“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
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
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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