, I mean, PM, PM, you know.

Well, you just have to keep your brain on Las Vegas time and it'd be a lot better.

Yeah.

So. All right, second big life question here, one that I think about and I wonder, and I'm curious about your answer here. Are humans innately good or bad? One of the questions I have is these exponential technologies that we talk about, we both love and use and promote and so forth. As they become more and more powerful, as AI is becoming the overlord and robotics are becoming extraordinary, people are worried about it. But if human nature is good and we're going to use these technologies to make the world a better place, then that's great. But we all know there's innate evil in the world too. So I'm just curious, you know, what your thought is on this.

I'm an optimist at heart. Like, I'm a glass half full kind of guy. Glass overflowing abundantly. Like I'm extremely positive for the future and, and how technology will help optimize us and create more harmony, happiness, more bonding. More of the reasons why I believe we're human is that we are connected in the good path, in the path of helping each other and doing what we can. And I really sense that when you, when you're, when you're with your family, when I'm with my family, the people that I love, you'll do anything for them. You'll take a bullet for them. You'll, you know, you'll help them whatever way they can. If they're suffering or in pain, you want to support and help them. I think when you see that yourself and, and you see like the, the inner workings of your relationships with people you care and love about or love, then that's just like, that's an innate goodness, you know, and that, that, that translates to people that you don't know. You know, one by one, as long as you like, remember, like, you know where you stand. Of course, you know, there are, you're right, there's like, I think very small percentage of people that, that have no empathy and, and are, are like they're disconnected, you know, and they're, you know, just bad people out there, you know, whatever, whatever reason their brain makeup is or whatever.

However, so this goes to life's big questions, which is, are you hopeful about the future? Given all that's going on in the.

World.

Are you hopeful? Because I am. I'm a card carrying optimist. And my standpoint comes from the fact that the tools we have to solve problems are getting more and more powerful at the same rate, that those tools can cause problems. But I think because they're innately, you know, 10x50x100x better good people, more good people than bad, that those people are going to stay ahead and solve problems. And entrepreneurs like you, like me, are folks who find and solve juicy problems. So are you hopeful for the future? Is that where you come out as well?

This is why I get excited whenever you're doing something that I could be a part of because I'm with you. I am like, I am like, you know, I look at you as one of the leaders in the space of science that are doing amazing things for, you know, for humanity just in general, you know. So I love what you're doing. And I'm like, whenever you're doing something, I'm like, I need to know what Peter's doing because I'm part of the Diamandis camp to really use technology for the betterment of all people and find ways where we can, you know, connect better, you know, live our lives more meaning with more meaning, more purpose, more love, more happiness.

Well, thank you, buddy.

Yeah, I really am.

I'm grateful for that. And I know you're going to be part of my Abundance360 show in March, which is cool, Tony Robbins there, we'll have a whole slew. But the whole purpose of A360 is to help people realize using AI, robotics, 3D printing, synthetic biology, AR.VR blockchain, all those technologies that they can uplift humanity, that there is no problem. We cannot solve, that all of us, if you want to become a billionaire, help a billion people. The world's biggest problems are the world's biggest business opportunities. So go for them. I think people need to be reminded. That's when I'm talking about mindsets and moonshots here. It's like your mindset. If you believe the world can be made better, then you're going to go for it. And moonshots are what allow us to take on the world's biggest problems anyway. So you are hopeful, and I appreciate that extremely, abundantly.

Not with purity about us, I got to say, abundantly.

Thank you, brother. So here's a big question, and I'm curious. What do you see as next for humanity? Let's unpack that a little bit. Because humanity, depending on how you want to define Homo sapiens, we've been around for hundreds of thousands of years. Cavemen. If you look at when we were cavemen, cave humans, that was 100,000 years ago. We discovered sort of like agriculture like 10,000 years ago. And I mean, it's fairly recent. If you took people born 10,000 years ago and brought them up today, you'd have them going to the best universities, becoming doctors, lawyers. I mean, we haven't genetically changed that much in 10,000 years, so. So. But it's culture changing and technology changing. So what do you, what do you see next? Where, where's humanity going?

Well, I think eventually we'll become androids.

Okay. All right.

Yeah. I mean, you know, we're. I, I see, I, I see us as a species using technology or robotics or whatever we can with the technology to take, take out all like the temperamental, you know, the, the problematic organs or things that end up killing us and replacing that with things that, that don't wither away or degenerate so, so quickly as some of the things that we have in our body. So I think we will become like half organic, half robotic or half AI or half technological, you know, whatever that looks like. You know, I don't think it's going to be like what, what you see in like the 70s sci fi where we're like a bunch of wires inside or 80 sci fi, you know, a bunch of wires inside us, but maybe it's more organic tissues, things like that. But I, I do, I do see that future of, of like, you know, merging with technology, literally, you know, not having phones, but like, they're literally just going to be part of our bodies, you know, so that's, so let's, let's.

