Joe Rogan Experience #1345 - Steve Aoki

1. 0:02 – 6:14

   Memoir "Blue: The Color of Noise" and the meaning of “blue”

   1. SASteve Aoki0:02

      These are pretty cool. And we're live. Hello, Steve. Yeah, that's the Kanye one. Nice. That's, that's the most recent. That's, uh, this guy, Plastisel, Phong Tran. He, uh, creates all these. H- he hand paints each one. They're really nice. Yeah. He sculpts it. Very nice. And then he makes, uh, like a mold and then, uh- Yeah. ... he's got a bunch of dope ones. It's all on his line. And you got a book, bro. I do. Color of Noise. Yeah. Blue: The Color of Noise. Yeah. What's this about? It's my memoir. It's, um, uh, talks about the beginnings, um, goes through my process. It goes through a lot of different things. I mean, at the end of the day, it's a memoir so it's more about... It's less about what's happening now and more about, like, how I- I got there, you know? Like, the story and different piecemeal stories that, that are thematic and, you know, with this overarching idea of blue, which is, like, the different shades of blue of my life. It's my favorite color and actually, my last name is, means blue tree. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So it's like there's a lot of synergy with the color so when I was coming up with the idea to name the book, you know, I had to think of, like, uh, you know, something that relates throughout my whole life. So there's so many different shades, emotions, feelings that are represented in, in all these different stories. D- have you always been a writer? Um, I'm like a, yeah, I guess, like a piecemeal writer, you know? Mm-hmm. I, I needed help finishing this book. There's no doubt about it. I had so much, it's like... You know, 'cause I'm still, like, you know, of the pen and paper still, you know? Like, I grew up before, before computers and all that stuff, I was, when I was writing, uh, lyrics for my bands, I was, it was always, like, a notepad. Mm-hmm. So I had just so many different stories that I didn't know how to put it all together. Um, I started the inception of writing, you know, these, these different stories of my life six years ago and then I shot a documentary for Netflix and, uh, we dropped it, called, it's called I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. We dropped it three years ago, four years ago? Fi- 2015, 2016, I think. And a- and I, after I saw the reception and, and how people responded to the doc, then I knew that, like, you know, this is really gonna take shape. (laughs) This is gonna be front and center as finishing and, and writing a m- a proper memoir. So the, the idea of writing a memoir is only... The idea of writing and writing about yourself is only to write this memoir? It's not like you, you write on a regular basis? No. I mean- No, no, no. I mean, you know, like, I am actually coming up with some new ideas for the next, you know, conception of what I would put out there in book form because it's a different process for me that's, like, quite exciting just to, like, the challenge to do something like this. 'Cause I'm, my natural way to express myself is through music and, um, and I love being able to step outside my comfort zones. I think at the end of the day, when you do that enough, you just, you just get better as a human being and- Yes. ... and try, you know. If you always do the same thing over and over again, you're never really learning. So it's, uh, it's, it's been like a great learning process, you know, putting out this memoir and, uh, and, and, and, like, actually opening up this vulnerable side to who I am that I, I don't necessarily, I don't talk about really. You know? Like- Mm-hmm. ... for people that know me, like my fans or my music fans, or anyone else that knows Steve Aoki, they don't really know what's in this book. You know, they might have a glimpse of it from my documentary which I did because I, I talk really deeply about my relationship with my father and, and, like, this drive that I have as a kid to make it. And, uh, and it shows you enough where it's, okay, now I have a little bit more than my live shows and what's already out there, but this goes, you know, obviously, a- a lot deeper because it's a book and we're going through emotions and the vulnerability and, and, um, and I, and I wanna tell stories of the hardships. And at the end of the day, I wanna speak to young kids out there, y- young people out there, even older people that are trying to figure th- their own thing out and, and because the documentary related in so many ways on a personal level that I shared there, this is how I wanted to share that through my own words. Do you find that writing these things down and just thinking about your life and, and, and trying to express it in a way that's gonna resonate with people, that this h- helps you think about it and helps you sort of, uh, categorize it and put it all in your head and... 'Cause d- do you know Eddie Huang? Do you know who that is? Yeah. Yeah. The famous chef? Yeah. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Definitely, yeah. Yeah. He's a friend of mine, great guy, and writes every day, and I asked him why, I'm like, "Why, why are you writing?" Because he's written books, but he's, he writes to sort of collect his own thoughts. Yes. You know? 100%. It's like once you, that's the trigger for me because even when I read, I write right after. Mm-hmm. Like, what I gain from it. Al- almost like it's like my note, my, uh, homework- Yeah. ... for retention on, on what I gather or take away from what I'm reading. So I'm always, like, reading and writing or writing and scribbling in my, in my book or, or, like, writing off the side in a notepad or, like now, like, you know, I, like, like a tablet or something. But- I wri- ... it's like you need to gather your, your, your headspace so you have retention. Yeah. You write to understand. Right. Yeah. And then you write to express it so that other people can understand. Yeah. And in that process, you kinda understand yourself better. Right. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's how I sort of, Eddie described it. And when he said it to me, I was like, "God dammit, I don't write enough like that." I write more comedy stuff. I try and write material and essays on things and pull jokes out of them. Right. But, like, I think there's probably a great benefit for anybody to just sort of write about your thoughts- Yeah. ... to your diary, you know? (laughs) You just ac- you think- (laughs) You know? I mean, there's something to that because in that time, I mean, you could speak to this because you've written a book on yourself, but in that time of writing-

   2. JRJoe Rogan6:07

      ... about yourself and reflecting upon your life, you probably learn a little bit about who you are and why you're the way you are.

