Steve Aoki: London’s Brixton Academy is one of my favourite venues in the world

The American producer gushed over his London fans 
Educated crowd: Aoki respects London audiences
Safeeyah Kazi5 January 2018
The Weekender

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DJ Steve Aoki has said that London’s Brixton Academy is one of his “favourite venues in the world”.

The 40-year-old producer saw masses of success in 2017 with collaborations including Lauren Jauregui from girl group Fifth Harmony, Gucci Mane, T-Pane and Yellow Claw.

He is set to embark on his 2018 tour, making a stop in the UK, and cementing a show at London’s infamous Brixton Academy.

Speaking to the Standard Online he said: “London is a big deal for me. Playing at Brixton Academy, that venue is one of my favourite venues in the world. I like the layout of the venue but more importantly it’s the fans, I’ve played there three times.

Success: The DJ collaborated with chart-topping artists in 2017 
Getty Images for LARAS

“The energy is insane, the crowd is insane, everyone’s singing along, everyone totally with me from beginning to end. I’ll never forget my shows there.”

Gushing over his London fans the All Night producer appreciated the “educated” crowd.

He said: “There are all kinds of cultures in London crowds, my set ranges from all kinds of different music and I produce with so many different artists so obviously the records like the song I did with Louis Tomlinson so when I play that in London the crowd goes wild but at the same time they love the hip hop.

“They’re totally with me and that is what is so exciting about London crowd. I feel like I can really experiment too and play some of the new stuff because they’re an educated crowd and listen to all kinds of music.”

Speaking about the impact of his collaboration with One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson, Aoki admitted to being blown away by the social media support for Just Hold On.

“The Louis Tomlinson song touched a larger, wider age demographic, you have the One Direction fans that range from very young age to the average age of my fans and the social media presence is something I’ve never experienced before in my life. They’re incredible at helping push a song and introduced the song to bigger outlets and to more and more people.

Respect: Louis Tomlinson performing his debut solo single on The X Factor
Syco / Thames / Dymond

“When we dropped that record, we dropped it when we played X Factor and it just shot to number two in the UK and it was incredible. We didn’t expect that to happen because we didn’t even promote it but I Have to say that a lot of it had to do with Louis’ base.”

Aoki is currently donating $1 from every show ticket to the Aoki Foundation, his own charity, set up to tackle issues such as disaster relief, brain diseases and animal-rights.

He said: “I got to a place where, now I had a platform, I have a position where I can influence the things that are important that people don’t necessarily talk about. It’s partying with a purpose."

The music executive revealed how the charitable cause is “selfish act”.

“For me it’s a very selfish thing because it feels good to give back, it’s like Christmas, generally speaking, I’m sure everyone feels the same, when you give a gift it feels much better than when you get a gift. It’s a selfish act to give, for me it feels good to do something that is benefiting our humanity, doing something that is making our lives better on this planet,” said Aoki.

Steve Aoki plays Brixton Academy Friday 26th January. Tickets available here.

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