Steve Aoki reflects on his struggles and successes

Brut America

“You have to be grounded in gratitude.”  At the Tribeca Festival, Steve Aoki told us about life before fame, and why his dad, Benihana founder Rocky Aoki, wasn’t originally sold on his plans to pursue music ... #Tribeca2022

Transcript

00:00Before he passed away I was able to actually prove to him that I can actually do this

00:03And I think I was able to show him that and that was a really big deal for me

00:06He was not really a fan of me pursuing music because he thought it was a distraction

00:32to what he thought was the stable way to make money and to have a future

00:39I didn't look at music as a career, it was just a love and passion of mine and I was

00:53a kid

00:54So when you're a kid and you're playing music with your friends and your expectation

00:59level is like, you know, I was playing in front of like 5 to 15 people so, you know,

01:07if like there's 4 people I guess it doesn't make a big difference, you know?

01:11And I was making cassette demos and selling them for like $5, if that, t-shirts for $5

01:18so like it's, when you keep a very low expectation level then it's different

01:25When I was in a hole of debt, I think I maxed out like 10 credit cards, like $100,000 in

01:33debt at one point, yeah, I didn't, I really like had no light at the end of the tunnel

01:41for that one

01:42Definitely parents would not, they would just be like, my dad would be like, I told you

01:46so you have to figure this out on your own kind of thing

01:48So I didn't even mention that to him

01:52And then the lifeline that pulled me out of that hole was DJing, the $200 gigs

02:00What I learned from him was his work ethic

02:03I've never felt or seen any person's work ethic as strong and determined as him, even

02:10to this day

02:11I mean, he was like so much work that it was actually not very good for his personal life

02:20Since he didn't give me the financial lifeline, I really truly had to figure out how to make

02:26ends meet

02:27And that was the biggest lesson

02:30Because he could have easily just been like, okay, all right, so don't worry about this,

02:35we'll cover this

02:36And you, you know, you do your passion, you do these things, I'll cover the baseline

02:40Could have easily done that, it wouldn't have affected his life at all

02:44But I think that because he didn't, and I knew that he would never do that, I truly

02:51had to figure it out on my own

03:14I did 14 US tours by the time I was 21, and we never stayed one time in a hotel room

03:20We always stayed at fans' houses, couches, and like the van

03:27And that was normal

03:29So when you come from that life, and you're okay with it, and you're ready for the next

03:34tour

03:35Like we literally would finish a tour, and all our money's gone because it was going

03:40into the gas

03:42And then we're like, okay, ready for the next tour

03:44Most people are like, I'm done, I'm out

03:46You know, I love, that's like when you know you really love what you're doing

03:52Because it's not about the money, it's about displaying your art, your voice, whatever

03:58it is that you find

03:59And that's where I found my voice and my inspiration

04:04And if you're grounded in gratitude, then you know you're doing the right thing

04:08If you're not grateful for where you're at, then you're probably not doing something

04:12you love

Category

Transcript

Recommended