Dim Mak Records

Dim Mak
Founded 1996
Founder Steve Aoki
Distributor(s) ADA
Genre Various
Country of origin United States
Location Los Angeles, CA
Official website dimmak.com

Dim Mak is an independent, Los Angeles, CA-based record label, events company, and lifestyle brand founded by Steve Aoki in 1996. The label has released music in punk, indie rock, hardcore, hip hop, and electronic dance musics. The label is driven by Aoki’s "Do It Yourself" ethos and the company’s "By Any Means Necessary" mantra.

Dim Mak has promoted various artists including The Chainsmokers, The Bloody Beetroots, Bloc Party, The Kills, Battles, The Gossip, Andy's iLL, Klaxons, MSTRKRFT, Felix Cartal, Datsik, and others. In 2014, the label made its 500th release with the King Babies EP from The Death Set. Dim Mak’s current roster includes releases from Garmiani, Ookay, Botnek, Autoerotique, Rain Man, Henry Fong, Morten, Keys N Krates, Dirtyphonics and many more.

Records

Early Years (1996-2001)

Steve Aoki started Dim Mak Records at the age of 19 out of his college dorm at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2001, Dim Mak released one of the label’s first major projects with the self-titled debut EP from Pretty Girls Make Graves. Releases from The Kills and The Black Rooster followed the year after. Aoki relocated Dim Mak to Los Angeles in 2002 on the success of these projects.

Early 2000s

In 2003, U.K. indie rock band Bloc Party personally mailed Aoki a 7-inch of the track “She’s Hearing Voices” and signed to Dim Mak shortly thereafter. Dim Mak teamed up with VICE, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records, and entered a major label deal for the first time. Dim Mak and Atlantic later released Bloc Party’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful Silent Alarm in 2005. Subsequently, Dim Mak continued to release indie/dance bands Neon Blonde, Be Your Own Pet, Klaxons, Scanners, and more.

Dim Mak continued to release commercially successful projects from MSTRKRFT (Fist of God), Battles (B EP), Fischerspooner, The Blood Brothers (Crimes), The Von Bondies (Raw and Rare), Dada Life (White Noise/Red Meat), and Atari Teenage Riot (Is this Hyperreal?).

2008-Present

Key releases with various electronic music producers and DJs helped Dim Mak Records become a leading influencer in the dance music world recognized by media and industry reps alike.

In 2009, Dim Mak Records broke into the electronic dance music scene with the release of “Warp” from The Bloody Beetroots featuring Steve Aoki. The song became a worldwide club anthem and established Dim Mak as a player in the dance world.

Off the success of “Warp” and Steve Aoki’s solo DJ career, Dim Mak continued to sign and break numerous electronic dance music producers like Azari & III, Datsik, Felix Cartal, and several others. By 2014 the roster had grown to boast artists such as Autoerotique, Angger Dimas, Botnek, Borgore, Coone, Clockwork, Deorro, Felix Cartal, Garmiani, Ookay, Sound of Stereo, Yolanda Be Cool, Keys N Krates and many more.

Events

From 2003-2014, Dim Mak held the weekly Dim Mak Tuesdays event at Dim Mak Studios (previously known as Cinespace) in Hollywood, CA. In 2006, Steve Aoki and Dim Mak teamed up with the late producer DJ AM to launch the weekly Sunday party Banana Split Sundaes at Los Angeles nightclub LAX. From 2010-2013, Dim Mak hosted the weekly Dim Mak Sundays party at Hollywood club Drai’s.

Touring/Festivals

Dim Mak hosts Dim Mak-branded stages at music festivals around the world.

In the United States, Dim Mak has partnered with Hard Events (Los Angeles), Electric Daisy Carnival (Los Angeles and Las Vegas), Electric Forest (Michigan), Identity Festival (national tour), Beyond Wonderland (Los Angeles), and Electric Zoo (New York). Dim Mak also launched the Deadmeat North American Tour in 2012 headlined by Steve Aoki, which took in over 40 tour dates throughout North America. In 2013, Dim Mak and Steve Aoki launched the North American Aokify America Tour headlined by Steve Aoki featuring Borgore and Waka Flocka Flame as direct support with Pharrell Williams on select dates and a rotating cast of Dim Mak artists as support acts. In 2013, Dim Mak hosted the Dim Mak Up All Night Stage at the inaugural TomorrowWorld in Chattahoochee Hills, GA.

In Europe, Dim Mak has presence at several festivals like Beatpatrol (Vienna), Get Loaded (London), Optimus Alive! (Lisbon), and Tomorrowland (Belgium). Dim Mak has produced the main stage at the Playground Festival (Jakarta), We Love Sounds/Winterland Soundsystem Festival (Australia), and Future Music Festival (Australia).

Lifestyle

Dim Mak operates a lifestyle and clothing brand, which includes the official Dim Mak and Steve Aoki apparel line.

Active artists

Former artists

Notes

Some Steve Aoki releases are co-released alongside Ultra Records as well as Dim Mak Records, however they are officially categorized under the Ultra Records discography, it is also the same for other artists such as The Bloody Beetroots.

A release by the artist Tai entitled "Indian Kill EP" was removed from digital download in early 2013 as its title was seen as offensive.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dimmak.com/artist/ming/
  2. ↑ http://www.beatport.com/release/king-kong-ep/939209
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