Steve Aoki - globetrotting Dim Mak label head, DJ, producer and all round LA party muse - talks to Dazed mere hours before stepping up for his first London gig, a set at Be at the newly re-opened Proud Galleries in Camden. With upcoming releases from Boys Noize, MSTRKRFT and The Bloody Beetroots, watch out for his label's new mixtape Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles mixed by Aoki.

Dazed Digital: You're in an enviable position bring a lot of new music from the UK over to LA. 
Steve Aoki: Early on, the success of Dim Mak was all to do with signing British bands. When I put out the first Kills record in 2001 my mind opened up to England. Bloc Party sent me their first single in 2003 and we ended up doing their record in the US. That was a huge stepping stone, and since then I've worked with Mystery Jets, Klaxons... I feel like English bands are always ahead of the game. Franz Ferdinand opened the door in America. Then Bloc Party opened the door to the kids. We did the first shows for a lot of the English bands in LA. I really love working with artists from day one. It's exciting to see a band grow.

DD: It goes back to your punk DIY ethics?
SA: Definitely. Back in college I had over 450 bands play in my living room - The Rapture, Jimmy Eat World, !!!, a bunch of hardcore bands. I was in a band, This Machine Kills. When we got kicked out of our apartment I built another space and had a bunch of bands play there too.

DD: How about your different production monikers?
SA: Weird Science is me, Blake Miller from Moving Units and Justin Bates our engineer. We just finished the Snoop Dogg "Sensual Seduction" remix. I produce under my own name as well – I just turned in the Duran Duran and Timbaland remix. Myself, The Faint and Boys Noize are a band/project called Wet Floor. We just got out of the studio in Omaha.

DD: What is the Dim Mak Collection fashion label inspired by?
SA: When I started the Dim Mak Collection two years ago I really wanted to base it around the whole dinosaur theme. There are a couple of designers in Japan who are my favourites and fortunately they've taken me under their wing. Nobu from Hysteric Glamour, Hiroshi Fujiwara – the godfather of Japanese fashion - and then I met Nigo from A Bathing Ape. His house is like a museum. He has a Prada room, the second largest collection of Star Wars toys in the world and the biggest collection of Planet Of The Apes. That initial Dino hoodie was inspired by Nigo.

DD: What is the longest stretch of dates you've DJ back to back?
SA: I don't know but last year I flew over 300 flights. This year, I swear on average I've flown five flights a week. It's hard when you get sick – I got sick at Miami WMC and I finally had to cancel my first ever gig.     

Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles featuring Justice, Riton, Kid Sister and Pase Rock is out now on Dim Mak.