The School of Greatness - 401 Steve Aoki: Building a Music Empire and the Power of Giving Back

Episode Date: November 2, 2016

"I trust people more than skill set." - Steve Aoki If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/401

Episode number 401 with Grammy-nominated DJ Steve Aoki. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. We have the legendary Steve Aoki in the house today.

I am super pumped about this. I got a chance to connect with Steve actually in his studio in downtown LA. So me and Tiff took the video cameras, the mics. I got a chance to connect with Steve actually in his studio in downtown LA. So me and Tiff took the video cameras, the mics. We drove down to Los Angeles downtown and connected with this incredible human, Steve Aoki. For those that don't know who he is, he is a label owner, Grammy-nominated DJ, producer, fashion executive, philanthropist. He is a man with many talents and interests and one who makes an impact through all of his endeavors. He has always made it a point to take a proactive stance

when it comes to social and humanitarian issues. He is the founder of Dim Mock Records. He's also collaborated with many huge artists, including Tiesto, Linkin Park, Iggy Azalea, Will.i.am, Snoop Dogg, and many, many more. And we get in here in this episode, guys. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. I posted a photo of us on Instagram. If you're not following me, at Lewis Howes on Instagram, and at Steve Aoki, make sure to check us both out.

But I posted a photo a few weeks ago when we did this interview. And wow, the response was massive. One of the biggest responses of a pre-photo interview that I've posted of so many people interested about this. Make sure to share this with your friends right now. If you're listening, tweet this out, lewishouse.com slash 401. Or if you're on the podcast app, just click the share button, post it on Twitter, post it on Facebook. Or if you're on the podcast app, just click the share button, post it on Twitter, post it on Facebook. Tag me and Steve on Instagram because this is going to inspire and impact many, many people. If you haven't seen the new documentary of Steve Aoki on Netflix, make sure to check it out.

I was fascinated with Steve after I watched this documentary, and I dived in even deeper. with Steve after I watched this documentary and I dived in even deeper and we cover things that he doesn't talk about on that documentary that for me was kind of shocking and inspiring that he actually went that far in this interview. So I hope you guys enjoy this one. Again, make sure to share this out. We want to make sure we get this to as many people as possible. Steve was generous to give a lot of his time to share his wisdom insights, how he's gone over the last decade to build himself up from, you know, promoting these little gigs in his apartment

with 10 to 20 people to building a movement, millions of followers and fans around the world, one of the biggest DJs in the world. And he talks about all the challenges and struggles from starting out with nothing to building it to where he is today. We talk about why so many people in the music world are unable to complete projects and how he's learned to get things done and to ship them. Also how Steve shifts a crowd that isn't present when he's performing. So if you're a speaker or you're a performer or an athlete or anyone that has a performance, an actor in the audience is not present. He talks about the different things you can do in a moment, in an instant to shift the entire energy in a room. So they all zoom

back into you and be completely engaged and present in your performance. We also talk about why Steve hasn't watched his documentary since it first came out, which I thought was kind of interesting. I actually watched Tony Robbins documentary with him that was on Netflix the night before it came out. And I know he watched it many times before its release. So I was interested to hear why he didn't. Also, Steve's way of setting up his team to support him. I got to meet a number of his team members, and he said that there's no way he could have got to where he is without his team. This and so much more in today's episode, guys. I hope you enjoy this one.

Again, make sure to share this with your friends. This is going to be a big one. I know it's going to strike a chord with so many people out there. So without further ado, let me introduce to you the one, the only, Steve Aoki. Welcome everyone back to School of Greatness podcast. Very excited about our guest today, the legend Steve Aoki. Thanks for coming on. Yeah, thanks for having me. We're in your studio here in Los Angeles and a very inspirational space with lots of great people here. And this is where a lot of it goes down in this studio, right? Yeah, yeah. Bringing all the artists and singers and coming here.

Absolutely. I mean, it's evolved over time. Like we took over this floor, this entire floor of this building in downtown LA two years ago, maybe two and a half years ago. And before then, I was working in my house. Really? Yeah. I mean, like generally speaking, I just, you know, you can tune a half years ago. And before then I was working in my house. Really? Yeah. I mean, like generally speaking, I just, you know, you can tune a room anywhere, you know, and you want to like, for me, it's more about creative space. If I want to end up mixing or, um, if I

really need the acoustics tuned in to the point where it's really important that I'll go to an actual studio and rent a studio. But if I want to be creative, I want to be in a comfortable space. So no matter where I am, I'm going to build a room. It doesn't matter. And so we took over this floor. And what you don't see, which you saw, which is they're like three-quarters of this floor is the Denmark headquarters. Yeah.

And then we built a wall. Before when we took over this store, there was no walls. Right. So I needed to have some privacy. Sure. So essentially this is like my office, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is where I work and these guys work at their desks and, you know, push other artists

and I'm pushing my music out of here. Actually, I lend this studio to a lot of artists as well. Really? From DIMOC. That's cool. When I'm not around, I'm like, they can use as long as they don't destroy my speakers. Right, right. Sure, sure.

Well, I was really inspired to learn more about you. I started hearing about you about a year and a half, two years ago on social media. And then the more I heard about people posting about you and people that I have connected with, a guy sent me a message today, Johnny Cupcakes, who was like, you know, Steve was a DJ for an opening party of mine like 11 years ago before anyone knew who he was. I remember. Johnny Cupcakes somewhere. Yeah, I do remember that, yeah. And more and more people have been telling me about you.

And I watched the documentary recently and it was like blown away on how inspiring you are and all the things that you've overcome. Thank you. So it's amazing to hear more about your story. I'm really glad you put the documentary out there. I recommend everyone go watch it on Netflix. I'm curious about, I mean, because I didn't know the family dynamics until the documentary. I think it's fascinating about your father and everything that's happened.

And I'm curious, what do you think makes you so driven to be at the top of everything that you're doing right now? That changes over time. I mean, I guess the best way for me to sum it up is I'm a project-oriented person. And so whenever I attack something, I attack it singularly, but also with multiple teams. So obviously I can't do all

this I'm doing alone. But I need to focus on one project at a time and see a beginning and an end. I think for the most part, I mean for a long time, I mean, for a long time, I would do certain projects, but I would never finish them. I think that's the case for a lot of people.

It's like you have this drive to start something, and then you don't know how to end it. You don't know how to execute. And you're afraid of the product. You're afraid how you're going to be perceived. And it's about overcoming that fear too. You know, it's like,

it's, it's hard. Um, I actually like to instill this, uh, this, this, um,

execution part of starting and ending a product, a project, um, with my team. So, or with people that I love that was around me. I remember like just recently my, my little niece,

um, she just turned 16 October 12th, which is, was that today? I think so. Today's 11th or 12th, I think. Well, happy birthday, Natalie. Anyway. So like three weeks ago, my uncle. It's the 11th. It's three weeks ago. Uh, my, sorry, my brother-in-law, my sister's husband, they just moved the whole family. I just bought my mom a house next to me. So that's been really great for me. In Vegas?