Go there because, you know, I know you're a friend of Ray Kurzweil as well, and Ray will be with us at Abundance360 this year, too. It's going to be a blast. We have a lot of conversations on AI. We have a lot of conversations on brain computer interface. I was just doing a podcast with Ray recently, and first of all, he's still on schedule for AI reaching human level or greater in 2029. Right. Which is like tomorrow. And then I said, when are you going to have. When are we going to see brain computer interface? Like, high bandwidth. My brain is plugged into the cloud and I can feel your music. I can connect with you, and I'm vibrantly in. And his answer is early to mid-2030s. Right. So a decade from now. And that's pretty awesome, you know, when I become a cyborg in the, in the positive sense. Right. Of choice.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, because, like, we're having conversations four or five years ago. Neuralink, you know, like, it's like that conversation's already started in real life. That's not science fiction conversation. That's actually happening now with, with a guy that has the funding and the, and the financial and infrastructural power to actually move this needle forward, you know, faster than we can imagine. So when you have that happening in real time, that 2030 mark sounds more realistic. Because if you don't have the conversation now, then, like, you know, because it's happening now, it makes me realize, okay, 2030 does sound like the next, you know, evolutionary step with, you know, people that are, that want to do that.

Yeah, I mean, it's, it is fascinating. I mean, it's like, it really is just, like, just around the corner. Right. For. I think almost everybody listening here is going to believe that they're going to make it, you know, the next 10 years, hopefully. And if you're not, then, then readdress and commit to getting in the next 10 years. I mean, it, it's a crazy time coming. It's going to be extraordinary.

I, you know, just because, you know, like, I have this foundation that's, that's focused on brain research, brain science and brain degeneration. I, we do tons of just data analysis and trying to figure out, like, what's out there, what's. What are the breakthroughs. Even seven years ago, there's already, you know, implants in the brain for people that have that. That can't walk and can't move their limbs, paraplegics that are connected to A.I. and, and they're using A.I. not even, they don't even have to speak it. They think it and they're able to move. So the. The telekinetic kind of response, like, what. This is like the science fiction idea of what telekinesis is moving with your thoughts. That was happening seven years ago because of technology. I mean, imagine like, there's someone sitting there, and he's like, move forward. And the chair moves forward. Like, bring the food. Like the arm that has the apple to me. And he's able to eat without having. With just thinking that that's like, if I was to tell you this, 20, 22 people are like, that's not. That's science fiction, Steve. That doesn't happen. I'm like, it happened seven years ago.

It's coming. I have to share this story. One of my favorite images was work done. I think it was at DARPA Labs, which is the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. And what they did was they took a monkey and they put electrodes and sensors over the motor cortex and the sensory cortex on the neocortex, and they took the monkey's hands and they basically strapped them down. And then the monkey learned using the neural implants to control a set of robotic hands. Arms, Right? And so it was able to grab for food and feed itself using those robotic hands because its hands were incapacitated. And then get this. Then they released the monkey's hands, like, a few weeks later. And now it had four hands, right? It had the robotic hands it learned to use and its own hands. Because the brain. It's called plasticity, as you well know. The brain is able to reprogram itself on the fly and is able to reassign functionality to different parts of this neocortex. So. Amazing. So BCI is coming. Are you ready for a brain implant?

Not yet.

Not yet.

Most people will be like, if anyone's ready, Steve Aoki's ready. Because I'm so obsessed with, like, you know, I mean, I'm. I've definitely taken measures to live to this point where it's very normal to live forever. So I have my insurance policy set up to freeze my brain.

Okay. So that's. I was about to go there, which is cryopreservation. I was also going to go to uploading. Right. So one of the, you know, as we are, if we're. If your mission is to live as long as possible, which I hope people will desire that to have an increased health span, you can do that with the kind of work that I'm working on with our Rejuvenation X Prize, or the work that David Sinclair and George Church are doing. And just like I'm going to keep this meat body operating as long as it possibly can in the highest level. It's a meat body for sure. And. And the other option is I'm going to. I think you said this. We're going to replace organs, replace tissues, basically keep on updating and upgrading. It's like when you have a car or an airplane. The reason it's able to go way beyond its useful life is you're replacing the engine, replacing the wheels. It's your father's old hatchet. It's got, you know, five new handles and four new. Four new heads on this. The other option is, as you said, freeze yourself. And there are two options there. Whole body freezing and cephalic just freeze your brain. And then the other one is uploading. So let's talk about freezing yourself. Let's talk about uploading.