2. 6:14 – 7:22

   Writing as self-therapy: organizing memory, emotion, and motivation

   1. SASteve Aoki6:14

      Yeah. And, you know, thinking about this, I never really thought about it to this point or found the, the parallel here. But when I started seeing a therapist to go into my past and try to break down what, like why I make the decisions I do or, like, why I spiral out here or do something that I am not comfortable with or I want to change, a lot of that I'm able, like after these sessions, I go and start writing.

   2. JRJoe Rogan6:39

      Mm-hmm.

   3. SASteve Aoki6:39

      You know, and then a lot of that, you know, eventually makes it in the book.

   4. JRJoe Rogan6:44

      Do you write longhand or do you write on a keyboard?

   5. SASteve Aoki6:46

      I, I would do both. Uh, now I do both, but like, I have scribbles of stuff everywhere, you know. But then I ma- it, like, at the end of the day, for organizational purposes, it's, it's just got to go in, like ... I gotta put it in the computer.

   6. JRJoe Rogan6:59

      Yeah.

   7. SASteve Aoki7:00

      You know.

   8. JRJoe Rogan7:00

      Yeah.

   9. SASteve Aoki7:01

      But, um, yeah. It, this is a very, this is my own therapy. (laughs) You know, as you could say, it's like, it is putting all these stories and these memories and the feelings and the emotions and the, the hardships or whatever it might be, you know. It's, it's like, I think the hardest part is, like, picking the right ones, you know, at the end of the day.

3. 7:22 – 9:42

   How introspection changes the music: from “festival bangers” to lyrical impact

   1. JRJoe Rogan7:22

      When you've put all this stuff together and you spend so much time on this, do you find that the process of that in any way enhances your music?

   2. SASteve Aoki7:31

      Yes, it does because, I mean, when I think about ... First of all, when I think about the process of making music, I think about it, uh, very simp- similar to what you're doing when, when you're, when you write for your comedy skits and you're efficient. You're like, "Okay, this is gonna work 'cause I'm gonna be able to share it this way." You're not just writing your thoughts down, right?

   3. JRJoe Rogan7:54

      Mm-hmm.

   4. SASteve Aoki7:55

      So like when I'm in the studio, I'm very efficient, you know. I'm like, I'm going and going. I'm gonna make a club banger just for the festival so the crowds go crazy, and it's less about the emotional message, you know. What, with this, being able to talk about that side, that's, that adds that other layer that, that, um, I'm seeing now more than ever in the last like three or four years when I started making songs with lyrics that actually, you know, I've, you know, seen the fans come out in droves saying how much it's gotten them, gotten them through hard times 'cause the lyrics were able to speak to them a certain way. So it's ... And that's m- the essence of collaboration at the end of the day, you know, working with songwriters and singers. And, and being able to be pulled in that direction is incredible as an artist, you know, instead of just having, like, all right, we're making this record to make everyone go crazy, even though essentially electronic dance music is all about the music.

   5. JRJoe Rogan8:51

      Yeah.

   6. SASteve Aoki8:52

      It's not about, you know, the touching lyrics. They might be, like, the flavoring on top, but the, the foundation is all about the beat, you know. But now it's, like, about mixing both worlds as much as possible, you know, 'cause at the end of the day when you think about my shows, it's a very full-on experience. Like when I, when I put on a show, I'm trying to, like, I'm trying to com- like, compound all the senses, you know. I want it to be entertaining as hell. I want it to be fun, engaging. Um, I want you to leave knowing that you saw a Steve Aoki show, so that's why I try to do different unique things like, uh, you know, I cake people. I don't know if you know this, but I cake people at my shows.

   7. JRJoe Rogan9:35

      Cake them?

   8. SASteve Aoki9:36

      (laughs)

   9. JRJoe Rogan9:36

      Like you hit them in the head with cakes?

   10. SASteve Aoki9:38

       Yeah, I wouldn't say the head, but yeah. (laughs) But this is all consensual, by the way. So-

   11. JRJoe Rogan9:42

       (laughs)

4. 9:42 – 13:07

   The origin of “caking” fans and designing a signature live experience

   1. SASteve Aoki9:42

      Uh, uh, uh, yeah, I'll give you a little story to this. So, you know, I think as you are on the stage all the time, you wanna make your skits, you wanna make your, everything that you do unique to Joe Rogan, you know. Like, you don't wanna be like, "Oh yeah, he's a copy of this person." No one wants to be that, you know. Uh, so I'm thinking like, what am I gonna do that's gonna be unique and different, engaging. Um, "Hey. Ho."

