Pickleballers Season 5, Episode 4: DJ Steve Aoki on whether pickleball is actually cool
This page contains affiliate links. The Kitchen may earn a commission from purchases at no extra cost to you.
In this episode of Pickleballers, DJ and record producer Steve Aoki sits down with co-hosts Roscoe Bellamy and Jared Paul for his first-ever pickleball podcast.
The conversation runs from how his wife got him into the game to the DIY mindset that built his entire career, with plenty of honest takes on business, creativity, and whether pickleball is actually cool.
Aoki breaks down how HeroQuest went from a COVID-era album into a full IP with an anime series, a trading card game, and collabs with Burton, Malbon, Cressi and JOOLA. He explains why every product he drops needs a “collectible soul,” and why the JOOLA Hero and Hyro paddles come with HeroQuest cards, including serialized 1-of-1 chase cards hidden in the boxes.
GET THE NEW JOOLA x STEVE AOKI PADDLES
JOOLA x STEVE AOKI Perseus Pro V — Hiro Red
JOOLA x STEVE AOKI Perseus Pro V — Hyro Red
Steve also opens up about the punk and hardcore scene that taught him business at 15, starting Dim Mak out of his college co-op, and turning down a PhD to chase the label. He gets into running up $100K in credit card debt across 10 cards, why his father never funded him, and how DJing small LA bars dug him out and launched the next chapter of his career.