In Vegas, yeah. That's cool. And I just want to be closer to my family because I'm always traveling. And she's willing to move. So I was just so happy. I was like, we found this house. It's right next door. Amazing.

And my brother-in-law moved in my with my niece and and my sister's moving there so i'm just like so close so close much much closer to my family makes me happy and uh my my brother-in-law he's a music guy so he's you know he's always inspired when he comes in my studio and sees me working or like you know my studio is epic. Epic beyond epic. The one in Vegas. There's pictures online and stuff. Sure. Hashtag neon future cave. You can see some pictures.

I think you posted on Instagram of you like jumping into a foam pit and everything like that. Oh, that's not my studio. That's my,

yeah, that's my foam pit room. It's crazy. So anyways, I'll get to, anyway, so I, you know,

he's always like, I can't finish the song. I've never finished a song. Your brother-in-law. Yeah. And he's been working on music longer than me. He like, he has a full, I can't finish the song. I've never finished a song. Your brother-in-law. Yeah. And he's been working on music longer than me. He has a full little studio set up in the house. I get so excited.

He has his MIDI keyboard out. He has some other synths out. He has a guitar. And he works on Pro Tools. And I'm like, let me hear some stuff. You know, he's like, I actually never finished a song. So I made a bet with him. This is part of something that I've been doing with my team called Aoki Boot Camp. And the Aoki Boot Camp is all about meeting your goals. And it's disciplinary. So if you don't meet your goal, whatever it might be, you actually have to pay money towards the charitable fund. And the charitable fund disperses it to different things that are of need.

and the charitable fund disperses it to different things that are of need. So in this case, I set a goal on him. I said, you know, they started a group. I forgot the name of the group. Him and his daughter started a group, and they work on music together, but they've never actually finished a song. So I said, by October 12th, you have three weeks. I want you to make a bet with me that you're going to finish your very first song.

You know, and he actually did. So it took time. I would hammer and hammer and hammer and hammer. And he's like, I just can't. I'm just not in the space. You know, like what people will say, what I've said. I'm not in the space to do it. I'm sick. I'm tired. Like you make

up these excuses so you don't actually do it. And I'm like, I give him some pointers, some hints to be able to truck through those, those, those, those boundaries. It's like huge hurdles that you can't ever get through. You always stop there. Everyone always stops at the same place. And obviously when you get older, you all, you, it's harder to jump the hurdle. Cause you're, cause you're more stubborn. You're like, I don't need to, I've already got my shit sorted. So I kept on hammering. I'm like, where are you stuck on? What, what are the issues? Like, okay, so here's, here's some pointers to get through that, whatever that might've been, you know? And, um, and I would just keep hammering him and he started hating me. I just saw in his face, like, I can't believe I

did this. But in this case, the penalty wasn't it in his face like, I can't believe I did this. But in this case, the penalty wasn't money because I don't want to – it's not like I want to take money away from him to go to charity, but the penalty was three months of working out every day. He doesn't work out. Well, I mean, it's a hardcore working out. It's like you have to do this regimen of working out, and if you miss it, you have to add on a week. Wow. So you can essentially be working out for the rest of your life if you don't work out three months straight. Right. And, and I'm very strict with

these things. Like I'm very strict. Like I have to, uh, like I've already donated close to $40,000 to, to the charitable fund from lost, lost bets. Wow. So I'm very, very strict with myself and I try to keep that, you know, with my team. And, uh, and yeah, that's, that's one way to like get through these hurdles is like by is, is, uh, is holding yourself and your team accountable. First of all, having a team community that believes in the same idea. Um, And a good way to start is WhatsApp groups. You know, we have a WhatsApp group. And on the workouts, you know, besides this thing I did with my brother-in-law, everyone has to show their workouts every day of what we say we're going to do.

And if we don't do it by midnight, we actually have to pay to the charitable fund. We do something similar with our team too. Every week we give each other a challenge of what we're going to commit to that week in terms of physical fitness. And we have a push-up challenge, like anytime push-ups. Yeah, we do.

It's like 30 anytime push-ups. We do 125 a day by midnight. And then you got the oh shit one hour rule from 12 to 1, where if whatever you have left over, you have four. You do four times the missed allotment. And then otherwise, you have to pay. You have to donate immediately. That's good. I like that.

Immediately. What do you think it is? I mean, you said for a long time you weren't able to complete things. You have a lot of unfinished projects in the past. time you weren't able to complete things or you have a lot of unfinished projects in the past what do you think it was a switch for you in terms of being able to start execute and finish things and why are so many people in the music world that you're aware of who are unable to complete things what is it that holds them back i think one thing i learned especially when i was in high school um and i said this before many times, is the hardcore music scene that I got introduced to that became my life,

that became my lifestyle. Every decision that I made was all based on the fundamentals of this hardcore scene. Even the food I ate, I became vegetarian because that's what they did. They were talking about animal rights, and I got into that. And it was all really based on passion and community. You know, it's like you have to be really into what you're saying and doing and be educated on what you're saying and doing and learn some instruments and play the music, you know,

and play the music of that culture. Essentially, you're an ambassador of the culture. And the way you get respect in that culture is by finishing your projects, whether it's a song, whether it's playing a show, whether it's putting on a show for other bands. So that scene can prosper. And there's an ecosystem. So it's all about making the ecosystem of that community healthy. And the more you do that, the more that you're able to make it healthy, the more respect you get. So it's not about, oh, I just walked in with like the shoes

that no one else has or the bike that everybody wants. The more of that element that you bring to the table, the less cool you are. Like you're cooler if you actually go, I'm vegetarian. I stopped wearing leather shoes. Oh shit, you made a stance. You made something that's like a sacrifice. Or I'm putting on a show and all these bands are coming in. Wow, you put on the show.

That's awesome. I started a band and I'm playing and I'm representing the sound. Or I made a zine. I interviewed four bands and I went to Kinko's and I made the zine. I'm passing them out to all the different people. It's almost like a religion in a way where you're spreading that, that, that goodwill.

And it's not about a financial reward as well. It's like there is no financial reward in, in what we're, what I'm talking about here. It's all about, uh, believing, believing in a culture and, and being rewarded by spreading that culture and building that healthy ecosystem of that culture. So it is in essence, that culture doesn't have to be music. That culture could be in a book club or in a chess club or in something that's like drives you. Because, uh, you know, another thing is as well as I talk to some people, they're like, I don't know what my passions are. And I, you know, I talked to Tom Bilyeu from Inside Quest about like, how do you find your passion? Like what gets you there?