   2. JRJoe Rogan10:06

      (laughs)

   3. SASteve Aoki10:06

      You know, like, everyone's doing that.

   4. JRJoe Rogan10:07

      Right.

   5. SASteve Aoki10:07

      "Everyone sit down and everyone jump." So, you know, I'm like, you know ... Your brain's always thinking, so I got an idea after a song, uh, that I released on my label. I have my own label, and we, we released this artist where the video was cakes exploding in people's faces. Super slow motion, high def, really beautiful. And then I was like, "You know what? Uh, I'm gonna go to a bakery, I'm gonna buy a cake, scribble, like, the song on the top of the cake, and let's just see what happens."

   6. JRJoe Rogan10:38

      (laughs)

   7. SASteve Aoki10:38

      "It'll be funny little thing," you know. And I, I brought the k- this is 2011, mind you. So this is seven years or however long ago that was. You know, a long time ago. Do, do the math. (laughs) Anyway, so it was a long time ago and I walked around the front of the stage and one of the, one of the kids in the front, one of the guys at front was just like, "Why is he walking around the front? Like, am I supposed to, like, grab it?" And then he just starts pointing at his face and then all his friends around him se- are pointing at him, and the whole place was just staring and waiting and watching and wondering what the hell's gonna happen. So I caked him, we filmed it before, this is pre-Instagram, put it up on YouTube. I was like, "I gotta do this every show. This is incredible." And then six months later people started coming out with "cake me" signs.

   8. JRJoe Rogan11:23

      (laughs)

   9. SASteve Aoki11:25

      Six years later-

   10. JRJoe Rogan11:26

       Look at this.

   11. SASteve Aoki11:27

       Okay, here we go. So six years later, like I've, I think I've caked over 15,000 people now.

   12. JRJoe Rogan11:32

       (laughs)

   13. SASteve Aoki11:33

       You know?

   14. JRJoe Rogan11:34

       Oh my God. (laughs) Jeez, look at her go crazy. (laughs) You had it right in the mug too, dude. Perfect shot.

   15. SASteve Aoki11:40

       Well, I'll tell you, I mean, you know, it was just practice makes perfect, you know. (laughs)

   16. JRJoe Rogan11:43

       Yeah, you've thrown 15,000 cakes, I guess you get a, you get a feel for it. Look at her, she's dancing.

   17. SASteve Aoki11:48

       Yeah.

   18. JRJoe Rogan11:48

       Wiping it off. Well, let me see one more time. (laughs)

   19. SASteve Aoki11:50

       This is like, uh, that was Ultra.

   20. JRJoe Rogan11:52

       Boom. Oh my goodness. (laughs)

   21. SASteve Aoki11:54

       We have a cake rider.

   22. JRJoe Rogan11:56

       (laughs)

   23. SASteve Aoki11:56

       We have very specific cakes at our, you know. Uh, at our show you have a s- it's a, it's like a special Aoki cake.

   24. JRJoe Rogan12:01

       What is in it?

   25. SASteve Aoki12:02

       It's, uh, the strange thing is, is there's, like, not as much cake as you would think. It's just like frosting. It's just, so it just explodes everywhere.

   26. JRJoe Rogan12:11

       So it's less bread.

   27. SASteve Aoki12:12

       Yes.

   28. JRJoe Rogan12:13

       Just-

   29. SASteve Aoki12:13

       So, like, less carbs, more sugar.

   30. JRJoe Rogan12:15

       (laughs)
5. 13:07 – 14:56

   Touring like an athlete: 250 shows/year, sleep, jet lag, and experimentation

   1. SASteve Aoki13:07

      That's the goal, you know. And if I c- if I feel like I'm doing that, if I feel like I'm really having this impact, then I go, the, not, that's why I end up doing, like, so many shows, 'cause I, on average I'm doing about 250 shows around the world every year.

   2. JRJoe Rogan13:23

      That is so crazy.

   3. SASteve Aoki13:24

      And I do this, I've done this consistently for over 12 years. So it's- it's, uh, it's not like an artist that just drops an album and then they tour, like, around the world for a year or two. Like, I'm on, I'm on a worldwide tour, you know, every- every single year.

   4. JRJoe Rogan13:41

      Is that sustainable? How- how's your body holding up?

   5. SASteve Aoki13:44

      It's, yeah-

   6. JRJoe Rogan13:44

      I know you work out a lot.

   7. SASteve Aoki13:45

      Yeah.

   8. JRJoe Rogan13:46

      I know you're really into health and wellness and all that stuff, but that seems insane.

   9. SASteve Aoki13:50

      Particular-

   10. JRJoe Rogan13:50

       Particularly with all the travel.

