Ookay Interview [Dance Rebels Exclusive]
After attending the the Ookay show at Rumor in downtown Boston we got a chance to catch up with the quickly rising star and ask him a few questions. Check out our exclusive interview below and be sure to check back for our review of ETC!ETC! and Ookay showing Boston how you kill a club.
What first got you into producing?
Ookay: The first guy that got me into producing?
ETC!ETC!: What first got you into producing gay ass (laughs).
Ookay: Oh (laughs) just like the style of the music and how complex and interesting it was. I knew I could see myself putting my own influence into what was already being done. I starting producing as kind of just a hobby and then it got serious as it got further and further down the line. I’m 22 and I started producing about four years ago, I mean I was right out of high school I was maybe 18 or 19. I played a show in Los Angeles and Kennedy Jones was already working with Borgore at the time and he was emceeing the show and I played one of his tracks. He saw how good my mixing was, how good my stage presence was, and he heard some of my tracks, so the next day he called me up and was like “Dude you need to come up to LA and we need to work together!” so I met the Buygore crew and things started rolling from there.
Favorite city or venue to perform in?
Ookay: I’ll be honest Boston was really impressive tonight. I did not expect it to be that crazy (laughs). I mean El Paso is out of control, Orlando is out of control, Chicago is out of control, I mean a lot of cities have been impressive. Just the way they are and just the way they react to the music is like dang I make this in my room and people just go ape shit to it live. It’s so cool.
What’s been your craziest experience as a DJ?
Ookay: I did a back to back set with Afrojack, Martin Garrix, Laidback Luke, Steve Aoki, Benny Benassi, Dmitri Vegas & Like Mike. I was on stage with all of these dudes like Carnage and the fact that I got to be in this circle with all these big superstar DJs and be considered part of that and being on main stage at Ultra was crazy. I think Miami Music Week was one of the craziest weeks of my life. It was just out of control. Hanging out and doing a back to back set with this guy (ETC!ETC!) was so like rejuvenating because I was having such a shitty week. I got to hang out with him and some of my best friends like Valentino Khan, Bro Safari, and Brillz. The fact that I got to hang out with these dudes all week, like my friends and not just my colleagues, was awesome.
Five favorite tracks or artists right now?
Ookay: I really like Wiwek. Wiwek definitely, D.O.D., Riggi & Piros, um, I really like Phat Deuce and Saint Liz. It’s a long list of people (laughs). I’m so glad Riggi & Piros are part of my team, Buygore squad. Zaxx is really good from Staten Island. He’s killing it dude, he’s really impressive.
If you could have a superpower what it be?
Ookay: The power to make pizza at my command , just like it would appear when I snap my fingers (laughs).
ETC!ETC!: EYE VISION LASERS!
What can we expect from Ookay in 2014?
Ookay: More singles, more touring, more collabs with some big names. More fun you know, more interacting with fans on Twitter.