You know, if you don't know what it is. You just have to keep trying stuff and see what pulls you, what's pulling you to a certain place. And then meeting up with those people, that community and, um, and finding out ways. Cause we all are smart. We all have ways and we all different ways of thinking about how to, to, you know, get more people involved in what we do. Right. You know, so, you know, like, you know, the idea of being a pusher is a bad thing, but

in this case it's a good thing, you know? Like, you know, the idea of being a pusher is a bad thing, but in this case, it's a good thing, you know? So whenever I could push positive lifestyle and a positive, like, and health and well-being, I feel good about myself. Yeah. It's like Christmas when you actually give gifts. It feels much better than to receive. Sure. I prefer not to get any presents.

I'd rather just give presents. You get more out of it, right? Absolutely, yeah. Like, giving is actually the most selfish thing you can do because you feel so good. Um, I'm curious, you talked about sacrifice for a moment. What's the biggest sacrifice you've had to make to get to where you're at? Uh, well, it's weird because when I think about the times when, when things weren't happening and I didn't really look at it as sacrifice, You know, I guess in retrospect, it was a sacrifice because you are sacrificing time and you're not, let's say you're not getting paid. Yeah. But it's not a sacrifice to you, you know.

It's an investment. Yeah, it's an investment. But you don't even think of it as an investment either. You think about it, it's just different. about it uh it's it's just different you know like this like when i'm going back to the hardcore community it's like um you know when we put on shows in our living room we we never took a dime we spent all this time getting people to know about what we did and once we got the ball rolling we were we're on a roll bringing all these artists in we never took a dime from any shows you know uh we always had people stay over.

I guess you could call it a sacrifice, but it really wasn't. It was a real love for what we were doing. Was that about 10 years ago? No, that was like 15 years ago. 15 years ago. You were throwing these weekly parties in your apartment with a few other guys, right, that you lived with? Yeah, right. We four over 400 bands play but it was some some bands that became you know bands that everyone knows like jimmy world or you know like a lot of bands like a lot of hardcore bands

you know a lot of the bands that were willing to to to play in a living room how many people could you cram in there 40 people 40 people yeah i mean but it felt like a lot more you know the energy was pretty wild electric yeah yeah but you know so like for me as well you know like i'm djing obviously to a much larger audience but i i find a value in playing in front of five people i because i used to love i played in front of five people many times yeah it's a band yeah you know like it's, because like sometimes we would do tour and we would play in houses, basements, a warehouse that was abandoned,

you know, with the generator. What was the biggest thing you learned about yourself playing in front of those five, 10, 20 people, rooms for years, I'm assuming, before anything ever picked up? What's the biggest lesson you learned about going through that process and that journey? It's connection it's like um having a real connection with people and looking at them in the eye and actually like you know communicating i mean we we'd actually

after the shows we'd hang out with them like those five people that came to the show i'd want to know them be like you came you spent money you drove all the way to my show there's only four of you five of you here's ten of you here let's hang out let's do something let's like i want to know about you and like what what your scene's about and then building a network and actually like treating them as peers not as fans so much as peers because i am a fan as well as them i was those people at when i was in when i was in a teenager and i I was those people when I was a teenager. And I'm still those people at other shows. I'm in the crowd and if I really

am attracted to a message or a sound, I'm always a fan. That's another thing I've learned is that you can't forget about the fact that the reason why I do it is because I am a fan and I,

and I, I'm, we're at the, we're all the same level. That 15 year old kid that's like upfront screaming or like bawling their eyes out or like that energy. I'm like looking at him like, I'm you,

I was you. I still am you, you know? And I, and I'm so happy that they, that they don't give a fuck about anybody else and what they're thinking. Because I was that kid in the front, like, screaming, wanting to sing along and be connected to the bands. And when the bands and artists connected with me, it changed my life, you know.

So I always wanted to be that and then remember, like, hey, we are emotional beings and we're here to express this connection that's why like when people are like high on drugs and and like completely aloof at my shows i just feel like what a waste for them and what a what a waste for myself bringing them as production bringing this time and you know they can't experience it fully yeah exactly and like i'm just like they just they forget why they're even there you know it's like the people that are completely like, uh, you know, fixed on the show, they get, they get the full experience. They get something that they can leave with that, you know, hopefully it can expire, inspire them the way it's inspired me.

When you were growing up, did you think you would be in this position? Did you, did you visualize yourself in front of tens, twenties, you know, 50,000 people? Absolutely not. You didn't think about it? There's no visualization of, of, it's not like the secret where I'm like, this will happen. I will make it happen. I never even imagined scenario bigger than 10, 20, 30, 40.

In your living room. Yeah. I just, I, it's, it's also, I think there's nothing wrong with imagining and saying, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be a billionaire. I'm going to be influential in my field. I'm going to, you know, there's nothing wrong with that. And like, I, I agree whenever I read about different entrepreneurs and they talk about,

you know, their tips is to like, imagine that, Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. But it's also a balance of being pragmatic as being realistic and also not forgetting about what's in front of you. Because like the thing is that, you know, you could be thinking about this grand scale and forget that the five people that are in front of you are there because they love to be a part of that. And if you're not connected to them, they won't be as connected to you and why they came in the first place. So that's why there's times where I'll play a show and I feel the sense of disconnect because there's a lot of people just kind of aloof or not necessarily on drugs, but they're just not present. And then I become not present. And then the people that are present, they don't become present. And all of a sudden, it's a lose-lose for everyone.

So I can't look at these like, let's say, you have a tremendous show. And you're like, oh, that show was great. All shows aren't going to be great. And the shows that are doing that aren't great, you have to actually get more into the show. And that goes back to the very, very beginning of the question you asked. That's another thing that's important to remember is the beginning. And like those five people, those 10 people, or it could be those five or 10 people in the crowd while everyone, like there's like a, you know, where it's not such a great show.

Just focus on the people that care. Yeah. It's funny. Whenever I do speeches and I feel disconnected or like maybe people are yawning or they're on the phone. You're like, you get distracted. Someone's walking in the background. Yeah, yeah, yeah. In an auditorium, you can see a lot more of this than just like I was jumping around.

Yeah, yeah. It's very present because it's quiet. Yeah. And someone taught me, a great speaker taught me, you know, focus on the one person who's looking at you and just hone in. Exactly. Connect with that one human being. If it takes you two minutes, three minutes, just like look them in the eye and really connect with them. You'll bring everyone to that moment.

Yeah. And you'll bring the whole room back to the present. So is that something you do too? That's exactly what I do. Really? I mean, the same, like a perfect analogy is I'm talking to you. We're connected. We're talking.

