A Conversation with Steve Aoki

How you doing, Steve? How are you?

What's going on?

You know, when we were both asked to do this, obviously it was an honor for both of us to get invited. It's such a good cause for people to give to families who need. But I was so excited when I heard that you wanted to do this with me.

I'm a fan. I'm a big fan, especially after reading this book right here.

You're very kind.

This is an incredible book.

It helped for me. It helped me identify my why. And.

That was really important because.

I mean, I don't want to get too ahead of it, because it's not just a conversation between us two, but it's about the conversation with everyone else. But, wow, that book is inspirational. It really touched me. And it's not just for people that have businesses or have brands, but it can apply to everybody.

Steve, I'm grateful. One of the things that I so appreciate about your work, and I think you and I are kindred spirits in this sense, because when it was announced that you and I would be doing this together, I think a lot of people were scratching their heads.

And I think the thing that you and I have in common is we spread optimism. The thing that we do is we share hope with everybody.

It doesn't surprise me that the concept of why resonates with you. It is the foundation for who we are when we're at our natural best. It is the foundation for inspiration. And never was there a time more like now than to reconnect with our foundation, with who we are. It certainly helped me through these times, and I've been trying to share it with as many people as possible for that same reason.

Yeah, I mean, one of the most common questions people ask me when I'm doing interviews with whoever is, how do you find inspiration? And, yeah, it's just like you're saying, it's so important to find that inspiration, be inspired, feel that agency or empowerment to take action in your life, whatever it might be. Yeah. Especially when we're stuck in our homes, isolated.

We need that. That's the time when we need to take. I mean, what. What I think Tony Robbins calls massive action. You know, like, when you feel down, you have to take action, you know.

And for me, the. The thing that's been helping. Getting me through this, and I know it's been helping my friends get through this, is. Is that we are going through this together. Our experiences are not exactly the same, but we're all going through this together. And the biggest thing that I've learned throughout all this is to ask for help. Some of us are ashamed to ask for help, embarrassed to ask for help, fear hearing the word no, or getting disappointed. But at the end of the day, human beings, we're just not that strong by ourselves. We're not that smart by ourselves. But in groups and tribes together, we're remarkable. And we're surrounded by people who want to help. In fact, we build trust by helping each other. We don't build trust by offering our help to others. We build trust by asking for it. It's the willingness to put ourselves out there, and it's the greatest honor to be of service. We are animals built of service. And here we are both being called to service, to do our part, to answer the call, to unite.

Yeah, I mean, like, for me, when I'm. When I'm at home and I'm bored and I'm. I'm flipping on my. I'm going through my phone, scrolling through different lives or going on YouTube and check out different live streams, and I see conversations being had. It's like those conversations and the communication is constantly happening online. It inspires me be like, oh, I can actually conversate or communicate with someone else. And I know I was inspired by some sort of conversation that I'm watching that I'm thinking back to myself, what can I do to spread a message that can help deal with mental health during COVID or deal with boredom or deal with whatever it might be that we're all dealing with? Because we're all stuck at home. It doesn't matter if you're an entertainer, if you're a speaker, or. Or if you're, you know, just anyone, you know, whatever it is, we're all. We're all at home. So it's like, I think it's important that, like, hey, we can all have this conversation. Anyone can have this conversation.

Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt said it really well. When people talked about how, you know, we're all at home, he said it's not quite true. You know, he says, you know, it's not like we're all in the same boat together. He said, some people's boats are more dope than others. He said, so it's ridiculous for celebrities to say we're all in the same boat together. But what he did say, which I loved, is, but we're all in the same ocean, and we're all going through this together. We're all suffering the storm together. And that is true. What I find remarkable about this is it's the first Time, definitely in my lifetime, if not all of our lifetimes, where we can relate to somebody on the other side of the planet. People who, you know, who are different than us, who we will never have probably a chance to meet. And now there's the shared common human experience. And nothing brings people together than shared hardship and shared experience. This is a really special moment. And, yes, we're in a dark tunnel, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We will get through this. I don't know how far away the light is, but we will get through it. And the question is, what can we learn? How do we get through this tunnel? So we're better versions of ourselves than when we went in?

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I guess that's what I'm learning, too, you know, Like, I think all of us are, like, picking up new skill sets while we're at home, you know?

Well, you started playing chess, right?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, while we're waiting in the. In our virtual green room, playing a little chess. And that's. That's a new hobby that I'm picking up. It's a little fun.

Well, I'm super impressed because I had a list of books I was going to read and lists of skills I was going to get, and, you know, I had my workout schedule, and, you know, I have no boxes checked off. All the books are still there, all the skills are still unlearned, and my work, I'm not as buff as I thought I was going to come out of this. So.

It'S funny how we respond to all of this empty space.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we have, like, high goals, you know. I mean, we come into us with this, like, okay, we've got a lot of time on our hands. Let's learn a language. Let's work out more, let's do all these things. But, I mean, it's hard. It's, like, hard to put that into practice. In theory, you get excited, right?

I think the demographic for TikTok has gone up, though. I think we're now making TikTok videos. It's not just for kids anymore.

I want to see some. I want to see Simon Sinek doing a little TikTok challenge dance.

There is one of the dances that my niece, she and I are determined to do together. She's much quicker at learning these dances than I am. We'll see. We'll see.

Yeah. I feel like at a certain age, you can't, like, lock as well, you know, you can't. You know, you start, like, losing the reflex or like the, you know, the swagger or something? I don't know.

I have one question for you. Can you tell me a specific story of something throughout your career that you absolutely loved being a part of, that for all of the strain and the stress that goes with the job, that there's this one example of something that just was magical for you.

I mean, I think it's being on stage. That's like a very simple answer, but.

Like a general answer. But being with the audience, being with the crowd, like, there's no doubt. If I have an addiction to something, it's with performing, to people. I do 250 shows on average every single year, and I haven't stopped for 15 years.

I've been more on the road than been at home for 15 years of my life, consistently. Addiction to something, it's with performing, to people. I do 250 shows on average every single year, and I haven't stopped for 15 years. I haven't been. I haven't, I haven't. I've been more on the road than been at home for 15 years of my life consistently. So there's no doubt that, like, it's not just my management pushing me, it's like I want to be on the road. I love being on the road. Even all the, you know, the jet lag you have to deal with or the airports, whatever you have to deal with by flying around so much. It's worth it for that. 90 minutes in front of different people, different crowds, and there's so much to cover. You know, you realize, like, you know, you have. There's so many different countries, so many different cities. And luckily for me, my music, electronic music that I produce and I play, is global. There's the. It's a language of music, is its own language, and it's a very powerful language.

This is, I think, the perfect sum up for why we're doing this, which is though we're not physically together as a population anymore, we are still together, united in spirit, united to do good for each other. We're taking part in things like this, and we're doing this for the good of others. This is a call to service. And so both Steve and I, we're grateful to the call to unite, that we could be a part of it. But most important, we're asking everybody else to give what you can, share what you can to those who need it more. Steve, such a pleasure. So good to meet you, and I hope we get to do this again soon. IRL definitely.