It’s a clever trick, revisiting the hardcore he grew up on in order to justify his distancing himself from it. “Life is unfortunately short,” he says as we wrap up our conversation. “It’s about absorbing culture, music, art, people and experiences, retaining that information throughout life and being able to share that with other people.” Sticking with hardcore might have ultimately proven the safe move for Aoki, but it wouldn’t have been the right one. It’s an important quality, the ability to understand that one has outgrown something and is ready for the next set of experiences. It might be what makes Steve Aoki truly himself — he gets in, absorbs everything he possibly can, and moves on.
Though he might be staunchly DIY, Steve Aoki is not an island. Meet some of the key artists of his Dim Mak label, which has over the years evolved from a tiny punk outpost to a dance powerhouse...
ATARI TEENAGE RIOT Dim Mak scooped up the politically charged hardcore pioneers (the techno kind, not the punk kind) and co- released their fourth album, ‘Is This Hyperreal?’.
DATSIK This Canadian producer’s aggressive, lilting take on dubstep has earned him work with such disparate musical forces as Korn and the Wu-Tang Clan. Dim Mak released his debut album ‘Vitamin D’ in April.
FELIX CARTAL The dryly funny Canadian wunderkind spent the third gig of his career opening up for Justice, and with good reason. Whether he’s remixing Chris Brown or releasing original material, there’s a certain sticky elasticity to his productions. Like Aoki, Cartal is a former punk dude.
INFECTED MUSHROOM These Israeli psy-trance pioneers stretched their diverse sound even further on this year’s ‘Army Of Mushrooms’, drawing from dubstep, house and drum & bass to give more depth to their dark, industrial grooves.
MUSTARD PIMP It’s not every French production duo (there are many) that features a former heavy metal guitarist. But that’s the situation at hand with Mustard Pimp, who toy with genre with a seeming disregard for anything but pure energy. Their debut ‘No Title Or Purpose’ came out on Dim Mak in May. It will make you feel alive.
www.djmag.com 015
MakDaddies
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100