Diva Divo - Dance Magazine

Since exploding on to the scene with his debut artist album in 2003, Kaskade has earned critical acclaim, commercial success, and widespread acknowledgment for trailblazing a new sound in vocal House music. But he's become equally legendary for redefining the average dance fan's perception of a marquee DJ: "I think when people think of DJs in the club world, they think of these guys with strippers in their DJ booth, and mounds of cocaine and vodka!" he laughs in a voice with the slightest hint of California drawl. "They think of these guys who have been up for three or four nights in a row, fresh off their jet from Miami, or Ibiza, or wherever." Kaskade's West Coast attitude is more Bill & Ted than Dolce & Gabbana, and despite a recent label switch from OM to Ultra Records, it's doubtful he'll be manhandling those bikini babes on the cover of Ultra.Dance 69 any time soon. "There are guys like that out there," he says of more affected DJ personas. "You know, really nicely trimmed facial hair and sequined shirts… the over-the-top grotesque club guy. I'm like, the farthest thing from that. I've got holey jeans and a crappy tee shirt and flip flops, or whatever. It's always been about the music for me. I'm not so concerned about the image." Born Ryan Raddon, even the Kaskade stage name is the result of little more than a casual chat with pals (no market research or ad agency outsourcing for this guy): "It came out of sheer boredom!" he says. "Me and a couple friends were sitting around at lunch, coming up with goofy names. And it just kinda stuck."

And that's exactly what Kaskade fans love most about this House pioneer. Never one for image or pretense, Raddon is simply a chill Californian DJ, producer and songwriter with an ear for the greatest synth riffs and soulful grooves in recent dance music memory. His latest release, Bring the Night, is Kaskade's first compilation mix for Ultra Records. It's also a high-energy dose of pounding, beat driven tracks… a departure from the mid-tempo, melodic House that Ryan writes and produces for his artist albums. But a new direction doesn't mean he suddenly decided to sweat the small stuff. "I don't put a ton of thought into it!" he admits of selecting tracks for comp albums. "I've read a lot of interviews where all these guys like to give their philosophies on the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of the mix CD." Once again, Kaskade takes the path of least resistance. "For me? I just look in my DJ crate and I'm like, ‘man, I'm really feeling these 20 tracks.' Beyond that, I don't put a whole lot of thought into it… I really don't give it a second thought. I don't sit and stay up nights over it."

But even for Kaskade, that casual creative process behind the mix CD stands in stark contrast to the more concentrated work he does on his artist albums. "With the artist albums, for months I'm like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to change the melody right there. I want to reprogram some beats.' I'm really rinsing it out every night." And that, he says, is what made Bring the Night such a blast to make. "What I'm doing with a mix CD is cool," he sighs. "It alleviates the pressure. It's cool, man, to just have a fun afternoon mixing records together."

If Kaskade has applied a bit more gentle pressure to himself for his artist albums, the results have shown why; since his OM debut with It's You, It's Me, Kaskade has emerged as the producer to watch, rapidly ascending the ranks of headline names and scoring with single after single. Most recently, his song "Sorry" (Dirty South Mix appears on Bring the Night) became another Top 10 Billboard hit. Along with former labelmate Colette, Kaskade has distinguished himself as one of the most exciting artists of his generation. And while the two DJ/producers have very different sounds and styles, both have helped to define the current direction of House music: one that moves away from cold, impersonal, frantic beats and towards emotive, melodic hooks that sensually sway, bump and grind. Both artists were born and raised in Chicago, the birthplace of House, and both now call California home. Indeed, it would appear that the Los Angeles and San Francisco are rapidly becoming the new metropolis hotbeds for progressive dance music sounds. "I just feel like the whole West Coast just has an effect on dance music in general," says Kaskade. "The fact that I've had a role in that is certainly cool. I think that it's influenced the global sound, for sure. But with dance music, there's so many different, tiny genres that saying that doesn't mean a whole lot, really!"

Maybe not, but Kaskade admits to finding his own early inspiration in the nascent House of his hometown. "I grew up in Chicago and started buying records at a young age," he recalls. "I randomly got into the House music scene by going to a teen club when I was 16 years old, and being influenced by the House movement of the mid 80s… how it became this big thing in the underground."

When he moved on to college at the University of Utah, Ryan's love of House came to fruition. "That when I really realized, ‘this is a global phenomenon!'" he explains. "I was like, ‘If I want to be involved in this I'm going to have to make my own name.' So I just started DJing…and then I got a club in Salt Lake City to do a House night. When I graduated University, I was like, ‘I don't need to get a real job, man. The DJ thing is pretty cool!'"