What It’s Like To Be A Top DJ in Las Vegas

It feels like every woman and child in America either knows a DJ or will become one in their lifetime . But there ’s a adult difference between the guy cable who work your local bar on Friday night and the top stratum of the game – a residency at a Las Vegas super club . To discover out what it takes , we speak to Steve Aoki , Grammy - nominated producer , founder of Dim Mak track record , and regular EDM messiah at MGM Grand ’s Hakkasan nightclub .

You’ve reached the DJ Ivy League

Aoki take up DJ sets some thirteen geezerhood back , and landed his first club abode in Vegas in 2010 . These days , he average out 250 shows a class , to millions across the world , and equates spin at his grade to set ashore an sufferance to Harvard . “ Once you ’re in it , ” he says , “ and you ’re taking your grade , all you care about is acing them . But the hard part was getting in , and you forget about that part of it . ”

You’re in a global super club hub

casino have the sort of income it takes to build out in high spirits - end experience that are a stretchiness of the imagination anywhere else in the world . It ’s difficult to do what Vegas manage without the huge , institutional culture that get the metropolis ’s income . The cityisnightlife . By definition , nowhere competes , so rivalry for DJ residency is bowelless .

You’re more than a DJ

Like his Hakkasan peers Calvin Harris , Tiesto , and Hardwell , Aoki is a fully functioning brand – in his case , a nascent style line , a charitable investment company , and a record recording label ( with Vegas and LA studios ) that ’s keep its twentieth day of remembrance . All of this is to say that Steve ’s is a name that put bodies on the dancefloor and bottles in the VIP elbow room , and has a resume that ’s knockout to find out outside of Las Vegas . That does n’t fall out by osmosis ; it take on piece of work outside the DJ kiosk .

You have “people”

The stall may be construct for one , but being a Vegas DJ is no solo gig . Big productions require big production team . Aoki has a wisecrack team of pro turn all the angles , so he can focus on the big characterisation , and the dancefloor . Even this consultation postulate a handler ballet that trimmed the handshake fatness and left Aoki to concenter on the particulars of the interview . ThinkWest Wingwalk - n - talking with a beat .

You have the best sound equipment in the world

When the strait is janky or even slightly off it becomes laborious to send love to the guy at the helm , no matter where it went awry along the signal path . It ’s one of the reasons Aoki calls Hakkasan his research laboratory . No disbursal was spare in providing the shaft he needs to do his adept oeuvre – from the proctor down to the room ’s precise tuning . The whole thing is set up for optimum volume without crank up to a piercing shrill . “ I mean – it ’s brassy , ” he say . “ But that ’s a big part of the nightclub experience . ”

You want ninjas? You get ninjas.

A big perk of being the resident talent is stimulation and control . Aoki is able-bodied to infuse his brand of electronic pop , AKA “ solarpunk positivity , ” into every facet of his Neon Future set at Hakkasan , perfect with robots and warrior women in neon ninja get - ups – a level of personalization that ’s difficult to replicate on the route .

It’s not all about you

There ’s a balance act to being an creative person in a place like Hakkasan for the simple-minded fact that the masses signing the stop are taking a luck on you . “ It ’s like I have a phonation , and I ’m represent a Steve Aoki sound , a Steve Aoki show … but I also have to accommodate . ” That ’s where the 2nd part of Aoki ’s lab doctrine of analogy comes to make for . He ’s got the best equipment to execute his experiments , but he ’s also perform for an external crisscross incision of cultures and pass of sprightliness . It ’s the sort of environment that take a shit Vegas Vegas – a world of people descend on one speckle of earth with the elementary destination of hold a good clip . Heavy hangs the pass of the king search to make certain each of them finds what they ’re looking for .

But… it mostly is

There was a time in not - too - aloof Vegas yesteryear when the disc jockey was n’t a precedence . They were hide away somewhere and it was the nightclub experience alone that served as the draw . The disc jockey of that geological era were paid accordingly . Now that formula has flipped entirely and the DJ is the gateway to the nightclub experience , which has become inextricably link to the casino . That ’s why Hakkasan put so much into the clubhouse environment on one side of the formula and just as much into seeking out their favorite DJs in the market place .

You can have your cake and… throw it?

As any Aoki fan knows , he regularly fuddle cakes into the gang , and at impressive range . “ It ’s messy . It ’s fun . It adds to the spontaneity of the experience . ” sound believe it ’s a spoilt musical theme to taste this at your next wedding disk jockey set . Maybe one day , though , if you train intemperately enough .