Steve Aoki 'Went Introspective' with 'HiROQUEST: Genesis' and Discovered 'Other Passions'

Aldo Carrera Steve Aoki

For Steve Aoki, quarantining during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a moment of reflection. In those moments, he discovered he could go back to his roots — which led him to the making of his seventh studio album.

On Friday, Aoki (né Steven Hiroyuki Aoki) released his latest record titled HiROQUEST: Genesis and he spoke to PEOPLE about the creative process, along with his newly discovered interests.

"This album was a long time in the making," Aoki, 44, tells PEOPLE. "My previous albums have this inspiration from being on the road or playing in front of a lot of people, and that does trickle into your creative pursuit. But with this one, I really went more introspective. I kind of went nostalgic. I picked up a guitar, I picked up a bass ... I was playing what I used to play before I was a DJ — I used to be in bands."

Courtesy Dim Mak HiROQUEST: Genesis album cover art

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He continues, "I say the core genre on the album is actually more rock than EDM (electronic dance music). There's EDM sounds in it, but I really went down that rabbit hole. But at the same time, I needed to just make sure to maintain the global sound of Steve Aoki. So I called up all these different artists from different genres."

This led to collaborations with artists that pushed outside of Aoki's norm — like placing a country spin on "Move On" with Kane Brown and infusing punk rock with Mod Sun on "Movie Star."

"I was playing Call of Duty with Kane Brown, and we bonded over gaming and we bonded over music, and the idea to merge EDM and country into one song, which I think is pretty awesome," he says of working with Brown. "It's the first time I used a harmonica, and there's more country guitar lead that's actually in the track, and a line dance drop. It's really interesting to merge those worlds."

The main thing Aoki wants fans to remember about his music is that "it's global" and has "no boundaries."

This album also marks the first time that Aoki creates a bridge between his love for music and trading cards.

"We weren't planning on making a CD, but we wanted to introduce the whole trading card set in a way where it combines with the music," he says. "So we're like, 'Why not do a CD and kind of bring back the nostalgia of what a CD is?' Most people have probably no idea what a CD looks like."

Each CD features the 26 tracks on the album and one of 64 trading cards designed. His love for collecting started with baseball and football cards as a kid — but he found his way back to it during the pandemic.

Aldo Carrera Steve Aoki

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"I'm a very fluid human being. I just flow wherever things lead me. That was the great release or freedom of the quarantine period of time, is that my life was on hold," he explains. "I've been on a moving train doing 200, 300 shows a year for 15 years, and everything stopped. So I was like, 'What are my other passions besides music? I'm still going to make music and create music and play music, but I mean, what are the other passion points?' "

He continues, "I'm a creator, so whatever I love, I want to be on the creative side, I want to be part of the creator economy, I want to help add value to whatever I'm doing, and have fun while I'm doing it."

HIROQUEST: Genesis is out now.