[EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: Travis Barker Will Guest At Beyond Wonderland] Steve Aoki Talks Beyond Wonderland and His Latest Album: 'The World Is Not Going To End'


Aoki just announced us that Travis Barker will be his special guest at his Beyond Wonderland set!

Original post, March 15, 2012, 5:52 a.m.: This Newport native needs no introduction. Known for his crazy stage antics, Steve Aoki is set to hit the decks this weekend at Insomniac's sold-out rave, Beyond Wonderland.
With the recent release of his recent first full length album, Wonderland, Aoki has many things planned for Saturday–and the rest of the year. See what he has to say about his latest release and Beyond Wonderland.

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OC Weekly: Who was your favorite artist to collaborate with on Wonderland?

Steve Aoki: That's tough to say. I have unique relationships with everyone. I like working with Wynter Gordon. I've known Redfoo from LMFAO for a long time and he is really fun. Kid Cudi is unbelievable. Lil Jon is my favorite person to party with. Will I Am is on it–he's one of the most intuitive people to work with. He's so on top of it and fast at figuring shit out. I like working with people who are animated. I've worked with so much talent it's hard to point out one person.

Who was the hardest to collaborate with?

I'm not that negative, man. I find pleasure with the people I work with, I can never say anything negative.

What's your favorite remix of your song “Ladi Dadi”?

Tommy Trash, 100 percent! He fucking killed it. I actually play his remix during my set.

Tell me about your new visual light show.

It's similar to Identity Festival with all new visuals and lights. I'm keeping my trademark AOKI stage. It's from the same set creators as Deadmau5 and Daft Punk.

How will your new light show enhance your performance?

My show now is all my own new music. Since my album just dropped in January, I'm really focusing it on the best Aoki experience. When kids come to a show they can see an Aoki set.

Will you be doing anything special at Beyond Wonderland?

Yes actually. There is a special guest that will be playing song with me. Unfortunately I cannot say who it is at this time.

What are you looking forward to the most about beyond Wonderland?

I have actually never played at Beyond. I've heard a lot about the festival. San Bernardino has so much culture around dance music. No one knows that. Kids grow up with dance music out there. I'd love to play in front of those kids.

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Do you ever get hurt when you stage dive?

Yea, it's gonna happen. I was playing in Mexico City a few days ago. I'm actually healing from wounds from there. In Mexico City, they are the most energetic. These kids live for the music. When I jumped into the crowd, they clawed into my back. I had a medic come on stage to clean my back during my set. The fans were so loyal because there was no music for 15 minutes. I was gushing blood. I'm not sure, but I think people were biting me. I'm still healing. Unfortunately, I can't do all of my stunts right now. I don't blame them, they were in the moment. Some times that shit happens, [you] gotta take the blows.

Do you ever get tired of rocking out so hard on stage?

I'm playing in front of different kids every night. they are fucking giving all their energy. If I don't give as much energy [out], it's not fair. I want to give them all I can. I look at it like this; I am their show, they come to see me. When I go play, [the fans] are my show. We are all in it together, it is the experience. If I'm not giving my part, it's just not fair

What's next for you in 2012? Are you preparing for the world to end?

The world is not going to end. That's for sure. We have a time for that to happen. I'm working a lot with music. I'm almost done with collaboration with Knife Party. I'm working on “Caught In A Tornado” with Tiesto and another collaboration with Diplo. Those are fun collaborations that will eventually surface. I'm also doing a music video for all the songs on the album. “Cudi The Kid” is going to be next. “Heartbreaker” featuring Lovefoxxx is on MTV right now. I'm pretty happy about them putting that in their rotation. 


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