   11. SASteve Aoki13:51

       It does. I mean, you have to, you have to, like, treat yourself a- like an athlete, that's for sure. Um, the way I think about my regiment is different, you know. And I, and I'm, like, obsessed with, uh, trying out new ideas, using myself as a guinea pig to work with different scientists, sleep doctors, uh, you know, different people in dif- various fields that are testing new ideas to- to, like, deal with jet lag, or things that I'm dealing with that are there on the road that- that can wear you down and make it not sustainable.

   12. JRJoe Rogan14:28

       Do you do IVs?

   13. SASteve Aoki14:30

       Uh, like stem cell?

   14. JRJoe Rogan14:31

       No, no, like vitamin, like vitamin drips-

   15. SASteve Aoki14:34

       Um-

   16. JRJoe Rogan14:34

       ... or anything like that.

   17. SASteve Aoki14:35

       Not as, no, I don't. But I, you know, like, I, at one point I was, I- I wasn't down the same road as Ray Kurzweil doing 250 vitamins a day, but I was probably, you know, experimenting with about 50.

   18. JRJoe Rogan14:48

       Have you met him?

   19. SASteve Aoki14:49

       I have.

   20. JRJoe Rogan14:50

       He's an interesting dude.

   21. SASteve Aoki14:51

       Yes, he is.

   22. JRJoe Rogan14:51

       He's quite a trip.

   23. SASteve Aoki14:53

       He-

   24. JRJoe Rogan14:54

       Like, behind his eyes there's a l- there's a lot going on.

6. 14:56 – 19:13

   Neon Future albums: science, futurism, and featuring iconic thinkers

   1. SASteve Aoki14:56

      Yeah, absolutely. And, uh, I mean my, so, like, I have a whole album series called Neon Future. So I have Neon Future One, Two and Three that just came out. My al- my albums, in each album, um, I actually work with a scientist on a song.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:10

      Oh, wow.

   3. SASteve Aoki15:11

      So I had Ray Kurzweil on- on One, so he's talking on a song about, like, life expansion, life extension. I'm big singular, not- not necessarily singularity, not, but, like, I'm a big fan of the idea that we can live indefinitely. Uh, I'm a enthusiast of that world. I might not, I'm not, definitely not an expert, but I'm an enthusiast for sure.

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:29

      Yeah.

   5. SASteve Aoki15:30

      And I got JJ Abrams on Two. I got-

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:32

      Wow.

   7. SASteve Aoki15:32

      ... Aubrey de Grey on Two who-

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:33

      Oh, wow. I've had him on.

   9. SASteve Aoki15:33

      ... wrote the book Anti-Aging.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:34

       I've had him on as well. Yeah.

   11. SASteve Aoki15:36

       Yeah. And, like, I interviewed him. I went to o- I went to Ray's, Ray Kurzweil's apartment in- in the Bay Area with-

   12. JRJoe Rogan15:42

       Me too. Yeah.

   13. SASteve Aoki15:43

       Yeah, so, I mean, we, I know that we have a lot of synergies on the-

   14. JRJoe Rogan15:46

       Yeah.

   15. SASteve Aoki15:46

       ... science and tech stuff. And Three, I had Bill Nye.

   16. JRJoe Rogan15:50

       Oh, wow.

   17. SASteve Aoki15:50

       And Four, which is coming out next year, I'm having my favorite author on the album that I've read so far. So I'm ver- very excited to have-

   18. JRJoe Rogan15:59

       Who's that?

   19. SASteve Aoki16:00

       I've n- I, I, you know, I might as well annou-

   20. JRJoe Rogan16:01

       You don't want to say?

   21. SASteve Aoki16:01

       I m- I might as well announce it here if I'm going to announce it anywhere.

   22. JRJoe Rogan16:04

       Okay.

   23. SASteve Aoki16:04

       I haven't announced it yet. But Yuval Harari.

   24. JRJoe Rogan16:07

       Oh, wow. I love that guy.

   25. SASteve Aoki16:08

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan16:08

       Sapiens is amazing. It's f-

   27. SASteve Aoki16:09

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan16:10

       ... fantastic book.

   29. SASteve Aoki16:10

       Sapiens is my favorite book.

   30. JRJoe Rogan16:11

       I'm on the second one right now.
7. 19:13 – 23:49

   From grief to longevity obsession: Aoki Foundation and anti-aging focus

   1. SASteve Aoki19:13

      I think, uh, it, it started, um, when ... After my f- my father passed away. Seeing the death of your father, he died of, uh, um, cancer but it started with hepatitis C from a, uh, boat accident he had in the, in like the late '70s.

   2. JRJoe Rogan19:32

      A boat accident gave him hep C?

   3. SASteve Aoki19:33

      Yeah.

   4. JRJoe Rogan19:33

      How'd that happen?

   5. SASteve Aoki19:34

      Uh, blood transfusion.