Right. So I am doing the full body freeze.

Okay.

And like, you know, like, when I talk to people about this, like, hold on a second. You're just gonna like, one day just freeze your body? No, it's like, I'm dead.

Are you wearing a bracelet? Are you wearing an Alcor bracelet?

No, I'm not. No. Oh, is that the bracelet you need? So when you die, they know to like. Yeah. So like, if you're actually not.

If you're hit by a car, the. There's a bracelet that you get. I don't have one. I didn't sign up yet. You did. You should get your bracelet or whatever that. When they, When. When the, when the ambulance, the coroner signs up shows up and like, we got to pronounce them dead, they look at your bracelet and they say, oh, call this number. And like a SWAT team comes up to find you. What do they do with you when they find you?

Do you know this is a really important step that I totally missed.

You missed it because I did.

I. It's the very least for just like my own personal. This interview or to stock with you. It's like, really, it's the first thing I would do is I'm going to be like, oh, I need this bracelet. I don't want to have to wear this bracelet. But yeah, I. I guess it's like, you know, like my. In my head, I'm like, well, hopefully I do die of old age in a hospital bed. You know? You know, you're right. There's like that other small percentage of. Of like ways that you. You may. I might die. But I just think that at that stage I will wear the bracelet, you know.

But for people, just for those who are curious, when you get frozen, the biggest concern. So what are you trying to do? You're trying to freeze yourself so you can preserve as much of. Well, now this is where the dichotomy comes in. Like, do I freeze the body or do I freeze the brain? It's like in the future when you're able to unfreeze yourself, hopefully the technology is far enough along where you can just grow yourself in your body. But your brain, with all your memories, all of your ideas, your Persona of who you are is going to be kind of hard if you regrow it. It's like starting with a clean sheet of paper. What you really want to do is be able to map all of the neural interactions, the hundred trillion synaptic connections which are your memories, and be able to map those and map them onto a fresh, fresh brain or bring your brain out. But the problem is when you freeze, ice crystallizes and expands and it can rupture cells. And so what they want to do, one of the companies is called Alcor, there are others. What they want to do is basically take out your blood, exsanguinate you, and put in antifreeze that keeps these cells from rupturing. So, and they have to do it in a certain time or, or the proteins start to degrade.

That's, that's, that's the one like, kind of area that I don't know how long it is because like, okay, let's say a point of, point of death in the hospital, they, they transport the body into, you know, because like the way that I, when I was at Alcor, the way they explained to me, is it that you say, like, finally, that's it. Hospital has deemed you dead. They're not going to try to resuscitate you. It's over. They bring your body into, into like ice, right. And then they transport you quickly.

So you've been prepping for this with your ice, with your ice plunges.

Exactly. That's so funny, huh? And yeah, I mean, that's not gonna, that's gonna take a long time. I don't understand, like the degeneration process.

Well, what they're doing is they're slowing down the metabolism, the degeneration with the ice bath. But it's not freezing you, it's bringing you down to just above freezing. Right. And slowing down the protein degradation.

Right. And then, you know, wherever I am in the world, they're gonna have to fly me to the facility, which is in Arizona. And I think during this transportation time it's gonna be, you know, not ideal because when they put me in the, in the, the Kelvin degree, negative 5000, whatever it is, it's like where it's.

Like negative 70, it's like liquid nitrogen level. Yeah, yeah.

Once they put you there, then you're good. But on the degeneration process, you know, but like that transportation time's gotta be seemingly 24 hours plus, you know, so I don't know how they, how much that really does affect your, the degradation of your brain, you know, from reanimating it or whatever, you know, however they call it.

Yeah, I think now, just to be clear for folks, there have been, I don't know, probably hundreds, maybe thousands of people who have been put into cryopreservation. And it might be individuals who've got, you know, a really bad cancer or some disease that's incurable and they pass. And the hope is that you're going to put money into a bank account that's going to accumulate interest over time and it's going to pay for the cryopreservation storage costs. And then at some point in the future, I don't know if is it a prize that whoever brings back Steve Aoki to full functional health will win $10 million? And the money's sort of like hanging out for the person who says they can bring you back, but hopefully someone brings you back. There is a great science fiction book. I don't know if you had a chance to read science fiction. It's called we are Bob and it's about a guy. It's a four book series and I love it. I'll have to put it in the.

Show notes because it's like talking about what people like myself are gonna have to deal with.