The conversation will open up into all different avenues. But if instead I'm talking to a wall, you ask me a question, I'm talking to a wall, I'm not going to have the same kind of choose your own adventure where we can go and kind of go off in every direction. I'll probably just answer questions in a very mundane, monotone, rudimentary level.

And at the end of the day, whoever sees it is going to get that rudimentary level, kind of like, oh, I didn't really learn that much or I'm tuned out. Right. So when you're feeling disconnected or the show is a little off or whatever, your energy is off, is that what you'll do? When there's 50,000 people, you'll find the one person, two people, and you'll just give them that full attention? Yeah. And then it all comes back. Oh, yeah. And you'll just give them that full attention. Yeah. And then, like, it all comes back. And, like, it's exactly what you say. Even if the rest of the people are just leaving, you just got to remember, like, you know, like, you can't be harsh on yourself and just focus on the people that care.

Yeah. You know? And then you have to constantly think back. Can't lose everyone, right that care. Yeah. You know, and then you have to constantly think back. Can't lose everyone, right? Yeah, exactly. And you have to, you got to think back well in the very beginning

where, hey man, I was happy playing in front of 10 people. Yeah. You know, like I got to remember why I'm doing this.

I'm not doing this for a paycheck. I'm doing this because I love, I love this, this moment right here and making this music and being able to connect people with my music.

What's been the most inspiring or impactful moment of your career for you? Well, it's just so many moments that all add up. It's hard. I mean, my first big moment was playing Coachella, which I've always talked about 2007. Um, cause that opened me up to a stage of people at this morning in my club, in the clubs I was playing in, um, getting a Grammy nomination for my first album. That was, you know,

just, just being recognized by the Grammy committee and, and, uh, and, you know, the music community, like,

you know, and Hey, you know, we, we think that, uh, Stevie O'Keefe's up in the five best albums. That's pretty good. Yeah, because I don't like to – this is my own thing, but I'm almost like anti-secret in a way method where I'm just – I don't want to have this expectation because I don't want to always feel so bad if it doesn't happen.

Because since I got the Grammy now, I was like, oh, I want to win a Grammy now. But it hasn't come. Another nomination hasn't come again. And you just have to be like, it might not ever come and that's fine. Yeah. Who was the most influential person in your life growing up? you know? Yeah. Who was, uh, the most influential person in your life growing up? Um, well, I'd say through and through my father, you know, and I really got to tell that story in a documentary. That's amazing. Yeah. And, um, I never really publicly talked about that,

you know, that's why it was, um, that's why I like partially for me, I just haven't seen the film again since I watched it. You haven't seen the film? No, I've seen it. Of course, I've seen the film, but I saw it. I watched it in full at the Tribeca Film Festival a long time

ago. It was probably early August or something. Or July? June? Was it June? Whatever it was like probably in early august or something oh or july june the june whatever it was it was in it was in the summertime you haven't watched since no i haven't i just it's hard for me to watch that it's one thing to actually talk about process and talk and then and then get into personal stuff and then like bring yourself back into the moment especially when you're're around people that you feel comfortable with. Yeah.

And then it's another thing to watch yourself talk about it. How did you feel when you watched it at the festival? A bit uncomfortable. But I was happy my mom was there. Yeah. She was sitting next to me. At the end of the day, the way I see it is I don't want, I don't really want to think about this film is about me. I really, I'm really paving, you know, paying homage to my father and to my mom and to DJ AM and to certain people that really laid the groundwork for me to do what I did or do what I'm doing.

But I just like, I'd love that. or do what I'm doing. I love that. If I keep that in perspective, then I feel like this film has weight. People can watch it. Then again, I don't want it to be like,

oh yeah, watch this movie about me. It sounds so lame. You see people talk about themselves like that it's kind of you kind of you kind of want to make fun of them sure sure sure what's the biggest lesson that you've learned from your father then um i mean there's so many lessons right but um this is like a you know know, obviously his drive was insane. Unbelievable.

And it came with a lot of, you know, issues, family issues. Because he wasn't really there much, right? Yeah, and he was not a great husband. He wasn't really great. Like he was a good dad in the sense that he brought his kids together whenever he could. But he wasn't a liar. He was very honest. It's true.

Number one was business. Number two was health. Number three was family. That's the way he is. That's not necessarily my code of honor. That's not my code of conduct. What's your code? There is no one, two, and three.

Family is really important to me. But obviously, I work a lot more than I see my family. So it's not so black and white. There's times when I'm with my family, all I want to do is support them. So when I see my mom, you know, I'm trying to build a plan for her so that she,

she remains healthy and happy and lives a long life. A long life of happiness and health. So we always think about what we can do. In the Aoki Boot Camp way, but not necessarily making her pay. But not necessarily making her do push-ups. But I just want to take care of her. You know, she took care of me.

Yeah. So your code's more of like an integrated balance approach is what you're saying. You may not spend as much time with family, but the time you're with them really is meaningful

and it matters and you're present during that time. Yeah. And there's probably ebbs and flows of work to family, to health.

I also think like when I'm not with the people I love, I want to, I want to kind think like when i'm not with the people i love i want to i want to kind of like analyze what they do with their day because if they're spending their time watching tv when they could be learning when they could be um doing something that that's healthy for them and that's that's healthy and positive and and integrates um a sense of well-being and happiness that they don't know about before. That's what I want to push in the sense of what I'm saying about being a pusher.

So what I do with my mom is like, I'm like, okay, so tell me your schedule of the day. You don't need to do this like TV stuff. Like, so like, you know, I'm getting her piano lessons. So then she is like using that part of her brain. She loves piano and um uh making sure there's a personal trainer coming in to like make sure her all like the blood's flowing in her body she's moving um you know i'm you know getting like green cold pressed juices to her and making sure she's drinking at least two a day yeah i'll make sure she's on her vitamin supplement. What? She started a juice company?

Are you a part owner? Yeah, yeah. With my brother. Yeah. That's cool. And, you know, like those kinds of things are important. She's like, you know, she started writing a book. I'm helping getting a book editor.

Nice. So it's like, I think, you know, then it's like, you know, I feel like I'm doing the best I can as a son, not just hanging out with her and like giving her a hug and giving her a kiss and having dinner and lunch. It's like, okay, let's like plan it out so that you're using your time effectively, efficiently, that makes you happy and healthy. Right. And that works muscles that you almost forget because that's what happens as we get older. We're like, we're so good at this, we don't need to do this. When you're young, you can do it all, right? And you just sponge everything.