   6. JRJoe Rogan19:36

      Oh, wow.

   7. SASteve Aoki19:38

      And then he ... I mean, he was surviving, uh, with hep C for, for decades. Changed his, his, um, interferon and the things that would keep him going before there was a vaccine or, or cure. This is all before then. Um, I'm not sure if there is but I'm, I'm almost positive there is. But, um ...

   8. JRJoe Rogan19:55

      Yeah, I think there is.

   9. SASteve Aoki19:56

      Yeah.

   10. JRJoe Rogan19:56

       I think it's a very expensive involved process.

   11. SASteve Aoki19:59

       But that, that, that hurts, you know what I mean? It's like-

   12. JRJoe Rogan20:02

       Right.

   13. SASteve Aoki20:03

       ... if someone dies close to you and then, like, something like that happens.

   14. JRJoe Rogan20:06

       Yeah.

   15. SASteve Aoki20:07

       So this is all happening, right? And I see him die and I'm also like, you know, I think I know about health. I'm a vegetarian, you know, this, that, and the other. I'm like sort of healthy but after I saw him die, I read books on cancer. I started reading, like trying to research like what could I have done to, to help my father. And I still have people in my life that I absolutely love that I wanna learn and share. Like my mother, like, you know, anyone else that's like close to me that's getting older. And, um, then it just ... I just, I just went on this, like, bender, like, you know, reading books on anti-aging and then, you know, I'm really a big sci-fi nut. So if anything, I love living between the world of science fiction and science fact, and finding out in that gray area what is going to be science fact in our, you know, in our, uh, as long as I'm alive, you know.

   16. JRJoe Rogan21:03

       Mm-hmm.

   17. SASteve Aoki21:03

       And there's a lot of things happening because I do agree with that, that, uh, that curve that we are not moving at a linear rate, you know. We are moving ... I don't know if it's exponential, but it's definitely between linear and exponential with technology, with what we're learning in science and medicine. And as I'm learning more about this stuff, my music career is also raising, uh ... Uh, my platform as a personality is, is also getting raised. So then now, I get to go and make a phone call to Ray and he'll answer, and I get to meet him. And, and then I wanna have fun too.

   18. JRJoe Rogan21:39

       Mmm.

   19. SASteve Aoki21:39

       So I'm like let's make a song, let's do a video, let's do an interview. So I created this whole Neon Future session so I could meet, you know, Stan Lee, rest in peace. Like, I got to meet him, hang out with him, did an interview with him, took some photos and it was-

   20. JRJoe Rogan21:52

       Stanley?

   21. SASteve Aoki21:52

       Uh, Stan Lee, Marvel.

   22. JRJoe Rogan21:53

       Who's Stanley Marvel?

   23. SASteve Aoki21:55

       Stan-

   24. JRJoe Rogan21:55

       Stan Lee?

   25. SASteve Aoki21:55

       Stan Lee, the, the Marvel Comics.

   26. JRJoe Rogan21:57

       Oh, Stan Lee.

   27. SASteve Aoki21:57

       Yeah.

   28. JRJoe Rogan21:58

       Oh, okay.

   29. SASteve Aoki21:58

       I'm, I'm just going across the board here.

   30. JRJoe Rogan22:00

       I'm like Stan Lee Marvel. I was like, "Who's Stanley Marvel?" (laughs) Okay.
8. 23:49 – 37:47

   Radical futures: uploading consciousness, time travel logic, and simulation talk

   1. JRJoe Rogan23:49

      D- when you talked to Kurzweil, did you get into his idea of being able to download consciousness?

   2. SASteve Aoki23:55

      Um, no, we didn't get that far, but I would lov- love for you to tell me more about that.

   3. JRJoe Rogan23:59

      (sighs) It's a weird one 'cause we went to this, uh, I, I think it's called the 2045 Conference in New York City, and the idea behind it is that they think that somewhere around 2045, there's gonna be some sort of a technological singularity with the exponential growth or perceived exponential growth, whatever it is, the leaping, the new innovations creating these new possibilities, that somewhere around '25, 2045, there's going to be-... m- so many changes and so many new innovations that they believe they're going to be able to put your consciousness either into some sort of a hard drive, some sort of a quantum computer, or perhaps even a, a physical embodiment of a Steve Aoki.

   4. SASteve Aoki24:44

      Yeah.

   5. JRJoe Rogan24:44

      Like, you have a, an artificial Steve Aoki.

   6. SASteve Aoki24:46

      Like a sleeve.

   7. JRJoe Rogan24:47

      Yeah, and then your con- your actual brain, reep-

   8. SASteve Aoki24:50

      Yep.

   9. JRJoe Rogan24:50

      ... inside this thing. So as your body dies, now you will exist in this whatever the fuck it's made out of.

   10. SASteve Aoki24:57

       Right.