Well, it's a guy who signs up for Alcor and he's leaving this science fiction conference and he gets hit by a car and he wakes up like 50 years later and he's disembodied and his brain is in an AI and his AI brain is being put onto a starship and he is powering what's called a von Neumann machine, if you've ever heard of a von Neumann machine. So the idea is there's a starship that's going out. It's being powered by this AI brain. And its mission is to go out and to replicate itself. And so this starship is able to go to asteroid belts and planets and other star systems and it's able to replicate itself using all of the planetary materials and nanotechnology. And it replicates his brain. His name is Bob, and it creates a second starship. And the other one is called Bob too. So it's like, we are Bob. There are thousands of Bobs out in the store. And it's just, it's an amazing.

You'll.

It's.

Wow.

Yeah. Listen to the audio. Listen to the audible of it. It's, it's extraordinary. It's a great book. You love it.

Yeah. Actually, you know, on that note, you know, I've been talking to my team about. Because like they're, they, they're, they're just like, whoa, this is the weirdest thing we've ever heard. I don't think it's ever really been done. But you know, obviously when, when, when I passed at that time, there's going to be an estate, right? And then there's going to be like my descendants that will, will get it. So if, let's say I come back, like new technology hits, let's say like a hundred years from now, you know, so there's like two descendants past me and they don't know me anymore. Like, they're like, you know, they, they don't care about me. You know, my, my son might care about me or my daughter might care about me, but not my son's son's son or you know, daughters, sons, whatever it might be. And when they're like, oh yeah, we have this technology to bring back Grandpa.

Grandpa Sickle.

Grandpa Sickle, they're like this guy, they're like, and when he comes back, he's gonna take your money because that's the money he made that you're living off of. They'll be like, don't bring him back. Keep this for myself. And so I, so that's why we're creating like a separate trust. Kind of fun. Yeah. Yeah. Trust.

The bring. Bring Steve back trust.

Yeah. And, and then that trust is, is like not gonna get touched by my descendants. So I have to have like a, like that way, like I come back, I'm not broke. I'm like back in this, this new world. I'm like, I have no money because I'm fighting in a lawsuit with my descendants.

You'll have to go back on tour.

I have to have to go back on tour.

And like, like 300 years old.

I'm like, I just hope I'm not like in this like 85 year old body or 100 year old body where I'm like, it's like barely functioning and I'M like, I just, I die again, I come back, you know. But I mean that obviously. Like, it'll be different. Like I'm sure, you know, like you said, you regenerate or you like you upload your brain into like this new skin or whatever.

Yeah, well, I mean the other way besides freezing yourself, is uploading, which is you're going to map all of your thoughts and your memories and you're going to then upload it to a quantum computing quantum computer. That's what typically the science fiction books do. And yes, I learned everything I learned from science fiction. Well, not really, but a lot. And so here's the question, right? You're sitting there, you put yourself in the machine. The machine maps your brain just like Dr. Amen did. And it's mapping all the, you know, 100 billion neurons, your 100 trillion synaptic connections. All of your thoughts, all of your memories get uploaded to this machine and you hear this booming voice that sounds like you and it says, steve, I have been uploaded. I now have all of your memories, all of your thoughts. I am you. You can kill yourself. You can kill yourself now. You're immortal with me.

Yeah. Yeah. That's scary. I see. Like, it's scary like the idea that you cloned yourself and like now you're competing with your clone, you know, because like if you give that, that clone, you know, this, this feeling of like, you know, like self awareness, then it's, then it's gonna be like, yeah, okay, you, you mortal. I'm immortal. So like you, you could just die off and all will just live forever. And, and like the mortal side of me is like, no, I wanna, I, I don't want to die off. I still like, you know, I, I, I, I need to experience things, you know, like so you don't want your clone to live as you. You want you to live as you.

So it's, that's, that's in the, in the we are. In the we are Bob scenario, there are multiple versions of you, but then one of you dies and then the other one goes on anyway. Okay, we're gonna change this subject. We're gonna go to another, we're gonna go to another of life's big questions. So we talked about what's next for humanity. We're becoming cyborgs. We're becoming, I think a multi planetary species I think is very cool. I think we're gonna live in the virtual world. That will be super cool, right? Imagine being able to be connected and digitally living in a fully virtualized world. I think that will be cool. So here's my question going back to one of the things we talked about on our last podcast, which is purpose. My question is, does everyone have a purpose?

I, I can't speak for everyone. You know, I know that, like, yeah, for, for me, I mean, because, you know, everyone's got different brain makeup of what, what is fulfilling for them. Right. So for me, like, I, the, that purpose is so important for me to seek out. And you know, just like I was saying before, like, you know, I, I found it early on at a very young age, this idea.

As did I. Yeah.