And you get older, it's hard to sponge those things. So it's about challenging yourself and saying, hey, I didn't learn this language, but I have to make it a goal. And everyone says that. I've said that about learning languages myself. I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, I'm going to learn it a goal. And everyone says that. I've said that about learning languages myself. I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, I'm going to learn it next year. Next year. Resolution. But if you don't have some sort of

system set up to force you to learn it, I talk to some people about this. It's bad. It's a bunch of bad idea, this whole disciplinary thing. It puts a bad taste in people's mouth. I get it done this way and i enjoy it at the end of the day as long as i'm doing the work um then i will you know whatever

it might be then then i'll feel better about myself yeah what would you say is your vision for your your career and your life well i mean my core is always music so it's producing music and playing music those are like that's my core it's like what i've built my whole life around in one form or fashion from playing guitar and being in bands and being in the studio and that that sense to to working right here in this studio or like working on electronic music and playing it that's like that thread will probably exist for for a long time because it's just always there. That passion and drive is always there.

But the passion and drive are one and the same. And they always change. And I always follow where that goes. And it leads me into all kinds of different places that leaves me in places of challenge where I, I'm, I'm here to challenge myself. And the case of Johnny Cupcakes, where I met him like 11 years ago, he talked about, I, I threw myself into the fashion world by this opportunity that was given to me. It was, um, Hey, we want you to DJ at this magic trade show and we don't, we can't afford to pay you, but we'll give you a booth.

Because essentially, the trade shows are real estate. They're a real estate agent. They own this convention hall and they're like, we're going to rent out this, this, this, this, this. And it's like, you just got to be next to the right real estate. So they're like, just give me a booth anywhere. So they give me the back corner. Like, hey, we're not going to sell anyways.

We'll give it to Aoki. Sure. And I'm like, perfect. me a booth anywhere. So they give me the back corner. Like, hey, we're not going to sell anyways. We'll give it to Aoki. Sure. And I'm like, perfect. I need this as a deadline. In a project-oriented sense, I have this deadline. I got to come up with a bunch of t-shirts. Good thing is I was screen printing shirts when I was 15 years old in my mom's house. Wow. In the closet with the motion and printing on vintage shirts and selling them for five bucks.

Wow. This is something I want to get into. And i have a deadline and i have a project and now i have a booth to be able to show these shirts so i was just screening shirts and then you know and i had like a few designs that i came up with some of my friends met with this guy he's like hey i'll represent you he was friend. He didn't even have a showroom. Perfect. It's exactly the same model that I started when I was in bands. You know, when I was in bands, I started with people that didn't know how to play instruments. I'm like, let's learn together. Wow.

Even my manager who manages me now, he wasn't a manager before. He's like, I'm like, you believe in me? Let's just go and hit the road and we'll figure it out. We'll stumble. We'll fall. We'll pick each the road and we'll figure it out we'll stumble we'll fall we'll pick each other up and we'll keep going and um and that's been the process for me even with with musical music production electronic productions i met with another friend who was who was uh uh he just learned pro tools but he knew it enough where he could train me and we worked

together for two years before i started producing on my own. Wow. And so it's just like that kind of like attitude of I just give me a deadline and I'll figure it out. And it might not be great, but I promise you I'll get it done. You know, I just need to have, first of all, I need to have the passion and drive to get there. I have to want to be there. And I just need that deadline. Yeah. Give me the deadline. I want it.

I love the deadline. Yeah. Give me the deadline. I want it. I'm, I, I love the deadlines. Yeah. So, um, how did that first trade show go then? Pretty bad for you. Pretty horrible. You sell these shirts. I don't know. Maybe like a couple of stores picked them up, but, but, um, it was a learning, it's just a learning curve and I, you know, nine years later I started a fashion curve. Yeah. You know, nine years later, I started a fashion company. Yeah. I call that – Which is Demo Collection. Yeah.

I call that practice reps. Yeah. Where you're just like, you're not going to make any money. You're not going to – You're going to lose money. You're going to lose money. Yeah. But the things you learn, the knowledge is like getting a real-life PhD in whatever you're trying to do.

Yeah. And you're just doing practice rep after practice rep until, like, the big game comes and you're trying to do. Yeah. And you're just doing practice rep after practice rep until like the big game comes and you're ready. Yeah. So. I mean, like that, like,

you know, in a nutshell, I, I got into magic. I was doing every year. I got into doing a DJ for them. They gave me a booth. Great deal because they'll sell me a booth that,

or give me a booth that no one wants anyways. Um, sold a couple of t-shirts, like learn the Business. Two years later, I own my own trade show. Wow. Alongside Magic and Project and Pool. Pool sold

to Avanstar. Avanstar is a company that owns Magic. And I teamed up with the younger brother of the woman that sold Pool. She couldn't do any trade shows, but he learned everything from her. So I teamed up with the younger brother of the woman that sold pool. She couldn't do any trade shows, but he learned everything from her. So I teamed up with him and he saw what like my intent, my passion.

And we started the trade show and we owned it 50%. It's called United Trade Show. Amazing. And then we gather all, it's basically real estate, right? So you gather all your friends together like, hey, we have a convention hall. We're at the same time as Magic and we're the edgier trade show. Right. And we do that for a couple of years and I had a good time. I learned the ropes by throwing myself in the ring, throwing myself in the deep end and learning how to swim before I drown.

Right, right. And that was an interesting round. And that was an interesting round. And then like at the same time, I'm trying to pick up this fashion business, which is, you know, it was cool. It was existing, but it wasn't doing any real business. And I met with partners that just kind of came and failed. And like, you know, they were interested and like weren't interested. And then over like nine years, you know i get to i find out like uh some people that were interested in yeah and we've we're on three seasons deep in a

full-on uh wow you know menswear collection of you know all kinds of really great garments and t-shirts and hoodies and pants and shorts and button downs congrats man that's awesome doing well in japan it's paying off. That's great. Yeah. I'm curious now, where do you think you'd be right now if your father was there more, as more of an example and was around and spent a lot of time, if family was number one for him and he wasn't as driven and achieved what he did, where do you think you'd be if you had a different example?

I don't know. Would you still be driven to do what you're doing? I'm not sure maybe but i'm not i'm not entirely sure it's such a tough one like i i guess you could say that i probably wouldn't be you know maybe maybe that's the case maybe like that that um absent father dynamic and me trying to prove to him was how I was able to get through the tough period of time.

What if he did invest in me early on? Would I have failed? Maybe not. Maybe I would have found an artist and I would be able to build it up at the time because with, you know, at the period of time before I even was a DJ or an artist, I was,

it was all about Denmark records and how I can, um, catapult this lifestyle brand into a real record business, like a music business. And we got there, but we might not have got there, you know, I mean, but that has nothing to do with him. And we got there, but we might not have got there, you know, but that has nothing to do with him if we got there. It had to do with me being connected to a scene that attracted certain bands and those

bands blew up and we were able to represent those bands. So that necessarily didn't have anything to do with him. If he funded those at me at the time for me to actually do something, I'm sure that I would have been able to hire employees and do this. And it would have been a shorter road to success. And I would have made more decisions that could have catapulted the business. Yeah. Because I'm like, oh, I got money and I don't know what to do with it. I'm just going to throw it all in there.