   11. JRJoe Rogan24:58

       You know? And he thinks he's going to be able to do that. And, you know, he's got a really bizarre motivation too. His father died when he was young and he didn't really get to know him that well, and he has all these images and all this tu- And he thinks that he is going to be able to, in some way, shape, or form, recreate his father and have some sort of a, a reasonable facsimile, some sort of a, uh-

   12. SASteve Aoki25:22

       Yeah, like, a way to communicate with his-

   13. JRJoe Rogan25:23

       ... with his dad.

   14. SASteve Aoki25:24

       Yeah.

   15. JRJoe Rogan25:24

       Like, actually have his, with all the memories that he has of his father, all the, the video and images, and actually recreate his father to have a communication with him. It's very weird stuff.

   16. SASteve Aoki25:36

       Yeah. Well, I, I mean, I think a lot of these, those, those storylines get drawn out in, in sci-fi.

   17. JRJoe Rogan25:42

       Yes.

   18. SASteve Aoki25:43

       'Cause that's essentially where we want, like, we wanna go without any issues and problems and, and backfire.

   19. JRJoe Rogan25:49

       Uh-huh.

   20. SASteve Aoki25:49

       And, and no, like, Black Mirror episode, you know, kind of blunder. Because I, I mean, it, we are, we are definitely going in that direction.

   21. JRJoe Rogan25:57

       We're going somewhere weird, for sure.

   22. SASteve Aoki25:58

       We're, we're 100% going there and there's no stopping it.

   23. JRJoe Rogan26:00

       No way, yeah.

   24. SASteve Aoki26:01

       (laughs) You just can't-

   25. JRJoe Rogan26:02

       Every, yeah, everyone's buying new phones and new technology and we're pushing it as far as we can. There was a guy, um, I think it's from the University of Connecticut. He is the preeminent researcher on time travel, and he is right out of a fucking Spider-Man comic book. His dad died when he was young, same sort of situation, and he wanted to figure out a way to go back in time and save his dad. So he's literally trying to come up with a workable theory for time travel. That's, that's the gentleman. What is his name? Mm...

   26. SASteve Aoki26:36

       Dr. Ron Mallet.

   27. JRJoe Rogan26:38

       Yeah, Dr. Ron Mallet. And it's, right now, I mean, he's got a working theory but it's, it becomes a matter of having enough energy to actually pull this off. But the idea behind it was all inspired by his father dying, and he thinks he's going to be able to, or someone may be able to go back in time. But what he believes now-

   28. SASteve Aoki26:59

       But when you hear stories like this, right? When you hear the story, 'cause I know y- Like, this is, like, what you do. You get to talk to all these people.

   29. JRJoe Rogan27:05

       Yeah.

   30. SASteve Aoki27:06

       Do you, do you believe them to a certain extent? And then you, like, you go... 'Cause for me, I need the scientific understanding. I, you know, like-
9. 37:47 – 53:22

   Brain–machine interfaces and “telekinesis” as engineering, not magic

   1. JRJoe Rogan37:47

      So what are you, in particular, are you doing with this, uh, BRAIN Foundation?

   2. SASteve Aoki37:51

      Um, I mean, I- I think one of the most important things is inspire people more about brain, the brain, you know? Like, uh, I mean, obviously it's to raise money for brain research orgs, uh, for one, finding cures for degenerative brain diseases, and two, just understanding the brain more, working with orgs that, that wanna understand the brain more so that we can expand what our limitations are, you know, in the conversations that we're talking about. You know, bring some of the science fiction, the science fact, you know? Um, I love this idea that, like, you know, telekinesis is when you can move things with your mind.

   3. JRJoe Rogan38:26

      You think that's possible?

   4. SASteve Aoki38:27

      It's ... It already is.

   5. JRJoe Rogan38:28

      Really?

   6. SASteve Aoki38:29

      Not like in the supernatural sense, like Magneto, but you know. It's like, you know, there's ... I mean, it's happened like five years ago, people moving wheelchairs with their ... with like, uh-

   7. JRJoe Rogan38:40

      Implanted things.

   8. SASteve Aoki38:40

      ... implanted ... Yeah, exactly.

   9. JRJoe Rogan38:41

      Yeah.

   10. SASteve Aoki38:41

       I'm not sure the, the right terms, but I've seen the videos, you know?

   11. JRJoe Rogan38:45

       Yeah.

   12. SASteve Aoki38:45

       Like a monkey being able to move, uh, an arm to its mouth to eat the apple.

   13. JRJoe Rogan38:50

       Yeah.

   14. SASteve Aoki38:51

       Those were ha- those happened in 2013 or '14 or ... Fact check that, but it was not 2019. It was like years ago. So whatever they're doing at DARPA, whatever they're doing at, like, Google, what ... Whoever's got these research orgs and labs, I, I wanted ... I would love to jump in there and just, like, put my ear out there and just listen and find out what's going on. And, you know, 'cause I have my own interest and passion on what's, what the breakthroughs are. And I would also love to try some of these things.

   15. JRJoe Rogan39:21

       Do you think they'd let you? Do you think they'd let you?

