organizations. Early life Aoki was born in , Florida, but grew up in . He graduated from in 1995, where he was a player on the varsity badminton team. He is of descent, the third child of and Chizuru Kobayashi.His father was a former who also founded the restaurant chain . He has two older siblings, sister Kana (who is sometimes called by her middle name "Grace"), and brother Kevin (owner of Doraku Sushi restaurant).His half-sister is model and actress .
Aoki attended the and graduated with two degrees, one in women's studies and the other in sociology. In college, he produced DIY records and ran underground concerts out of his in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative,which was located in , a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. As a concert venue, the apartment became known as The Pickle Patch.Aoki was also involved in student activism at UCSB, being the founder of a chapter on campus.By his early 20s, Aoki had built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak – a reference to his childhood hero, . Career 1990s–2000s: Dim Mak Records and early releases
See also: and Aoki in 2008
Aoki founded his own label, , in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as , , , and Mustard Pimp, as well as , , , , , , , and .Aoki teamed up with Blake Miller of the Los Angeles-based band to produce remixes. The duo of Miller and Aoki work under the moniker Weird Science. Aoki has also been in numerous bands, including This Machine Kills, which released an album on Ebullition Records, Esperanza, and The Fire Next Time.
In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist ' Music Is Revolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools. Aoki's debut DJ mix album, was released in January 2008. He had an that aired on on August 2, 2008, and again on October 27, 2012. Aoki has collaborated with fellow producers and thus far[]has released singles with , of , , , Tai, , , , and . In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future[]collaborations with , , , , and more.[]
Aoki has remixed many artists and bands, including , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , F�rnando Oviedo, , and . He remixed the track "The Wind Blows" that features on the UK edition of ' 2008 album .[] On November 10, 2009, he released a remix for Drake's song "". The song features , , , and . The track made it to the top of Hype Machine's chart in December 2009. 2010–2012: International breakthrough
See also: and
Through relentless touring, he gained huge support from colleges. He is widely known for his acrobatic crowd surfing stunts, throwing cake at fans,spraying champagne bottles, and riding rafts on the dance floor.[]Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he started touring with production via bus tours, like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour, when he headlined more than 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada. Many of the artists Aoki collaborates with make appearances on tour with him.He has played lesser-traveled regions – in 2009 he played a show in , with at a night organized by promoters . In July 2012, Aoki was added to the Pollstar Top 100 North American Tours in their 2012 Mid Year Report. The list designated Aoki as the highest grossing dance artist in North America for the first half of the year.
In March 2010 Aoki released "", a collaboration with —alter-ego of singer . The song charted at No. 29 in the in its first week of release, and later entered the and the , peaking within the top five in each chart. The song was featured on an Episode of 's , as well as in the feature film and the trailer for .[]Producer-songwriter confirmed in a May 2010 interview with that he and had recently worked with Aoki on a single.
Aoki's first solo album, ,was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians , , , , a.k.a. , , , , , of , (former guitarist of the punk band ), and others. A remix album was released shortly after.
During Aoki's set in the Halloween electronic music festival Thriller Music Park at , Madrid, Spain, 16,600 people crowded the hall, which was authorized to hold 10,600. In the resulting stampede, three young women were , two died weeks later and a further 29 people were injured. Aoki later responded to the incident, saying "after my performance last night at Thriller Music Park at the Madrid Arena in Spain, I was devastated to hear that three people had died during a crowd rush at one of the exits. The safety of my fans has always been my top priority and had I known that there was any distress putting people in jeopardy within the venue, I would have ended my show immediately." He cancelled his next show in , Spain, out of respect for those who died as a result of the tragedy.
On December 11, 2012, Aoki released his first extended play, , which includes three songs. Aoki was nominated for for Wonderland at the 2013 . 2013: Various singles and features
See also: Aoki performing in Brazil, 2014
On October 11, 2013, Aoki collaborated with on the song ""that was included on the remix album, , 18 days later.Several remixes of the song were added on the January 2014 digital download EP . "A Light That Never Comes" was used in films such as . Aoki finished in 6th place in the 2013 America's Best DJ competition-a vote and promotion to find out the country's most popular DJ conducted by DJ Times magazine and .
From 2011 to 2014, he had a number of other tracks included in television shows, commercials, and film. This included "I'm In the House", used in the music festival documentary in 2011, which in 2014 was used in a trailer for the comedy as well. In 2012, his track "Beat Down", featuring Australian rapper , was used in a promo for the reality show . From 2013 to 2014 his track "Boneless" was used in a number of commercials, with companies including , , and . His track "Get Me Outta Here" was used in a commercial in 2014 as well, while "Free the Madness" was used in a 2014 commercial. His track "Flight" in 2014 was used in a commercial for Sol Republic. Aoki's song "Back to Earth", featuring , was used in the 2014 film , while his collaborative single "Freak" with and , featuring , was used in the 2014 film .