And then all of a sudden business goes kerplunk and I'm like, okay, I'm out. Maybe that could have happened. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Because that's what happens if you, you're inexperienced, you're running a company, you have, you have money, right? You, you're, you're more likely to throw all the eggs in the basket and kerplunk your business instead of managing it, managing expectations, being realistic because you don't have the budgets and you have to find a way through your relationships to get through instead of having a fund egg from your family right you know so um but then again there's a lot of trust fund kids that that are successful right so you just never know you just never know so it's interesting it's like

you know i think it's i i'm i'm proud of the way i we i did things i'm proud of how it all came out to being but it was it was years of of like holy shit i'm not gonna make it i'm not gonna make it i'm not gonna make it i'm gonna be in debt to be in debt and there's no out for me. Right. But at the end of the day, I have to also recognize that I'm not going to be homeless. If at the end of the day, I might have a debt, but I could probably work and I could probably go back to working at like – or not go back, but if he was still alive, I could probably work for him somehow. You know, he is a successful man. It's not like I'm from the streets.

I'm like, oh shit, I'm out. It's not real world. Get a job somewhere. Yeah. It's like my life is not real world scenario, you know, where people don't have a safety net. Of course I had a safety net. So I will never, you know, not recognize that. And that's important too. So maybe the safety net subconsciously, even though I didn't actually

get front of the money, the fact that I had a safety net allowed me to take more risks. Go all in. Right. Allowed me to go, look, I'm going to go for it. But at the end of the day, in the front of my head, I wasn't thinking about money anyways. I wasn't thinking about being rich. I don't want to have those fancy cars. I don't care. I'm happy to sleep on couches.

I don't mind sitting in the middle seat in the back of the plane. Those things didn't matter to me. So at that time, you know, my perspective wasn't about how do I make money for myself? It's more about just having an ecosystem that I can live in so I can do what I do. You know, I mean, when I was graduating college, you know, I was considering to stay in academia where your top end salary is probably 50 grand social work you know with a women's studies degree and sociology it's not much yeah like you you do it because you love to you know like that's why like i have so much respect for for people in academia that are that

are sitting in research labs or writing books um you know teaching about their their specialized subjects because they they love to do what they do. They're not doing it to be rich. They're doing it because they want to better the world in their own way. Sure, sure. What would you say is your biggest fear right now? Well, I mean it's maybe staying relevant. Not staying relevant, you mean? it's maybe staying relevant. Not staying relevant, you mean?

Yeah, not staying relevant. And just because I've been in this kind of volatile climate of music rushing as a trend and then disappearing. It's almost like you want to be at the top of the trend, but then you don't because when that trend goes, sometimes you go too. No matter how bad you change your sound or whatever you do. I've always been luckily kind of in the middle like i've been at the top like dimmock is not the coolest label we're not the most profitable label but we've

survived through so many epochs of labels and trends because we've kind of like you know we want of course we want to be cool and relevant yes of course i want to be cool and relevant. Yes. Of course I want to be relevant and connect with people, but my music might not. Like even if I try to make a change, my music that inspires me, it might not connect with someone else. Yeah. And,

um, it might throw people a curve, you know, and I'm doing, I'm doing that for sure. This year I'm been working with a lot more hip hop artists. I've even changed my sound a lot more than the typical EDM sound with a lot more hip-hop artists i've even changed my sound a lot more than the typical edm sound with a hip-hop vocalist on there sure like i've i've like thrown out sometimes on on tracks

i have no drops you know and in the edm world is this drop is what makes you edm you know so and i've also changed my my my kicks and my snaresres and things of technical detail where it doesn't even – if you change those sounds, it doesn't even sound like an Aoki sound anymore from someone that always listens to my music. And I'm willing to do that because I get excited. I'm like, cool, I've got to change things up. So that can throw your relevance off, your relevance curve off. So that can throw your relevance off, your relevance curve off. So what if you became irrelevant one day because you were passionate about what you were doing and executing the things you love, but the world didn't think it was as relevant or cool? How would that make you feel?

I just – I'd have to really take a look deeper into why I'm doing things again. You know, going back to like, you know, that one, that one person that really cares in the front of the, in the front of the room and just know like, you know, they might change too. Like as you change a topic, you know, like they might change too and you have to be okay with that. You have to be okay with that, you know? And no, it's not about, um, you really, you really love what you do you like it's okay yeah you know but it's like the balance for me it's like i want to i got so far to this point

where i actually built a global audience yes that that's following my sound massive audience yeah that i'm really proud of and um i you know and I really care so deeply about this work and my work I'm doing. I want to continue to grow it. So of course, if it goes down or people aren't willing to follow my lead, I'm like, shit, am I doing the right thing? Sure, sure. but then i have

to think like i have to do what i love to do yeah and um and also i had i remember having this talk with uh another dj that's just been in the game he's been like a godfather in a way for me like a good friend of mine armand van halden he's from new york and he's just like he's had so many incredible highs and not necessarily lows but highs and just just you know going off the radar and highs and going off the radar and highs and going off the radar and he's like i've seen it so many times i know i'm going to go back up on the high i know i am so i'm not worried when i'm not worried when I'm off the radar. Not necessarily low,

just off the radar. And it's his choice to be off the radar. But he's had such like this kind of cycle. It's like, it's not even the 1% that could be Rihanna and Dreykus always on the high. You're talking

about the.0000001% that stays on the high the whole time. Every year. Yeah, yeah. It stays here. Because they're the ones pushing the culture entirely. They're the ones that define what the culture is meant to be. You know, reality is, even if you're the 1% that actually can get to the high, realistically, you will drop.

And you have to be okay with that and just keep working and keep making more music and, and remaining true to the people that, that, you know, that are, are leading you and like connecting with them and say, okay, come with me guys. Let's go. We're going to go. We're going to go on this trip. It's, it might not be something you'd expect, but just, just come with me. Trust me. Yeah. Yeah. Trust me. And as some of you are not going to trust me once you hear it, it might not be something you'd expect, but just, just come with me. Trust me.

