A student will have the chance to open for the producer behind a number of rising alternative rock and hip-hop stars — DJ Steve Aoki — before his Homecoming weekend performance.

University Union announced Tuesday that Aoki, producer and DJ, will headline the first fall 2010 concert in the Bandersnatch Music Series. The concert will begin 8 p.m. on Oct. 11 in the Goldstein Auditorium in the Schine Student Center. University Union is bringing Aoki to campus in collaboration with Orange Central 2010, the Homecoming planning committee.

In addition to mixing music, Aoki is the founder of Dim Mak Records, which has launched the careers of Bloc Party, MSTRKRFT and Gossip. Aoki is also an artist and DJ and has recently been collaborating with Kid Cudi, Chiddy Bang and Lil Jon.

UU will also be holding a competition for student DJs. The winner will open for Aoki on Oct. 11.

‘We’re looking for a unique sound, something a little edgy, something that fits that Aoki vibe,’ said Emily Fines, codirector of the Bandersnatch series.

Until Tuesday’s announcement, UU had been keeping the competition and the headlining artist quiet, so they have not yet received any submissions, Fines said. But she said she hopes they’ll have a good turnout of interested students.

‘I’ve mentioned to a few people that we’re having a student competition, but we’ve been keeping it pretty vague,’ she said.

Interested students need to submit a brief paragraph and a sample mix as part of their audition. After the organizers of Bandersnatch judge the submissions, a winner will be announced.

UU also held a student competition for the emcee at last year’s talk with Andy Samberg in Goldstein Auditorium. The joint performance between Samberg and junior Davis Haines received polarized reviews, ranging from those who loved the student performance to those who thought it took away from the main star.

Aoki will perform in one of two concerts sponsored by the Bandersnatch series. Fines said UU was hoping to be a little bit different with this first fall concert. They had hoped to bring in a strong DJ artist who complemented the live performers at Juice Jam 2010, Fines said.

‘We wanted a DJ because we felt we hadn’t done something in that genre in a long time,’ Fines said. ‘We wanted something different. Having just had Juice Jam, it’s a good contrast with that, as well as our next artist for Bandersnatch.’

Aoki started Dim Mak Records in 1996 after graduating from the University of California at Santa Barbara. His most recent single was done with Will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas and has gained popularity in the United Kingdom, Fines said.

His debut album ‘Pillowface and His Airplane Chronicles’ won the Billboard Electronic Chart Best Mix Album of the Year in 2008.

‘We were debating a bunch of artists, but this was the best for what we wanted to do,’ Fines said.

Because the concert is scheduled for Homecoming weekend, UU was able to get some funding from Orange Central 2010. The extra funding allowed for UU to bring in a larger artist, Fines said.

In the past, the Bandersnatch series has brought in artists like Miike Snow, The Academy Is… and Mike Posner.

UU is not yet releasing who its next artist in the Bandersnatch series will be.

Tickets for the concert go on sale Wednesday in the Schine Box Office. The concert is $5 for SU and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students and $7 for faculty. Students may bring a limited number of guests who are 18 or older, Fines said.

rastrum@syr.edu

Published on September 20, 2010 at 12:00 pm