   16. SASteve Aoki39:23

       Sometimes, I mean-

   17. JRJoe Rogan39:24

       Mm-hmm.

   18. SASteve Aoki39:24

       ... listen. No, you gotta try. (laughs)

   19. JRJoe Rogan39:25

       I think, like, Boston Dynamics-

   20. SASteve Aoki39:27

       (clears throat)

   21. JRJoe Rogan39:27

       ... might be your best bet. The, the r- the, uh, robot people.

   22. SASteve Aoki39:30

       Yeah.

   23. JRJoe Rogan39:31

       They might let you in. But DARPA's ... That's a defense agency.

   24. SASteve Aoki39:33

       Uh, DARPA would ... Like a darp- DARPA won't let me in, obviously.

   25. JRJoe Rogan39:36

       (laughs)

   26. SASteve Aoki39:36

       They will not let me in.

   27. JRJoe Rogan39:37

       You're gonna have to sign some paperwork.

   28. SASteve Aoki39:38

       Yeah. (laughs) But I wanna get into as many doors as I can on any of this kind of stuff. And, uh, that's like my own personal th- gain.

   29. JRJoe Rogan39:49

       Yeah.

   30. SASteve Aoki39:49

       But also with the, with the BRAIN org, it just, the BRAIN Foundation, uh, it's just to like, you know, help out the smaller orgs too, that are, that are, one, finding the cures, because at the end of the day, what I've learned is that if you don't die of cancer or heart disease, you're gonna have a brain degenerative disease. You're gonna, you're gonna go crazy. You're gonna-
10. 53:22 – 1:03:38

    Regenerative medicine deep dive: stem cells, exosomes, and new procedures

    1. JRJoe Rogan53:22

       What kind of stem cell, uh, procedures are you getting?

    2. SASteve Aoki53:25

       I mean, the first time was through, through Dan Bilzerian. He, he's introduced me to, uh, uh, the one in Panama, so I went down there. Did-

    3. JRJoe Rogan53:35

       Dr. Neil Reardon.

    4. SASteve Aoki53:36

       Exactly, but-

    5. JRJoe Rogan53:37

       My mom was just down there.

    6. SASteve Aoki53:38

       Oh, yeah?

    7. JRJoe Rogan53:38

       Last week, yeah. I've sent her down there twice.

    8. SASteve Aoki53:40

       That's great. And then-

    9. JRJoe Rogan53:41

       (clears throat) She was in the verge of getting a knee replacement. And, uh, her knee was really bad. And, uh, eight months, it was, took a while, you know, 'cause my mom was 73. And, um, within eight months, her knee stopped being in pain. And she was able to walk, and she can... And she, they went to the Grand Canyon, and-

    10. SASteve Aoki54:01

        Amazing.

    11. JRJoe Rogan54:01

        Yeah. And now she went back again to just get a, a second dose and juice it up some more. It's incredible.

    12. SASteve Aoki54:07

        I just know when I was there, I saw a lot of kids in there with the one in Panama because-

    13. JRJoe Rogan54:11

        Mm-hmm.

    14. SASteve Aoki54:12

        ... it's, it, it like, grows muscle. Or does something. Uh, like, uh, I don't wanna-

    15. JRJoe Rogan54:17

        Regenerates, regenerates tissue.

    16. SASteve Aoki54:18

        ... say the wrong thing. Regenerates. Right.

    17. JRJoe Rogan54:18

        Yeah.

    18. SASteve Aoki54:19

        So, kids with muscle dystrophy, kids with, uh, like, where they can't walk anymore, they get the stem cell injections and they can walk for... And then after six months, you know, the, the, the stem cells do leave your body. Or, or, like, the-

    19. JRJoe Rogan54:33

        The results diminish, yeah.

    20. SASteve Aoki54:34

        ... it doesn't stay with you. Right. So, once again, I don't, scientific terms, I could be off. But they have to go back in, get the stem cells, and they can have, you know, as m- as, you know, that kind of life instead of having me in a wheelchair.

    21. JRJoe Rogan54:48

        Mm.

    22. SASteve Aoki54:48

        So, I went, I went in there, um, because I just wanted to try it out. My friend also came with me who has asthma.... knocked out his asthma. He never had to use an inhaler for way past six months.

    23. JRJoe Rogan54:59

        Really?

    24. SASteve Aoki55:00

        Yeah, because the stem cells also really affect the lungs. Um, the umbilical cord cells, they, they travel to the lungs first from what they were doing.

    25. JRJoe Rogan55:09

        So this is an IV, IV version of it.

    26. SASteve Aoki55:11

        Yeah, an IV. We did IV. I did shoulder, my shoulders because I have... I, I later got, uh, um, a rotator cuff surgery, um, 'cause I had a, like, a bone spur going into my tendon. But I tried to use the stem cells to, so I didn't have to go to surgery.

    27. JRJoe Rogan55:30

        Mm-hmm.