Yeah. Yeah. Trust me. And as some of you are not going to trust me once you hear it, it's fine. Check it out. It's fine. But we're going to keep trucking. We're going to, we're going to get to the next, the next adventure. And I hope you guys continue because it's going to be different. And I'm going to try to keep surprising you. Yeah, that's cool. What would you say is the thing you're most proud of that a lot of people don't know about you uh maybe that isn't out there in the public or isn't in the documentary or but something that you're really proud of it could be like a small thing but i i know how to do the um the most hygienic sneeze probably that you can do how do do you do that? So, like, most people, when they sneeze and they don't want to spread their germs, they usually sneeze in their shirt.

Or humbling underneath. Yeah, or like that. I used to do that all the time. Cover your mouth, obviously. You get spit all over your hand, you know. Sometimes, like, a big, fat loogie comes out. You're like, oh, comes out you're like oh you know you're like oh so how do we how do we do this so last year i had to um uh

i had vocal surgery yes so i couldn't speak for a month and um part of the part like you know like before before the surgery i just, I just was quiet. And I, if I'd have to, if I'd have to cough or sneeze, I would cough and sneeze. After the surgery, if you coughed or sneezed, your, your vocal cords vibrate at such like a, you know, it's just so bad for your vocal cords. And I'm slicing one side of the vocal cord. So your vocal cords are like a V. slicing one side of the vocal cord. So your vocal cords are like a V.

So you slice one side and it's just raw and red and you just do not want it to touch because it's healing. And so if you sneeze, you're just destroying them. So I had to learn how to cough or sneeze without making a sound. And I learned this. It doesn't sound or look pleasant when I do it,

but I do it kind of like when no one's looking at me. Sure. But you have to keep your mouth wide open. So you have to like... You're about to sneeze. Yeah, I keep my mouth open like this so my vocal cords open and then

when I'm sneezing I blow out like I'm like I'm blowing out like I just smoked a shit load of weed like right before you cough you're like holy shit like your lungs are like you're blowing your lungs out while you're sneezing and then you actually, you're like, holy shit, like your lungs are like you're blowing your lungs out.

While you're sneezing. Yeah. And then you actually, what happens is like, you don't make a sound because it's just a lot of air gushing out. Like what I just did, that sound that I just did is the most sound you make. And when I do that, there's no vapor. There's no like vapor. So I could sneeze where trillions of bacteria aren't flying around in the air and there's no vapor huh there's no like vapor so i could sneeze where trillions of bacteria aren't flying or in the air and there's no vapor and it just makes that sound and i'm

and so i'm if everyone did this hygienic sneeze um i think you know like it'd be there wouldn't be as many colts flying around i like that that's that's a good good thing to be proud of yeah how do you uh i want to we've got a few minutes left um i want to be respectful of colts flying around. I like that. That's a good thing to be proud of. Yeah. How do you, I want to, we've got a few minutes left. I want to be respectful of your time. I want to ask a few last questions. How do you balance it all? Because in the documentary, you're like three cities a day, it seems like. You're flying around.

How do you balance it all? Do you batch travel? Do you, you know, I don't know how you do it. I'm curious. Well, here we are. We're in LA. And this happens because I have a team. you know, I don't, I don't know how you do it. I'm curious. Well, here we are. We're in LA and, um, this,

this happens because I have a team. I don't do it on my own. My publicist is right behind you. She handles all this. She's amazing. We connected before you got here. She travels with me on all my publicity runs and I can't do without her. She's not there.

I don't know if I can do in the room. And she's great. And so it's like I have teams that like help manage all the time and manage all this. Yes, time management is project oriented management. You know, like you have to focus on each thing and make sure you have the right team. So it's like team management and time management. Yeah. you have the right team. So it's like team management and time management. you know, like when

I'm creatively working in the studio, there's a lot more that goes in just finishing a song. A lot more. There's so many different steps that you have to do, especially when you work with big artists. You have to work with their

management, you got to work with their agents, you got to work with their labels, and then you got to do, especially when you work with big artists. You have to work with their management. You've got to work with their agents. You've got to work with their labels. So much. And then you've got to work around the schedules, and you've got to get all this paperwork signed off. And then after that, you've got to make these radio edits. You've got to make this edit. You've got to make this for movies.

You've got to do this. It's like – It's a lot. I can't do all that. What I can do is make the music. Yeah. And I could work on the creative side, but I need a whole team around that. lot i can't do all that what i could do is make the music yeah you know and i could i could um work on the creative side but like i need a whole team around that and then on the fashion side

there's a whole different team teams can't do it on your own yeah it's like yeah you can't do it on your own and no and and it's all it's like also um letting go of power and control and being able to share that yeah and share that with the right people. That's another thing too. I think I also read this before anything. The hiring process is really important. Yes. And I trust people more than skill set. That's another thing too. It's like you trust someone, they'll grow with you.

Like your manager didn't know how to manage. Both my managers. But they... Both my managers were not managers before me. Right. I almost preferred that. Yeah. So that didn't really work with my tour managers.

Like I actually had to work with a guy that lived on the road that was like a road guy because that's a different kind of lifestyle. And after a few months, people were like, get me off the road. I can't handle this kind of schedule, especially my schedule. My schedule is like an anomalous schedule of touring. You have to really be a road dog. You have to be a road dog that loves to be on the road. Right. What are the non-negotiables for you every single day that you must do in order for you to have a great day,

whether it be health-wise, meditation, you know, working out, what are the things, talking to your mom. 10 minutes of meditation. I try to do 15 but 10. I have my workout regimen. I do like, now we're doing like minimum like 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups. And if we don't do that, do some sort of like CrossFit workout. Like those are like things on the health side and balance.

Trying to eat healthy, obviously. And always getting in some sort of, you know, it's like learning a language. You have to do it every day. With music production and working on music, I have to get a little bit in as much as possible. I don't do it every day, but because I really work work like it's different.

Like when you're in the studio, um, I spend more time here than like, like at a show. I'll play for 90 minutes here. When I'm in the studio here, I'll be in here for like nine to 10 hours. Yeah.

And, um, yeah. And then you have to also learn to give up bad habits and, and, um, and discipline yourself that you've gotten those bad habits because of routine so in the same sense you get in good habits from routine yeah so we just try to like balance and you know bad habits for me is i used to drink all the time so i just

quit drinking yeah you know it wasn't an aa move it wasn't it, um, I wouldn't say I'm an addict, like a, like an Alcoholics Anonymous, uh, person, but, uh, because I'll have like a taste of alcohol every now and again to cheers. So we're great. Uh, but for me, I, I just cutting it out entirely, not getting drunk and being completely conscious of my decisions and everything around me. I like to remember things. Yeah. I like to, um, I like to be more engaged. Sure.