Aoki attended the and graduated with two degrees, one in women's studies and the other in sociology. In college, he produced DIY records and ran underground concerts out of his in the Santa Barbara Student Housing Cooperative,which was located in , a section of residential land adjacent to UCSB. As a concert venue, the apartment became known as The Pickle Patch.Aoki was also involved in student activism at UCSB, being the founder of a chapter on campus.By his early 20s, Aoki had built his own record label, which he named Dim Mak – a reference to his childhood hero, . Career 1990s–2000s: Dim Mak Records and early releases
See also: and Aoki in 2008
Aoki founded his own label, , in 1996. The label has released music by other electro house artists such as , , , and Mustard Pimp, as well as , , , , , , , and .Aoki teamed up with Blake Miller of the Los Angeles-based band to produce remixes. The duo of Miller and Aoki work under the moniker Weird Science. Aoki has also been in numerous bands, including This Machine Kills, which released an album on Ebullition Records, Esperanza, and The Fire Next Time.
In May 2006, Aoki became a board member for MC5 bassist ' Music Is Revolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides music education support within public schools. Aoki's debut DJ mix album, was released in January 2008. He had an that aired on on August 2, 2008, and again on October 27, 2012. Aoki has collaborated with fellow producers and thus far[]has released singles with , of , , , Tai, , , , and . In his interviews, Twitter feed or from his YouTube channel he has shown teasers or has discussed doing future[]collaborations with , , , , and more.[]
Aoki has remixed many artists and bands, including , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , F�rnando Oviedo, , and . He remixed the track "The Wind Blows" that features on the UK edition of ' 2008 album .[] On November 10, 2009, he released a remix for Drake's song "". The song features , , , and . The track made it to the top of Hype Machine's chart in December 2009. 2010–2012: International breakthrough
See also: and
Through relentless touring, he gained huge support from colleges. He is widely known for his acrobatic crowd surfing stunts, throwing cake at fans,spraying champagne bottles, and riding rafts on the dance floor.[]Performing an average of 250 shows a year, he started touring with production via bus tours, like the spring 2012 Deadmeat Tour, when he headlined more than 55 cities in 60 dates across the United States and Canada. Many of the artists Aoki collaborates with make appearances on tour with him.He has played lesser-traveled regions – in 2009 he played a show in , with at a night organized by promoters . In July 2012, Aoki was added to the Pollstar Top 100 North American Tours in their 2012 Mid Year Report. The list designated Aoki as the highest grossing dance artist in North America for the first half of the year.
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Aoki's first solo album, ,was released January 2012 and features guest vocalists and musicians , , , , a.k.a. , , , , , of , (former guitarist of the punk band ), and others. A remix album was released shortly after.
During Aoki's set in the Halloween electronic music festival Thriller Music Park at , Madrid, Spain, 16,600 people crowded the hall, which was authorized to hold 10,600. In the resulting stampede, three young women were , two died weeks later and a further 29 people were injured. Aoki later responded to the incident, saying "after my performance last night at Thriller Music Park at the Madrid Arena in Spain, I was devastated to hear that three people had died during a crowd rush at one of the exits. The safety of my fans has always been my top priority and had I known that there was any distress putting people in jeopardy within the venue, I would have ended my show immediately." He cancelled his next show in , Spain, out of respect for those who died as a result of the tragedy.
On December 11, 2012, Aoki released his first extended play, , which includes three songs. Aoki was nominated for for Wonderland at the 2013 . 2013: Various singles and features
See also: Aoki performing in Brazil, 2014
On October 11, 2013, Aoki collaborated with on the song ""that was included on the remix album, , 18 days later.Several remixes of the song were added on the January 2014 digital download EP . "A Light That Never Comes" was used in films such as . Aoki finished in 6th place in the 2013 America's Best DJ competition-a vote and promotion to find out the country's most popular DJ conducted by DJ Times magazine and .
From 2011 to 2014, he had a number of other tracks included in television shows, commercials, and film. This included "I'm In the House", used in the music festival documentary in 2011, which in 2014 was used in a trailer for the comedy as well. In 2012, his track "Beat Down", featuring Australian rapper , was used in a promo for the reality show . From 2013 to 2014 his track "Boneless" was used in a number of commercials, with companies including , , and . His track "Get Me Outta Here" was used in a commercial in 2014 as well, while "Free the Madness" was used in a 2014 commercial. His track "Flight" in 2014 was used in a commercial for Sol Republic. Aoki's song "Back to Earth", featuring , was used in the 2014 film , while his collaborative single "Freak" with and , featuring , was used in the 2014 film .
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