I want to imbibe Indian culture into my music: Steve Aoki

A fan of Indian food, music and Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor, US Electro House DJ-producer Steve Aoki, who will be touring the country later this month, is keen to collaborate with local artists here and explore Hindi film music.

"I absolutely love the food in India, especially the Biryani. I could eat Indian food all day long, so that's something I'm looking forward to," Aoki told IANS in an email interaction from Los Angeles.

"I want to get fat off Indian food. It would also be great if Sonam Kapoor came and said 'Hi'! I would love to see her at the gig," he added.

Aoki last came to India in 2012. He will be here again to perform two small gigs -- in Delhi Nov 29 followed by a performance in Mumbai the next day. His first Indian music festival performance will then be held at Sound Awake in Bangalore Dec 1.

Organised by DNA Networks, Sound Awake is a bi-annual Electronic Dance Music (EDM) festival that provides a platform for performances by some of the popular national and international artists and seeks to redefine the genre.

As much as he is looking forward to sharing the platform with Indian talents, he also hopes to "collaborate with an Indian artist in the future".

"India has such a rich culture, it would be great to imbibe that culture into my music. I'm like a sponge, I like taking in a lot of information and Indian music is something that I'm very keen to learn more about.

"Unfortunately, I haven't got a chance to really explore Indian music and Bollywood music. I need to research on it as this is something I really want to explore," he added.

Aoki founded his own label, Dim Mak Records, in 1996 which he named after his childhood hero, Bruce Lee. He is credited with hit albums like "Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles", and most recently "Wonderland".

The 35-year-old says he always "wanted to visit India" and was "very excited at the thought of coming back".

"India is a beautiful country with rich culture and amazing food. I've been telling all my friends and people I meet here about everything I have experienced. When you drive down the street, there are just so many different things you see and experience. It's just an incredible country," he said.

Aoki is famous for throwing a cake towards the audience and using a raft to mingle in the crowd during his live performances. As a part of the Sound Awake festival, he is set to give his signature taste to the Indian audience too.

"I want the Indian audiences to see what a Steve Aoki show is like, so you can expect my signature raft, the cake and champagne at Sound Awake.

"I'd like the organisers to source the cake, raft and champagne made from local ingredients as promoting indigenous products is really important to me," added the performer, who says the Indian audience left him "pleasantly surprised" last time.

"They love and care about dance music. The energy levels are great, they were no pretences, everyone was out there to just have a crazy time."

He is expecting the same this time round too!

(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)