    28. SASteve Aoki55:30

        But you can't erode bone.

    29. JRJoe Rogan55:32

        Right.

    30. SASteve Aoki55:32

        So, yeah.
11. 1:03:38 – 1:19:15

    Vocal cord surgery: from hardcore roots to enforced silence and rebuilding

    1. SASteve Aoki1:03:38

       Um, stem cells. Um, shoulders, shoulder. I, I had, um, I just had vocal surgery, vocal cord surgery.

    2. JRJoe Rogan1:03:46

       Whoa.

    3. SASteve Aoki1:03:47

       Uh-

    4. JRJoe Rogan1:03:47

       Did you get polyps or something?

    5. SASteve Aoki1:03:48

       Yeah, I did. Yeah. A polypoid on my vocal cord, 'cause I used to sing in a band. I used to, I used to be a s- like, in a screamo hardcore band.

    6. JRJoe Rogan1:03:55

       Ooh.

    7. SASteve Aoki1:03:56

       Or a few of them. I mean, that's where I, like, that's my roots of who, like, my, where my music was as far as what led me to DJing, was being in these, like, hardcore punk bands.

    8. JRJoe Rogan1:04:06

       So, that's a lot of screaming.

    9. SASteve Aoki1:04:08

       Lots of screaming. Yeah. And then I carried that through when I finally, like, when I f- uh, when I, you know, retired that hat and I started DJing years and years later. And I started doing these bigger and bigger shows and I started doing the festivals, I brought out that same energy again. And I started, you know, when I started producing the music, uh, electronic music, I was bringing in guitars. I was screaming on some of these songs. So, I'm bringing some of my past in with my music and I'm back again, but in a different world. Um, and, and I just, I, I'm not, I, I'm not a trained singer, you know? So, I destroyed my vocal cords and I was just, like, raspy as hell. Like, I was just like an old Italian man-

    10. JRJoe Rogan1:04:53

        (laughs)

    11. SASteve Aoki1:04:54

        ... at some of my shows.

    12. JRJoe Rogan1:04:56

        The Godfather.

    13. SASteve Aoki1:04:57

        Yeah. (laughs)

    14. JRJoe Rogan1:04:58

        (laughs)

    15. SASteve Aoki1:04:58

        And, uh, and then I saw a doctor and he's like, "You don't have a choice. You're gonna have to, like, you're gonna have to take a break." And I'm, you know, I'm doing like 250 shows a year. So, I was like, "Well, (laughs) I gotta stop for the month and, and, uh, and, and not talk for a month." That was crazy. No-

    16. JRJoe Rogan1:05:16

        No talking for a whole month.

    17. SASteve Aoki1:05:18

        Yeah. Imagine Joe Rogan not talking for a whole month.

    18. JRJoe Rogan1:05:21

        Wow. I bet a lot of people would be excited. (laughs)

    19. SASteve Aoki1:05:25

        (laughs) But I had to do that. That was very hard. I actually saw a life coach before, 'cause I'm like, "I'm terrified. I don't want my, like, demons or whatever's, anxiety, or whatever things that I have, like, creeping up," where they're like, "Okay, you're mine now. You can't, you can't talk to someone about ..." You know?

    20. JRJoe Rogan1:05:40

        Yeah.

    21. SASteve Aoki1:05:41

        I'm like, "I don't know. I'm scared," you know? But, uh, I, I got through it. I just ... I'm a very busybody kind of person, so, like, I just scheduled ... It was like going back to college, but with things that I needed to train and get better at. Like, get better at piano, get better at meditation, get better at, at, uh, you know, twisting the knobs, engineering. Whatever it might be that I wanted to be better at, I just brought more people into my world. Then I finished, like, an album (laughs) in that month, making music with different people. So, I just was just so focused on creation and, and learning and reading and, you know, all that good stuff. So, when I left, I was like, "Okay, now I know how to do TM meditation," uh, or transcendental meditation, and, uh, you know, I'm, I'm more comfortable doing the things that, that help me be- be a better artist. Yeah.

    22. JRJoe Rogan1:06:31

        Well, it obviously worked, right? But what was the first sound that you made after a month? What was the, the first word?

    23. SASteve Aoki1:06:38

        I'll, I'll tell you something that's just really interesting. I know now to do the most hygienic sneeze-

    24. JRJoe Rogan1:06:43

        Oh.

    25. SASteve Aoki1:06:43

        ... that you can possibly do.

    26. JRJoe Rogan1:06:45

        Tell us.

    27. SASteve Aoki1:06:45

        Because now I can sneeze with no, um, visible, uh, vapor resi- residue. 'Cause you know when people sneeze, you can, they see those videos?

    28. JRJoe Rogan1:06:54

        Yeah.

    29. SASteve Aoki1:06:54

        It's like shoo. It's like this cloud of trillions of bacteria floating in the air.

    30. JRJoe Rogan1:06:58

        Yeah.

Episode duration: 2:48:02