Picture by Rony’s Photobooth

Though his growing international, jetsetting DJ status takes him all over the globe, Steve Aoki’s mark on LA’s indie-rock-meets-dance scene is cemented. He’s like the cool kid’s version of that Limey Simon—he breaks the bands. When LA went all hipsterville, he and his weekly party at Cinespace (running for five years now) provided the best playground in town. Shit still pops too, which is no small feat in a town suffering from, in his own words, “A.D.D.” Just because he’s not around as much, don’t think he still doesn’t own turf. Hit up Dim Mak Tuesdays at Cinespace and Banana Split on Sundays. Shirtless, stage dives, probably included.

Top LA DJ moment? Coachella 2007. I opened the Sahara tent before Busy P, DJ Mehdi, MSTRKRFT, Justice—it was by far my biggest LA moment. Coachella is the most important festival in the United States because they take chances in supporting a diverse range of music. The lineup for the stage I was on was historic for LA. In 2007, it was a big turning point where electro really started breaking into America and artists like Justice and MSTRKRFT were becoming the important figures in making electro popular.

It’s been a minute since we’ve recorded a conversation, what changes have you noticed in LA’s club scene over the last couple of years? I’m in LA around five days a month so my time here has been severely limited. I try to be at the two parties that I care most about: Dim Mak Tuesdays at Cinespace and Banana Split on Sundays and surprisingly both are always fun, crowded, and fun. But being in this city and doing parties for as long as I’ve been doing it here the crowd changes every 9–12 months and a new breed of party kids come and make the scene different. LA equals a severe case of A.D.D. But for some reason I love LA and it’s my favorite places in the world to live.

How would you compare things here to the rest of the world? LA is a big city so there are different scenes everywhere you can get involved in. The chi-chi Hwood scene that offers nothing but expensive drinks and Ed Hardy cologne-heads, and some hot girls. The fun sweaty dance party scene I see at Cinespace and LAX, the hipster Silverlake bar scene. On the road I see much of the same kind of thing, sweaty kids dancing hard and wanting techno. Which has been slowly cultivating in LA the past few years. LA is a bit slower than most other cities I’ve been to but it’s been more accepting to this electro/techno sound than other bigger cities I’ve played in like Miami or Chicago. Although LA is commercial—it’s fun and good people are here that make it worthwhile for me.

Speaking of A.D.D., do you ever feel like you’re spreading yourself too thin? I mean, a record label, remixes, tours, fashion collaborations. How do you stay sane? I feel like I’m spreading myself too thin when I can’t manage all the different projects and deadlines that I’m responsible for. At the end of the day it’s the team you work with and how well time-managed your operation is. My schedule is very mechanical throughout my week. I know where I have to be at every given hour for the most part when I’m actually in LA. It’s all about the process in how you work to multi-manage all the different important campaigns that require your attention.