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With an artist motto of “Always On Tour,”Steve Aoki is one of the busiest men in the music industry. Producer, DJ, label boss, and entrepreneur, you never know what this Ultimate Music Experience Pre-Party talent is going to do next.

Born in Miami but raised in California, Steve Aoki first started working as a DJ when he was a student at the University of California in Santa Barbara. Performing under the name Kid Millionaire, Steve began hosting concerts anywhere he could – no matter how illegitimate the venue, “… And the legendary house, the 6542 Sabado Tarde house. That’s where the Pickle Patch was founded. It eventually moved around, but we had At The Drive-In, !!!, The Rapture – the Pickle Patch had over 450 bands playing at all the different incarnations. We stayed there for a couple years then we moved into a frat house. We didn’t become a frat but we brought 16 kids in there, we built out a space and did shows there. Then we moved to the Biko House and we did shows there. We made the garage into a place where we could have shows.”

After graduating, and in his early 20s, Steve created the now world-famous label Dim Mak Records in 1996. The first releases of the then burgeoning imprint were far from electronic, “My roots are in hardcore and punk. Before dance music I was writing for punk bands and screaming punk songs.” With Dim Mak still in its starting phase, Steve teamed up with Blake Miller of the band Moving Units to start producing remixes under the alias Weird Science. Weird Science made their debut in 1997 with the Please Wait/Submarine EP released on Think Recordings. Remixing for artists like Bloc Party, Peaches, and Rooney, the outfit continued their efforts and coincidentally landed on Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles, Steve’s debut mix album.

Released in 2008, Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles was an underground success, debuting at #15 on the Billboard Electronic Chart and also reaching #8 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart. After his “debut,” Steve’s success took on a snowball effect. Tracks like “I’m In The House,” “Warp 1.9,” “Turbulence,” and “No Beef” only fueled to the Aoki fire that was about to ensue. Steve’s output was unlike anything any artists were doing at the time, “10 years ago, I was screaming to kids at hardcore shows and a little after that, I started to DJ. When you DJ and play others’ records, you create a story for your audience and that’s part of your job and the art of being a DJ. When I produced tunes, I brought in that aggressive nature from my earlier punk years along with showmanship. There’s a difference between producing an actual song, and making a club edit. It’s the song that I get more into when it plays live. When I play shows, its second nature to scream in the crowd and let off all that energy.”

As as a remixer, Steve Aoki’s catalogue spans from names like the Jackson 5 and Lenny Kravitz, to Kanye West, Eminem and Snoop Dogg. And with his aptitude for collaborations, Steve has appeared on releases with artists like Kid Cudi, will.i.am, Afrojack, and Armand Van Helden, just to name a few.

Known for his caking, rafting, and crowd surfing skills, 2014 will see something new on Steve’s impending tour, “I’ve been doing the cakes and I’ve been doing the rafts, and I’m still doing that at my shows because that’s what people want and it’s fun and engaging. I’m bringing out this new element to the show called neon future technology, which is kind of going along with the theme that my next album is all about. It involves cryo, it involves LED and stuff that I attach onto like robotic appendages and robots on the stage.”

Robots and LEDs? March 12th can’t get here soon enough! Buy your tickets to the official Ultimate Music Experience Pre-Party at Clayton’s Beach Club in South Padre Island, Texas today to see what Steve has up his sleeve this year.

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Though it was only in 2011 that Ultimate Music Experience talent Dyro started producing, he’s already shot to the top of the pack at neck-breaking speeds.

Hailing from Leiden, Netherlands, Jordy van Egmund had a knack for playing instruments at an early age, “Ever since I can remember I was very interested in music. I even had some drum and piano lessons when I was little, but never on a professional level. I found it far more interesting to mess around with old radio’s and cassette players.” While he maintained an interest in music, it wasn’t until his late teens that he would begin producing, “As I got older I started to mess around with programs on a computer. When I downloaded FL Studio for the first time I was sold and the rest is history.”

When Dyro first started producing in 2011, he didn’t upload his work right away, “Like most young producers, I made a lot of tracks before I ever sent anything out. I was in contact with some fellow producers and through sharing my music with these guys, via one of them, one of my tracks fell into the hands of Hardwell. He took it and played it at Electric Zoo Festival, New York, I didn’t even know!! Then when Hardwell’s label manager got back in touch saying they were feeling it and wanted to release it, well I was blown away.” That track was “Metaphor,” which subsequently became Dyro’s official debut to the world on Revealed Recordings.

Dyro’s success continued to mount after “Daftastic” was released, but his hit “Raid” propelled him to the next level. The track climbed up and hit #4 on the DMC Miami Buzz chart and has been included in countless sets and compilations. Though most of Dyro’s releases were/are originals, his remixing efforts have also become high in-demand. The Dutch talent has remixed songs for Hardwell, Dannic, R3hab, Afrojack, and even Katy Perry.

Closing out 2013 with “Never Say Goodbye” aloingside Hardwell and Bright Lights and “Paradise” with Tiësto, it’s easy to see why Dyro is a wanted man. Known for creating huge progressive tracks with electro-influenced drops, Dyro knows his way around that peak-time sound, often stating that energy is the core element in each of his productions. “My music will constantly evolve and change as I develop as a producer. I feel it’s something I am always improving and because I’m forever using new techniques and approaches to refine my work. It was fun creating my sound so far, but a good artist can and knows when to move on without losing their signature.”

With the recent release of “Black Smoke,” the future looks bright for this young talent, which is why we are excited to have Dyro join the 2014 lineup for Ultimate Music Experience. Tickets are available, so grab yours today!

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