Like, for me, my purpose was always like, you know, first, like, finding this expression to finding a way to, to voice all these angst and feelings and all this, you know, the teenage turbulence of what you go through being a kid, like, figuring out life. And I was able to do that through music. So I was lucky because I couldn't figure out how to do that. You know, I was like, hard time socializing through the traditional settings of how kids socialize and express themselves through sports and things like that. It was difficult for me to do that there. So I, I, I found it in music. And it like, was this, like, complete explosion of everything coming out. And I'm like, oh my God, this is, this is, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. You know, like that, that moment was.

Really that combination of a true passion that gives you joy and the ability to, to other individuals at the same time.

Yeah, right.

And something that you feel that you uniquely, uniquely have. So, yeah, I mean, I think everybody should, you know, to answer that question myself, I do think that everybody can find a purpose. And it could be to be a great mom or a great dad, or it can be to, you know, to be in, when you're in service of other people, I think if you're not being in service of other people, it's a little bit of an emptier life. I mean, it doesn't have to be, you know, a purpose that puts a dent in the universe, which I like to ask people to do. I do like people to dream bigger and think bigger because it makes the world a better place. But I do think everybody can find a purpose, and I think I do believe so.

I think, I really think exactly, like along, along what you're talking about. The purpose can be something that, that you might not think is a very big thing, but it gives you joy, you know, like, it's, you know, like, like when I just, like the Idea of what we were talking about before. It's like when you give something to someone and you see their reaction, whatever it might be. It's like you are. You're creating that. That feeling of trans. That. That. That transaction, whatever it is of like, whatever you're giving them, and it's giving them happiness or giving them joy. That's. That's a small purpose. You know what. You know, even those little moments, they all add up. So it's like, just like what you're saying. It's being of service, finding that and whatever it is that of the service that it is, however way you deliver it or however way you. You. You give it out, I think that's what. That's what people need to find.

All right, another big question, pal, for. For someone like yourself and me to some degree too, but how do you balance money and fame and happiness? I mean, all of these things are. They pull at you and they drive us in different ways. Have you thought about this? And you can even add health onto that, right? Because you're trading. You're trading health and you're trading, you know, starting family. And I mean, so how do you balance all of these things? I mean, there's. There's money, there's health, there's family, there's fame, there's. You know, I said money as well. I mean, how do you. How do you think about balancing all these things?

I realized as I. I mean, like, I'm extremely, like, I definitely am like a very alpha, Alpha human. Like, I. I am out there all the time doing what I need to do. Like, whatever is up that my purpose is or whatever it is that, like, my passions are, I'm pushing that forward, for sure. And I think that's a large part of the success that I was able to make up to this point in my life. And that also, it. It shows. It also, like, has showed me that I am very extroverted. You know, like, I can be in public places and things like that. But as I became more famous, I'm very, very selective of my extrovert nature or my, you know, you know, that. That kind of thing. So I've re. I've become kind of like an extrovert introvert in a way. And because of the fame, I think if, you know, obviously, when, When. When you're more noticeable, I only want to have, like, those moments to shine in controlled situations. So I don't just roll around as I used to. I know that's how I deal with just being more noticed or Having this kind of influence, I'm just very selective when it comes to, like, money. I definitely look at it more like I am now in a position to help others and to be able to afford to do all these interesting things that I can do to biohack, to. To try out these different, like, new discoveries of. In science that I, That I have access to because of my, My influence. Right. I'd be able to connect with someone like you, Peter, and. But also test out all these different things, because if I could test it out, then I could share it with others, you know, if it works for me. And, you know, once I was able to have the influence was I was able to have, you know, some sort of financial infrastructure myself. That's when I created the foundation, you know, like, that's where I can actually do a lot of work and help there.

This is less of a big question in life and more as people get successful in life, things go sideways sometimes for them. They think too much of themselves. They think it's their way or the highway. Some of them just drive at 100 miles an hour into a brick wall. Whether it's drugs or relationships or whatever the case might be. What's your advice? One of the best pieces of advice I got in this, in, in the world of success is be careful who you piss off on the way up, because you're going to meet them on the way back down.

That's so true. I mean, that's. That's like the reality of any level of success is that in anything in the stock market, in. In your relationships, in any level of success, it's never just a moonshot up. It's not like this. Life isn't like this. It's like life is like this and goes here, then it goes down, then it goes down again and it goes up. And then, you know, in the end, like, the, in the macro sense, you're up farther, hopefully, than you were, you know, 10 years ago. But it's like the journey is just like, all over the place. It's never like, it might go like this for a while and you're like, holy, what's going on? But be prepared for the down 100%. And I think by the fourth or fifth down, you just get it, you know, you just have to survive to that point, right? Because on the up, right, that's when, like, you're like, whoa, I could do anything. I could do drugs. I could, like, embellish in this vice. I could do this, this, this, this. And like, everything's, you know, and of course, like, that's when people like, do. What you're talking about is like drive themselves right into a brick wall going 100 miles an hour because they just think that they're, they're invincible.

