TeachRock

Steve Aoki

Birth Name: Steven Hiroyuki Aoki 
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, USA
November 30, 1977 – present
Years Active: 1996 – present

While in high school in southern California, Steve Aoki learned and lived the do-it-yourself ethos by playing in various Punk bands and contributing to a local music scene. Later, as a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in the mid-’90s, he put the D.I.Y. mindset that had profoundly informed his teenage years into action. Aoki took the independent and resourceful spirit of D.I.Y. many steps further, foreshadowing his decades-long career that has moved beyond a local scene and is now a recognized global community.

As a college student living on campus at UCSB, Aoki began writing music reviews for a local zine. Through this work he established strong relationships with many artists and bands. Those connections led Aoki to begin organizing and promoting concerts that took place in his UCSB dormitory. Inspired by the experience and interested in expanding his creative pursuits, Aoki founded his own record label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996. He began building a roster of artists on Dim Mak with the initial focus on Punk and Indie Rock bands. By the early 2000s, Aoki’s growing enterprise had moved from the “tiny world” of the UCSB campus to one of the premier music industry cities in the world, Los Angeles.

Primary working as a music producer and label owner during the 2000s, Aoki’s Dim Mak Records expanded its roster to include more Electronic Dance Music artists. Aoki also began working as a DJ, producing remixes for other artists and bands. He released his first remix album Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles in 2008. He released his debut studio album, Wonderland, in 2012 and it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album.

Aoki’s second album, Neon Future I, was released in 2014 and climbed to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. During the making of the album, Aoki starred in a documentary about his life and work, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead. The film was released on Netflix in 2016 and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Music Film. Neon Future II was released in 2015 and debuted at the No. 2 slot on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. Aoki’s fourth album, Steve Aoki Presents Kolony was released in 2017. Continuing with his Neon Future series, he released Neon Future III in 2018.

Through the years, Aoki has contributed remixes and production work to several video game soundtracks. His music is frequently featured in television and film productions. All the while, he has continued to tour relentlessly, often playing up to 250 shows per year. Since its founding, Dim Mak has expanded into a lifestyle brand with a clothing line and other apparel. The fourth album in the Neon Future series, and Aoki’s sixth studio record, Neon Future IV was released in 2020. As with all of his previous records, it included numerous collaborations with a variety of artists. Featured performances on his six studio releases have included will.i.am, LMFAO, Linkin Park, Lil Jon, blink-182, BTS, Rise Against, Lauren Jauregui, and Fall Out Boy.