A couple of quick Shaq-related notes today. First, the latest Big Chicken restaurant opened this week. This particular outlet is in Mulkilteo, Washington…a suburb on the north side of Seattle, Washington. Unfortunately for local residents, the big man couldn’t be there.
Which brings us to the second Shaq-story of the day. Rather than being at the Big Chicken opening, O’Neal was putting in a DJ set as his alter ego, DJ Diesel, at the HARD Summer Festival in Los Angeles.
Before his set, Shaq sat down to talk to a reporter from the online entertainment magazine website HypeBeast. Huge thanks to “The Beast” for info on this story. Shaq – as DJ Diesel – has performed at huge music festivals such as Tomorrowland, Lost Lands, Lollapalooza and Electric Zoo. He’s also had his own “residency” at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.
HypeBeast asked how O’Neal prepared for a monster set…if it was something similar to getting hyped up for a big game?
Shaq: Preparing for my HARD set was kind of like how I used to prepare for a big game. The scene is already set for you by the time you show up, so it’s all about executing. I am a man of repetition and superstition. My team has the same seats on the plane. I give the same signals to my tour and production manager when it’s time to go. We all have the system down to a T. It’s a well-oiled machine […] The feeling I got pregame is the same feeling I get before DJing. Walking onto a stage gives me the same feeling as walking onto a court for a game 7. The lights. The crowd. The music. The pressure. It’s all the same and I live for it. It pumps me up more than any other vice ever could. It’s a feeling you crave once you get it just a few times.
HypeBeast: Do you have any pre-set rituals or traditions that you participate in? Shaq: I usually find myself in my trailer, headphones on, next to my partner Brian, going over my playlist of 200+ songs trying to curate an intro to run off of. I never fully pre-plan my sets so almost all of it is decided in real time. I’m a simple man. I just need a quiet environment and my headphones.
HypeBeast: Who are DJ Diesel’s biggest musical inspirations? Shaq: It all started with Skrillex in the beginning, because he’s the godfather of bass music. But now it’s also the guys who are simply out there hustling the hardest – who have ‘made it’ but still have more to prove – like Space Laces, Sullivan King, Kayzo, Slander, NGHTMRE. But if I’m being real, the guys who really gas me up are the DJs you may never have heard of before, up-and-coming guys like Celo, Crankdat, Jessica Audifrred, Rated R, Soltan, Hairitage. I put a lot of those guys on my album.
Photo: Gina Joy/Hard Summer
Also from Shaq’s music world: The big man is getting ready to drop a new album, his first in many years. It’s called GORILLA WARFARE. HypeBeast asked Shaq for a bit of a preview. What should listeners expect:
Shaq: One word: refreshing. Dubstep has this stigma where every song needs to be aggressively loud with heavy bass to be “authentic,” but that’s really not the case. I wanted GORILLA WARFARE to be something palatable, something all bass fans can get behind regardless of how scary you like your music. This album is also a showcase for what happens when you give an opportunity to an artist who deserves it. It consists of 10 songs that are all collaborations with producers many people will not know. Good music doesn’t only come from the big guys; it can happen in someone’s mom’s basement too.
Yet another busy, busy week for Shaq, both in business and music. What’s next for the big man? Who knows? All we know is, you’ll see it right here…so stay tuned!