Yes. You know, and the enter is, is.

They'Re, they're not exactly. I've been lucky where, yeah, I, I've, you know, I used to drink myself like crazy when I would dj and it was just part of the show and I had, I had to make a, you know, a cold turkey decision that like, it's not sustainable. And that was back in 2009. But it, that, that all. There was something heavy and traumatic that happened to me around that time when my, my best friend dj, my best friend, that's a dj, he passed away from a drug overdose and it had nothing to do with alcohol for me, but it was just a wake up call being like, well, life is too short. I need to just, I can't drink myself the way that I was doing at my shows every single night. That it's like, I'm not going to have a long career. And, and my father passing away the year before that. A lot of things happened where I started thinking about longevity and health and, and, and, and like, you know, what is, what is this like, ride that I'm on? Is it supposed to be short? And like, you know, and I'm like, no, I don't want to end this. I love my life.

Yes, exactly. Life is amazing.

Living. Yeah, I love living and I'm so lucky to even exist and to do what I was doing. Like, I'm like, I won like the greatest tier of a lottery just to be able to do what I'm doing. And be alive.

Yeah, and be alive. I do be alive at this period of time in human history.

Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. Like when you read the history books of all the other periods, like, you know, just how things were. I'm just like, God, I'm just so lucky. So like all these things were happening where I started understanding what gratitude really means and how to deploy, Deploy that and to live off that in a way that's meaningful and sustainable. Yes, sustainability, like that understanding of it is so important to realize on like. Okay, so once you understand sustainability in your life, then I think real growth can happen on what you need to kick out, what you need to focus on. I think mainly what you need to kick out.

It's Martine Rothblatt. Do you know Martine? She's amazing. She's built six, seven moonshots I have to read this quote she sent me. She's one of the most brilliant CEOs. She cured her daughter's pulmonary hypertension, fatal disease by finding a drug, building a $10 billion biotech company. She's 3D printing lungs, and turning pig organs into human organs.

Wow.

Incredible. Yeah, she is incredible. And you ready for this? And it said about doing less. She says the difference between successful and very successful people is that the former say no to most things and the latter say no to almost everything.

Wow.

Powerful, huh?

I love that. Yeah, I really love that. And, you know, it's interesting. I am saying no to a lot these days. I used to say yes to everything.

Thanks for saying yes to this.

Peter. I'm like, the problem is with you. I'll say yes to everything.

Thank you.

Because I have on Team Diamond. I am Team Diamandis to the till forever.

Thank you, buddy.

Well, I'm with you.

I will be careful with that. I will not abuse that superpower. So there's a couple of, you know, I asked my. My audience for some questions, and we have a few minutes for a few AMA questions, and there are a few that I. I am curious. And so I consider you a fellow futurist, for lack of a better term, singularian. Someone interested in technology and such. What got you interested in exponential tech and futurism?

Ray Kurzweil.

Okay, so talk about that two words. Yeah, yeah, I love those words.

Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, like after my father passed away in 2008, I went on this journey, you know, kind of understanding what cancer was. And that led me down to just, just overall mindfulness, how to be preventative of any. Not just any cancer, but like all disease and, and coupling that with the fact that I'm a sci fi junkie. You know, I love science fiction. It's my favorite genre. And, and I, I mean, I think.

So I'm gonna send you. I'm gonna send you a link to the, to the We Are Bob book.

Yes, please.

Okay.

I. I think the reason why is because it's. It's just humans just thinking of, like, what can we do? You know, what are the things that could possibly happen? And in some of those conversations and, and stories, there are. Are very inquisitive minds and incredible people like Peter Diamandis and Rick Herzwald that are like, let's try to do one of these things or two of these things and, and find others that, that actually can and have the money, have the science backgrounds, have, you know, and have the scalability to grow these things into real, real life situation. So then obviously I found Ray Kurzweil along this road to learning more about health and more of the radical things that are exciting is like, what can we do in science fiction that can become a science fact? And I just dove into all his books and I'm like, wow.

Yes, wow.

I want, I want. I'm a team. Kurzweil. I actually met him. I flew up to. To the Bay Area and I hung out with him in his apartment. We started toying on his Kurzweil keyboard and we talked about the future together. And I create a whole music series called Neon Future. I put him on a song. Put Ray Kurzweil on a song. So like, he, he has just like, I'm an author and I'm also a musician. Ray Kurzweil is also. He's an artist. He's an artist. And Peter, you know, I'm gonna do a song with you at some point.

