IT'S 20 minutes shy of midnight, and Dim Mak Records mastermind Steve Aoki is charging through the door at CineSpace on Hollywood Boulevard, weeding through a sea of choppy haircuts and faux-faded rock T-shirts, trailed by some pals who just happen to be neo-Britpop sensations Bloc Party, coming down to chill out after their sold-out Palladium show earlier that night.
The Rakes and Neon Blonde, two up-and-coming groups, will play in the back room later, but at the moment Aoki's sights are set on the turntables in a cramped corner of the front room. Flanked by his sister, model-actress Devon Aoki, the black-clad boys from Good Charlotte (with pop tart Hilary Duff in tow) and AFI singer Davey Havoc, he approaches the decks.
It's a very rock 'n' roll scene, brimming with twentysomethings who know the difference between the Kills and the Thrills. As Aoki starts to spin, you'd expect to hear some hot new import, or at least some danceable '80s stylings. Instead: shameless party music. Aoki throws on the Pussycat Dolls/Busta Rhymes hit "Don't Cha" and follows it up with some N*E*R*D, then some (gasp!) MC Hammer and later (double gasp!) the Kelly Clarkson hit "Since You've Been Gone." Duff is banging her head and Havoc is shaking his rump.
Such is the incongruous world of Aoki, the 27-year-old who's known as Kid Millionaire.
On one hand, he has positioned himself on the cutting edge of cool, having had a hand in turning America on to the likes Bloc Party and rap diva M.I.A., while his record label has jump-started the careers of the Von Bondies and Pretty Girls Make Graves -- indie artists who didn't find success via mainstream radio or slick MTV videos.
On the other hand, he knows how to throw a bash, and that quality has made him a hot commodity as a promoter and DJ. If he's not manning the decks in Hollywood or a warehouse in downtown L.A., he's jetting to New York, Las Vegas or Tokyo.
And all to play Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing"?
Has the whole rock scene become so meta-ironic that its hottest promoter has to spin pop fluff so he can be fresh?
"Some people think I'm being ironic, but I like everything I play," Aoki says, lounging at the Dim Mak offices on Cahuenga a few days prior. His new headquarters are walking distance from Amoeba Music and the Cahuenga club cluster where his dance parties first started to fly. "I like hip-hop and respect hip-hop just as much as I do rock. It's the music I always wanted to DJ. As for everything else, a good song is a good song."
