Steve Aoki and Diplo were in town for a gig at Zouk as a part of their MAD DECENT Tour. We managed to have a little chat with both of them – about fashion, influences and their music. Jump for the full interview.

So how many times have you guys been to Singapore already? You must like it huh.

SA: This is my fourth time, I did ZoukOut, and then two other gigs, and now this one.
Diplo: It’s my second time, I came around here for the first time last summer.

Why did you guys decide to hook up and come down together this time around?

Diplo: Steve just released one of my records on his label, and I have a label as well, and we always wanted to do a tour and do some shows together

SA: Yeah so we have six gigs in Asia over two weekends – Beijing so far, Bangkok, here in Singapore, Japan after and so on.

We checked out your schedules – it was packed out. Why not spend more time in Singapore?

DP: Well we’re playing on a Sunday here, and we’ve got a gig in Japan tomorrow night – Monday Night parties are pretty crazy over there.

SA: Tomorrow’s gig is with Masterkraft and Motor as well so that’s gonna be great.

DP: Monday is gonna be cool.

SA: It’s gonna be like a festival. “Monday Festival in Osaka”.

So lets talk a little bit about the fashion side of things. Steve, we know you started Dim Mak with your sister, but do you both take creative control of designs?

SA: Dim Mak is actually not with my sister, but together we have our own line that will be coming out next year – it’s a denim line. But yeah, Dim Mak has primarily been a Tee line, with about fourteen pieces a season, we do three seasons a year, and we’re expanding the line – getting the cut and sew, and doing denim and outerwear. It’s a growing brand.

Were you guys into board sports when you were younger?

SA: Yeah, yeah definitely. I used to skate.

DP: Yeah I skated; I surfed too.

SA: He surfed all over philly. Just Kidding.

DP: I surfed all over the park. I surfed last summer. I went to Hawaii a month ago just to surf and DJ.

And does that still influence your music and direction?

DP: The style goes back and forth between what we do and skater style from back in the day, not so much surf style, but definitely skate.

SA: The skate style is definitely a part of our world. There are tones of skaters that come to our shows. I’ve worked with Supra too – I did a signature shoe with them. I have a line with Krew as well, but I’ve known those guys since I was fourteen, I used to skate on their ramp with Muska and the rest.

DP: I just did a shoe with ES, it’s a collaboration with Mad Decent.

We’ve seen your shoe with Supra Steve, are there any future plans in the works?

SA: Yeah, this is the tenth colorway, and we definitely have more colorways coming. We actually remodeled the strap shoe as well.

It’s every skateboarder’s dream to have their own shoe, so you guys having your own shoes as musicians must be great…

DP: Yeah, I guess we’re into the same skate culture, and the music culture kind of blends together.

SA: Lifestyle is diverse. Skate kids, surf kids whatever, they all come to our shows

DP: What I like about the kids who are into skating, is that to me its always been more about the art side of it too, a lot of these kids are producing something that’s not just functional, but they’re always doing different interesting projects, which combines functionality and art.

Steve you also hooked up with WESC recently to do some headphones, tell us more.

DP: Anytime I DJ when Steve was around, I’d end up with the headphones on my head.

SA: We’ve actually made a new pair of bongo headphones, they’re actually the same model as the Ed Banger ones are – the cheaper, smaller model. Those are coming out. They’re all colorful and everything.

How would you guys want to people to remember you in 20 to 30 years time in terms making your mark on the music industry?

DP: I think for my label, Mad Decent, a lot of kids are into it and I think that it defines them a lot when they’re younger – the different music that they’re into and the culture and the parties. Especially like Steve, who has a huge following and the kids are defined and associate with Steve when they’re growing up. My label also does a lot of cultural stuff like films and tv projects, so I think we’re more on like the academic side of things too, so I want to kind of archive what’s happening right now with music and culture.

So how important would you say new technology has been in pushing you guys out there?

DP: We definitely utilize it a lot to get the word out, I mean, Steve and I don’t have a lot of backing from major labels, so we took advantage of technology. When the major labels were struggling to get the artistes that they signed any exposure, we’re just doing it on our own, like playing shows and uploading them to youtube.

SA: Also, the music that we have, I would still consider as an underground thing. We’re not on tv, we’re not actors. The music that we make that surrounds our labels is all really part of our own world, and that’s a big part of the reason why people are coming out.

It’s time for last words…

DP: errr..stay in school, don’t do drugs either

SA: GO TO OUR WEBSITES..MADDECENT.COM and DIMMAK.COM for the public service announcements.

You guys are selling your tees here at Zouk Deli yeah?

SA: yeah yeah, we’ve got Mad deent tees, major laser tees, dim mak tees, aoki tees, a panda tee, you know for Chinese people..

DP: green tea (tee)…brown tea (tee)….english breakfast……