I'm ready. I'm ready for my neon future. Whenever you're ready for it, buddy.

Yeah.

All right, so next question I asked what, what are you curious about? What are you most curious about? Like, what do you find yourself thinking about, wondering about right now more than anything else?

I mean, right now the thing that's on top of mind is I need to figure out the hack for myself to get more REM sleep. That's. So I'm trying everything I possibly can. So I'm like the most inquisitive, most like driven to try all these different techniques, whether I'm talking to Matt Walker and, and having him having this diagnostic check with him to doing, you know, I do blood work monthly and, and following up on all my blood analysis and taking the right supplements and things like that, just, you know, balancing that out. Neurofeedback and, and, you know, just, just fine tuning the, the, you know, the different, you know, different parts of my brain that need to. Need to get honed in on. Um, and, you know, obviously speaking with Dr. Amen, as I, as we talked about before on my brain. But I just like, just, I just want to hack my brain and, and figure out.

In a good, in a good way.

Yes, you know, in a way to where I want to get normal amount of REM sleep and then, you know, everything's small. Right. Like, for me, it's like I want to go in the details. And that's my detail right now is, is understanding sleep. This is a man who has. I'll sleep when I'm dead on the back of my neck. So, like, it's a complete, like, change of mind.

Last question here, pal. And it's a deep one. What drives you to create? And we may have discussed this already in one of your answers, but it's worth saying again. So you're. I would say you are driven to create.

Okay. Yes. I think it. Just like I was saying before with the live shows, it's. It's my love. It's. It's like my. It's where my heart opens up and connects with so many people. It's like, it's like this incredibly fulfilling feeling that never, ever gets old. It's always new, it's always fresh. And it. It gives me so much life. So when I have that, that's always going to be the goal. Right. So whenever I make music, it's. How do I enrich that?

And by the way, you create on many levels. Right? It's not just music. You also create on companies. I mean, that's. If I had to say what my creative area is, it's creating as an entrepreneur. Right. And that's also for you too, right?

Yeah. So it's interesting because when I'm in these other businesses, as we're talking about outside of music, there is a different drive and a different reason for my pursuits. Like, I'd say, you know, one thing I could share with you here is that, you know, since COVID I started a company. It's a trading card game company.

Tell me the name.

It's called Metazoo.

Yes.

I'm a co founder of it. I would, I wouldn't say I started, I'd say, like more literally, I'm a co founder. There's a. This guy named Mike Waddell who actually started the company from a $17,000 Kickstarter project. And after he launched it, I joined in shortly thereafter. And because I'm so into cards, I'm like big. I was a big Pokemon card guy. I love sports cards, I love collectible culture. And I was scanning and I was really, as an entrepreneur, looking for the next startup company in the space that I could join and help build. And I looked into their IP and I was like, this is a gold mine IP because it takes the idea of cryptids. Cryptids are like, bigfoot, lock this monster.

Yes.

You know, like, so they're well, well established.

Well established. But no one owns the ip.

Exactly. But we can make our own interpretation of Bigfoot and own the Metazoo Bigfoot. And we own that. And we could write A whole story that involves all of them. Let give you example. There's like 20 million.

The Avengers. The Avengers of. Of those.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. There's like 20 million people that are obsessed with Bigfoot.

Right.

There's also like maybe 10 million people that are obsessed with Chupacabra. And then there's, you know, and so forth, you know, and Santa Claus and whatever. We're going to take all of them, create our own interpretation of them, and create a whole world and build an entire company around it. And I was like, this one, I really believe will be a billion dollar company because it has the legs to do that. Because everybody has so much meat on the bone. We started a $17,000 Kickstarter project. That was the start of the company. In 16 months, we've already grossed over $50 million.

Whoa.

$50 million.

That's insane cardboard.

And the community is so rich. This is the. The secondary market is. Is booming. It's like, to give you some crazy numbers, Peter, just because I know as an entrepreneur, you like to like, hear about these numbers on how.

Yeah, sure.

You know, we started these boxes, right? We sold 20. We made 2500 boxes at $50 a box. We started that out with a $17,000 Kickstarter project. At the height they went from $50 a box, we sold out of those, like, after like, about three months. It took us some time. At the height of what they were selling in the secondary market, they were going for about 12,000.

Whoa.

So I don't know what the multiplier is on that, but this, it's like, got to be a 200 and something.

X. Wow. And this was during. Now this was during COVID as well.

This is during COVID which is everybody.

