NEW DELHI: US Electro House DJ-producer Steve Aoki, who will be touring India later this month, is keen to collaborate with local artists and explore Bollywood music. It appears that he is as taken with India, as his Indian fans are with him.
“I absolutely love the food, especially biryani. I could eat Indian food all day long, so that’s something I’m looking forward to,” Aoki said. “I want to get fat off Indian food. It would also be great if Sonam Kapoor came and said ‘Hi’! I would love to see her at the gig.”
Aoki last came to India in 2012. He will return to perform two small gigs in Delhi on November 29, followed by another performance in Mumbai the next day. His first time participating in an Indian music festival will be at Sound Awake in Bangalore on December 1.
Organised by DNA Networks, Sound Awake is a bi-annual Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festival that provides a platform for performances by popular national and international artists and seeks to redefine the genre in South East Asia.
As much as he is looking forward to sharing the platform with Indian artists, he also hopes to be able to “collaborate with an Indian artist in the future”.
“India has such a rich culture; it would be great to imbibe that culture into my music. I’m like a sponge, I like taking in a lot of information and Indian music is something I’m very keen to learn more about. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten a chance to really explore Bollywood music. I need to research on it as this is something I really want to explore,” he added.
Aoki founded Dim Mak Records in 1996, which he named after his childhood hero Bruce Lee. This Grammy-nominated producer is credited with hit albums like Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles, and most recently Wonderland.
The 35-year-old says he always “wanted to visit India” and was “very excited at the thought of coming back”.
“India is a beautiful country with rich culture and amazing food. I’ve been telling all my friends and people I meet here about everything I have experienced. When you drive down the street, there are just so many different things you see and experience,” he said. “They love and care about dance music. The energy levels are great; they were no pretences [last time]. Everyone was out there to just have a crazy time.”
Aoki is famous for his interesting and energetic live performances — he has thrown cake towards the audience and used a raft to mingle with the crowd during his live sets. As a part of the line-up for the Sound Awake festival, he is excited to bring his signature moves to an Indian audience.
“I want the Indian audience to see what a Steve Aoki show is like, so you can expect my signature raft, the cake, and champagne at Sound Awake. I’d like the organisers to source the cake, raft and champagne made from local ingredients as promoting indigenous products is really important to me,” added the performer.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2013.
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