Speaking with Abraham Laguna, more commonly known as trap guru Ookay, proved to be one of the most entertaining interviews that I've had the pleasure of doing. Late Friday evening at the 4th Annual Electric Daisy Carnival in Orlando, Florida, Ookay shared information about upcoming events, his new 'Ghost' EP, the Buygore Show Tour, producing his own music video, and OF COURSE pizza.
(far left Danielle Verderese of Duelle, left middle = myself, right middle = Ookay, far right = Gabrielle Verderese of Duelle, front center = Kennedy Jones)
Ariel DB: Tell me a little about your performance and how you felt playing EDC Orlando.
Ookay: Probably the longest set ever (in a good way). We were just mixing through sets so fast. I was looking at the time and was like "Oh man it's only been 30 minutes!" The crowd was reactive, they were energetic the whole time through and they were reacting to every song the way I expected them to. It was awesome to see everyone just having a good time. First day of EDC, they were going-in and they were fresh. It was great!
Ariel DB: You go b2b with Kennedy Jones a lot. How does your set from EDC Orlando compare to EDC Las Vegas?
Ookay: Insomniac already knows how to make the place magical in the sense that it's INSOMNIAC. You already know that it's going to be awesome vibes, great art everywhere. It's just the vibe that they put together with all the stages and with the crowd and just the fans that come out of Insomniac, EDC, and of ours. Vegas was my first big EDC, so I was very nervous before playing my set. In Orlando, I went out and just did my thing, just like last time. So basically that's what we did and it was flawless. Honestly, I haven't seen Kennedy Jones in like a month and we just met today like "What do you want to play?" I was like, "I don't know." We just went out there not knowing what the hell is going on and just did what we do best and that's performing in front of thousands of fans.
Ariel DB: Amazing! So, I have a couple of statements/questions concerning pizza to talk about.
Ookay: Oh, thank God!
Ariel DB: Pizza Bae - I just wanted to let you know that I helped coordinate that pizza.
Ookay: OHHHH! IN VEGAS
Ariel DB: You know Molly Hankins, we ordered that pizza together.
Ookay: Oh really! I didn't know that.
Ariel DB: How was that whole experience with Pizza Bae? I watched the video and it was hilarious.
Ookay: Well, I love pizza enough to marry it so that's exactly what I did. Unfortunately right now I don't have pizza, we have hummus with pita chips. I've been wanting to marry pizza for a long time and I love pizza enough to do that at EDC, so what better moment to do it. We didn't plan it very long, it was just like maybe 2-3 weeks before just like "Hey let's go get a pizza, put some legs on it.. and marry it."
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_388zim0sc]
Ariel DB: Molly was like a drill-sergeant about it, the pepperoni's gave us some issues.
Ookay: She is savage when it comes to pizza. Shout-out to Molly Hankins!
AG: I heard in an interview with Dim Mak that you talked about something called a pizza-rito?
Ookay: Basically what you do is you take two pizza slices and then you put them together with a tortilla and you wrap around it with any other toppings you want like ranch, buffalo sauce, anything you want. It's probably my best invention yet. I'm probably going to get it patented it very soon and get the rights for it.
Ariel DB: Daily Beat also interviewed you at TomorrowWorld and spoke to you a little about directing your own music video. Do you have any updates on that?
Ookay: Well, I have an idea more about exactly what I want to do. I'm actually writing the song for the music video as we speak. Not like actually right now, I'm not at my studio. My next move, or next EP, will be directed towards the music video. I give it a couple of months and let this EP resonate and then start working on filming.
Ariel DB: That's actually my next question about your 'Ghost' EP coming out. How excited are you?
Ookay: So excited! Everyone I showed it to has really given me good feedback on it and that gives me even more excitement. There's really some good stuff on there. It's been a great experience making it. We're going to have a party in LA for it. You guys are invited by the way.
Ariel DB: If we lived in LA. We're both from Florida.
Ookay: Actually, I'm coming back to Florida with Borgore for the Buygore Show Tour.
Ariel DB: Yeah, in January you're joining the Buygore show! How do you feel about that?
Ookay: I'm excited and it's my first bus tour. I've never done it and now I get to do it with some of my favorite people: My tour manager James, Borgore, Jauz, Steven, Dotcom and they're all family.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YYxuydj-r8]
Ariel DB: Is there any advice you can give for upcoming artists?
Ookay: Don't listen to people unless they're like your inspiration and they have only constructive criticism. Anyone on Soundcloud, Facebook, or Twitter will say whatever they want to just get inside your head. Make the music that YOU want to make, that YOU want to hear live; make the music that YOU like first and then the fans will come. When I started doing this, I never listened to trap and I started making it because it was really fun and it started getting more intense. My advice is to just have fun, don't worry what anyone else says about your music (unless it's another producer who has the credibility to tell you) and just have a great time. No one's made it yet and you're the only one that can. Do you!
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