Everybody's looking for that kind of a.

Right. Yeah, we're selling out. We did like a 50,000 box drop of like, at like, you know, 50 or $100. I forgot what the price was. Sold that. Sold those boxes out in. In. In literally 20 seconds. 50,000 boxes.

Insane.

Yeah, we just sold. Now I've created my own brand called HeroQuest, which is my. My next musical project series, Neon Future for four series. This is my new one. And we created a whole character set underneath Metazoo. We just dropped, you know, these. These packs that you could buy online. We just dropped that sold, you know, over 30, 000 of them in 30 minutes, you know, and that was like, just. It's just insane to see the numbers and how, like how healthy the secondary market is on. On the products and how you know, the, the and all. And all the comic cons and all these different conferences where we thrive. The cosplay is, is incredible. People getting the tattoos on their bodies that are like real die hard fans. And you know, we've been around for 16 months. You know, it's just we have a long road to go and I really do believe that this company has. Has a strong chance to hit the billion dollar mark. Billion dollar mark that we're. That. That, that I saw 16 months ago.

So amazing.

That's been an exciting endeavor for sure.

Amazing, amazing, amazing. One more fan question that I need to ask because I'm curious too. What's the story behind. Behind Pursuit of Happiness?

Well, you know, like I remember this is 2009 when I did that remix. In 2008, I did a tour with my friend a track. We did a us tour as a Dimock full school tour. And he brought out a new artist of his that, that he was supporting on his label and it was Kid Cudi and they. He dropped a song called Day and Night at the time and this is his first tour. So we, we were like on this tour together and me and Scott is. Scott, we just became really good friends on the tour and since then we, we stayed friends. And he's like, hey, I'm dropping an album and I have this song called Pursuit of Happiness. I'd love for you to remix it. And of course I'm like, anything for you, Scott. Like, of course I want to do anything for him. And he's. He was just on the rise. He was just like about to just pop. And I heard the song and MGMT and Rattatat on there and I love MGMT and I love Rattata as well. So it's like got this indie flair to it already. It's really, really kind of like it was a very. Kind of an emo dark song, but like with this hopeful lyric. And musically it was like, it was just, it was just slowed down. So I'm like, I have to rave this out. So I sped it up like from. I think the tempo is like 100 and something BPM. And I, I just punched it up to 128 BPM, which is the, the typical rave, you know. Yeah, rave tempo, electro tempo, EDM tempo. It's a tempo that I live in and. And I'm like, I'm gonna turn this into a festival banger. Like that was the goal because the lyrics are so powerful. Like when you, when you hear Cudi sing those lyrics, I was only imagining the whole crowd singing it, which is what happened. Like, everyone knows the lyrics to Pursuit of Happiness at all my shows around the world. Literally, it's a global phenomenon. Yeah, it's like a. It's a cultural song. It really is a cultural song. And. And you know, I put on these raves. Rave synths on the track. It like, it launches with that. Then it goes into his. His lyrics. Then it goes right into this heavy drop that makes everyone dancing. And. And interestingly enough, when we dropped that remix, it didn't really hit. It was like. It was cool. But it was like, oh, this is great. This is really good. We did it, you know, but like, it didn't really break culture until three years later. There's a movie called Project X that came out, and Project X is like the definitive party movie of all time. I literally, the most iconic classic, like high schoolers that. That, that took over a house when the parents were gone. Like this scenario that every high school kid dreams about. Parents are gone. Let's throw the craziest party known to mankind. And actually it was a. Based on this. These, these kids that did that in Australia and they like that whole block, like, like went crazy. Like, this cops showed up and everything. Anyways, like, it's called Project X. And like all these kids through this party and. And at the pinnacle of this movie, they. They dropped my remix of Pursuit of Happiness and it turned it into a music video inside the movie of the most important part of like the height of this party scene. And after that movie dropped the world, her finally heard Pursuit of Happiness. And after that, it was literally a cultural song in the history books.

It's amazing and it's incredible what tips things, right? It's like. Yeah, I mean, that was. I love looking at those tipping moments. It's like, you know, I hate to say, like Covid tipped zoom into like a phenomenon around the world.

Yes, absolutely.

And I look forward to you and I building a company together. That's. That'll be a fun conversation. We'll continue in the. In the days ahead. Steve, listen, thank you, my friend, for your unbridled enthusiasm and purpose and passion and excited to be doing things with you. Excited to have you join us at 8360 in March. Excited for helping spread the gospel of brain science and health through your foundation. And excited for the REM sleep I'm going to gift you, please.

Thank you. Peter. I'd love to talk with you.

All right, brother. Be well.

All right.

Have a beautiful day.