DJ Vice / His residencies at lavish super nightclubs like Tao and Lavo make DJ Vice Las Vegas’ premier club DJ. An average of 300 shows a year proves that he not only has Sin City in the palm of his hand, but much of the world as well. Locked, loaded and psyched to be back in the Aloha State for gigs at Paparazzi and Level 4, the party rocking, power mixer spoke with the Weekly last week from LAX, moments before boarding his flight to San Francisco, to discuss his lifestyle, the amount of time he spends in airports, and the joys of playing music for the people.

Talk about your last time playing in Hawaii and what you have in store for folks this time around.

I’m old school Hawaii. I don’t even know if the clubs exist anymore. I did Pipeline a bunch of times; World Café. It’s been a minute, man. Last time I was out there was a good four or five years ago. Definitely, my style has changed and evolved in terms of rocking parties because playing in Vegas for the last six years now, it’s like being in the major leagues to be holding down big-room nightclubs with like 4,000 to 6,000 people. So I’m basically going to bring that whole energy and vibe to Hawaii.

In interviews you often make it clear that you are a DJ for celebrities, not a celebrity DJ. Why?

When I hear “celebrity DJ,” the title bothers me because I’m not a celebrity DJ, I’m a DJ. A lot of DJs are coming out because they like the art form of it. It’s not to take pictures. That’s what happens to celebrity DJs. The crowd isn’t into what they’re playing. They’re more into the fact that they’re seeing that person. I want people to come out and see how I get down, and what I play, and how much fun the music really is.

Speaking of celebrity DJs, it has been reported that Pauly D from MTV’s Jersey Shore demands up to $7,000 per appearance; is that good for DJ culture?

I’ve heard it’s more than that. That’s exactly why I don’t say I’m a celebrity DJ. Pauly D is a celebrity DJ; they want to see him, they want to take pictures of him…Everyone has got to make their money whatever way they can. I met Pauly D, he’s a homie; he’s a cool dude. I watch that show, more power to him. Get it while you can, you know.

I hear you have a documentary in the works?

I’ve been taking a film crew with me out on the road and we’ve been documenting everywhere I’ve been going and doing interviews in different cities and talking about how long I’ve been doing it. There are a lot of DJs that ask me for advice. They want to know more about everything so I thought it would be a good idea to start talking about everything I go through. We’re still filming a couple more cities and then we’ll be done. After that, we’ll start editing.

Vegas is known as the ninth Hawaiian island to many locals, what examples of Hawaii do you see in the 702?

I have a lot of friends that live in Hawaii. I always try to show my support to my friends that are in town, even friends of friends. I’ll be on the mic giving shouts out to Hawaii saying “shoots, shoots.” They go crazy. There’s definitely an island culture in Vegas. There’s a Hawaiian spot I eat at once a week called Aloha Kitchen. It’s not even in a casino, it’s in the cut in a mini mall, it’s real small. That’s my spot.

Getting out of a club at 4 or 5 in the morning, you must be hungry. How essential is good late-night grubbing to a DJ’s lifestyle?

When I hit up a cool spot in a city, I write down in my Blackberry what cool food spots there are. I’ve got to find the new spots. I haven’t been in Hawaii for so long, things have probably changed, so I’ve got to be put up on game on the afterhours late night grub spots where everyone is at. I’d rather it be local food so I can get the flavor that’s out there.

Are you content with your place in the DJ world?

One hundred percent because I never got into this game to be the sickest DJ or make the most money, and have the best gigs. I got into it because it’s just what I like to do. Still, to this day, it is never a race to be on top or whatever. I just do my thing, stay humble, and have a good time.

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