I started reading into lyrics more deeply. Everything I did was what other straight-edge hardcore kids did back then. You listen to songs, you listen to groups, but you don’t necessarily need to change your clothes to look like them. “This was the first time where I understood music as a lifestyle. I literally just felt passionately involved with the scene,” a rebellious Aoki reminisces about his earliest musical memories as a young punk. “I was a sophomore in high school, and I got a mixtape from a friend of mine.

Prior to becoming the internationally touring, Grammy-nominated artist he is now, Aoki was once a punk rock and hardcore kid growing up on the streets of Newport Beach, in California’s Orange County. Through and through, the sound of Dim Mak yesteryear up to today is defined by Aoki’s eclectic tastes. The metamorphosis from a punk and hardcore label to mainstage dominators and leaders of the modern-day EDM boom is an untold mystery that could be explained only through a deep dive within the Dim Mak vaults, all the way into today’s digital libraries. The thrashing guitars, the battering double bass pedals, and the distorted growls of the label’s past acts are a foreign language when compared to the bombastic beats, the heavy bass, and the house and electro supremacy of Dim Mak’s current roster. You wouldn’t recognize the old-school Dim Mak sound today if you fired up the very first vinyl the label printed almost 20 years ago. Via in-depth interviews and a deep exploration into the imprint’s discographies and storied past, the series chronicles these labels from inception as they cross into eternal electronic music history.Įditor’s Note: The author of this feature was a full-time Dim Mak employee from 2013–14. Those values are manifested today in RVCA’s Artist Network Program, which “aims to showcase the talent of accomplished as well as unknown artists who inspire our generation and push the boundaries of creativity.The Rest Is History analyzes the most relevant and noteworthy record labels in the electronic music realm today. The entrepreneurs started their ventures from the ground up, instilling similar core values and DIY attitudes that still stand today. They connected during the punk rock era, both using skate culture as an early vehicle for inspiration. Having grown up in the same Orange County area, founders Aoki and Tenore are cut from the same cloth. This 20th Anniversary is a special time for both myself and for Dim Mak, and I can’t think of a better person and brand to collaborate with on our capsule collection.' - Steve Aoki Pat's been there since Day 1 and has always believed in me. Since then I’ve had the pleasure of creating alongside Adidas, Burton, Diesel, and Supra to name a few, but nothing feels better than working with a close friend. In 2006, Pat and RVCA gave me my first fashion collaboration - a custom Steve Aoki bag. 'I’ve known Pat Tenore for over 23 years, since I started going to his skate shop when I was 15 years old. While the partnership between Dim Mak and RVCA is naturally idiosyncratic due to their roots in separate industries, it is not random by any means:

The Dim Mak x RVCA collaboration echoes that notion by striving to integrate the diverse network of different subcultures with one common thread: the balance of opposites. With a milestone stop at Amsterdam’s famed ADE convention in the can, Dim Mak’s reputation as a global tastemaker has never been stronger. Steve Aoki’s flagship record label has spent 2016 on an ambitious world tour, rocking audiences in Barcelona, Chicago, Ibiza, Malta, Mexico City, Montréal, New York City, and other global hotspots. The collection arrives in the midst of Dim Mak’s 20th Anniversary. The collection is a microcosm of each brand’s unparalleled impact on both industries. Through RVCA's Artist Network Program (ANP), Steve Aoki and PM Tenore are proud to announce their merge of music and fashion together with the Dim Mak x RVCA 20th Anniversary Collaboration.

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