That's awesome. Uh, this is a question I ask at the end for all my guests. It's called the three truths. So if it's a many, many years from now and it's your last day and you've achieved everything you wanted to achieve, uh,

but for whatever reason, everything you've ever created has been erased and people don't have access to what you've created anymore yeah and everyone's there by your side it's a celebration and they say we uh we love here's a piece of paper and a pen we want you to write down the three things you know to be true about everything you've experienced in life that you would pass on as lessons to us what would you say you know the cuff, because I didn't prep you for this question, are your three truths? I didn't get prepped for any of the questions, but maybe you sent it to my team, but I didn't look.

Well, I mean, first of all is to be happy or just that term happiness. And what, how is that defined for your life? term happiness and what how's that defined for your life because like what makes you happy shouldn't be like if you're a kid a toy truck or for an older for like when you're older like a car it's like people around you you know like surround yourself with good people that um you know like whenever you do something good for someone, like, you're happy. Yeah. Like what we were talking about before. Right, right. So, like, always be on the pursuit of happiness. Okay.

That's one. And two is have a positive outlook on life. In general, just be a nice person. Have a positive outlook, be a nice person have a positive outlook be a nice person and be happy you have those three things you know because it's easy to have the glass

half empty rule and complain about everything and there's always a problem for me there's nothing worse than having that around me I don't like that I'd rather be around people who are like okay we can always find the good and everything and of course be realistic so we know what the negatives are so we can learn to stay away from them or learn to uh overcome them but um we live i mean i feel like i live life to for this pursuit of happiness and generally just to be a good person to people and,

uh, and you know, the other one having to have a positive outlook. Yeah. I love it. I love it. Uh, before I ask the final question, uh,

how can we support you? How can we support the biggest thing you're up to right now? I say, I say like the, the, the one thing that people can do that's, um, timely is November 15th. I mean, this is happening locally.

So this is locally in Las Vegas. We're having a fundraiser for my charitable fund. And all the money is going towards either brain research or brain-related diseases and organizations that focus on that. So we're doing our fundraising event in November 15th at Brooklyn Bowl. Okay. And if people can't make it there, how can they support online? They could donate. They could donate money, you know, or spread the word or, like, retweet.

What's the link? Where's the site? SteveAokiFun.com. Okay, cool. Awesome. And, yeah, you can buy some merch there too you're like coffee mugs and okay t-shirts and stuff where's a save the brain t-shirt we made a really cool shirt with like a brain different colors and says save the brain it's like i don't really hear much about brain i mean of course like giving money to cancer is a big deal and i'm i'm a big i mean i'm a big supporter of that especially my father he passed away from cancer yeah and it's

it is like such a leading cause of death in all people that we love in life but the brain is like one of those things we all have it if we don't get killed by cancer or some sort of heart-related disease we're definitely gonna to either go crazy, we're going to lose our memory, and this is how we are intelligent beings. Yeah. Ten years ago, my dad got in a really traumatic car accident where another car came through the windshield and hit him in the head, and he's never been able to recover since. So I understand the challenges of the brain and what it does to someone if it's not fully

functioning. So I'm going to make a thousand dollar donation right after this. Amazing. Thank you. Yeah, of course. Appreciate that. Of course. And we'll spread it out to everyone as well and make sure we support.

We'll have all your social media linked up and everything, anything else you want to let us know to link it and we'll share it out to people. Even on that note, there's more information on where the money is going towards and all the organizations that we work with. And they're great organizations that I met with already, like most of them. Like the Lou Ruvo Center, for one,

the brain health center in Nevada. They're the leading brain organization center around the world. Awesome. I'm really happy we're working with them. That's cool. And that's actually a privately held organization center that because it's privately held or privately funded, there's so much more activity and research and just great stuff happening there. Yeah.

You know, um, and, uh, you know, I just love working with people that are really pushing the envelope, you know? That's cool. Well, we'll make sure to support all we can. Um, before I ask the final question, I want to acknowledge you for a moment, Steve, for your incredible contribution to the world. Thank you. It's amazing to see what you've created, the passion you have, and the way you bring everyone

together. Not only your audience and everyone that comes to your gigs, but the community inside the music industry. You're bringing a collection of so many different types of people together to work and collaborate on things. For me, when I think about you, I think of family. I think of everything you create as a sense of bringing family and community together. So I want to acknowledge you for your incredible gift, your dedication, your commitment to

pushing the envelope, even if it's scary for you and even if it may not be relevant, because I think that's the true sense of a leader. Thank you. So I want to acknowledge you for all that. Thanks a lot. Appreciate that. Thank you. And the final question is, what's your definition of greatness?

I guess – I don't know. I think you have to – whatever you do, you have to push yourself. That maybe there is like – maybe there is like, you know, maybe there is no, um, plateau. I mean, I guess that's the thing is there is no plateau. Like you, you have to just strive to do better than what you did before. And it's just a constant, it's a, it's a constant like a workout, you know, it's a constant workout of all the different things that you're striving to do. That's better for people around you, for everyone you touch, whether it's just your family, whether it's just your friends or a bigger

community. And, and, you know, I think that like that in itself is once again, on that note, it's more, it's definitely more about what they say. It's the journey, not the destination. It's definitely more on that lane. Because as you strive and you learn, that is an adventure in itself. Yeah. Thanks for coming on.

Thank you. Appreciate it. There you have it. Greatness Nation. Hope you guys enjoyed this one again make sure to share it out with your friends lewishouse.com slash 401 we've got some different video highlight reels from this episode that we posted on facebook and instagram we've got the full video over on youtube so make sure to go to youtube slash lewishouse and everything all the've got the full video over on YouTube. So make sure to go to YouTube slash Lewis Howes and everything, all the photos, all the videos, all the show notes, how you can get connected to Steve, his charity and support him is at lewishowes.com slash 401. So make sure to

check out the link right there. See all the behind the scenes, leave a comment on the YouTube channel or the blog or on social media, letting me know what you think and make sure to tag Steve as well to let him know about the support from this podcast. I love you guys. You know, the thing is I'm bring on some of these incredible human beings who have made it to the top and are still striving to achieve more great things. But Steve didn't start off at the top. He

didn't start off as one of the biggest DJs in the world. He started out with 15, 20 people in his living room, you know, hoping to get a few people to show up to listen to his music. He started off doing it day after day, working hard for a decade and then some. And he's just getting started. But sometimes we get overwhelmed and we think, I'm not where I want to be. You know what? But what I learned about Steve is it's all about the process and the journey. And he's happy to perform for 10 people or 10,000 people, as long as he gets to do what he loves. So make sure you are focusing on doing the thing that lights you up, that gives you passion, that gives you energy, and that impacts other people.

Whether it's one or one million, enjoy the journey of each human being that connects and resonates to your message and your craft and your art. Continue on the journey to your destination. Thank you guys again. LewisHouse.com slash 401. And you know what time it is is it's time to go out there and do something great