Interview with EDM star Steve Aoki backstage at EDC UK 2015

TopReviews4U editor Paul Christian caught up with EDM superstar Steve Aoki before he took to the main stage at EDC UK on Saturday. 

The producer, real name Steven Hiroyuki, who has worked with Iggy Azalea, will.I.am, Linkin Park and Lil Jon, spoke about a range of topics affecting EDM and the wider scene.  

Asked whether the spiritual home of dance music was in Europe or the USA, Steve Aoki said: “Man, it’s always here, but the USA is a big part.

He said the US was “an important market”, but said he spent four months of the year in Europe as he felt it was so integral to the scene.

Although, perhaps fearing he might have come across as unpatriotic, the DJ revised his answer.

He added: “It’s equal.

“I’m from America, man, I love America.

“It’s equal.

“It’s, I think, about the influence and power and reach.

“They’re both equally powerful.”

When asked about the adulation he and his genre gains from crowds worldwide he said: “My favourite shows to play are to crowds that are hungry for the music.

“Lately it has been South America and Asia and playing to these kids and you don’t know if they’re on drugs or not, but it seems like they’re really high off the music.”

It was not the first time the long-locked EDM jock mentioned narcotics. 

When asked what made for a good set, he said: “Crowd participation is the key to how successful a set is.

“If the crowd is turning their back on you and you’re in it and you’re sweating and you’re putting your all into it and the crowd are turning their back on you or they’re in their own world or they’re high on drugs – it happens.”

Commenting on EDC UK he said: “There’s a great line-up of DJs and they are coming on their A-game.”

The constant comparisons between club and festival set were also addressed by Aoki, who said his club sets are sometimes more experimental, with occasional forays down tempo into hip or up tempo to tracks of 140 to 160 beats per minute.

He said his festival performances tended to stay around 128 beats per minute, but he also starts on a high.

“I want to start with a bang, I’m like ‘what’s up, here I am’.”