pical job sitting at a computer, clacking away!" But in an atypical move, Ryan transformed his office space into the launching pad of a major artist debut, releasing his first single "What I Say" on the label in 2001.

In 6 years, he's shot to stardom without losing a single shred of the laid-back cool that endeared him to fans. For one thing, Raddon sees his growth in the music world as indicative of the industry trends. "The tables have turned," he says. "20 years ago, DJs were just that; they played other people's music. But over the last 10 or 20 years, that's transformed. The DJ became a producer with the advent of all this technology. Now you can spend a few thousand dollars and have a decent setup in your room to program beats. Then DJs tried their hand at remixing, and then they wrote their own songs… I think where I'm different is that I'm writing and producing, and it's unique and different; it's not what DJ Knuckles is doing, it's not what DJ Dan is doing, and it's not what Tiesto's doing."

Bring the Night, if different from his mellow, melodic artist albums, is still consistent with what Kaskade is doing. "This is a continuous mix," he emphasizes. "Something you would find me doing on any Friday or Saturday night at your local club."

And he has just one instruction: "Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to sweat, man. We're gonna have a good time."

TRIVIA

In addition to his own artist work, Kaskade is an active member of Late Night Alumni, the collective that released the hit "Empty Streets."

The song "4 AM" from Love Mysterious was actually written in the early morning hours. "I wrote that song after a show in Los Angeles," says Kaskade. "It was 4:45 in the morning and we just got out of a show with 500 crazy kids sweating. It inspired me to write that song."

Kaskade just wrapped up remixes for songs off Seal's upcoming album.

What producer is at the top of Kaskade's list right now? He names Stuart Price (aka Thin White Duke; Jacques Lu Cont) among his current faves.

In addition to studying in Salt Lake City, Ryan considers himself of the area's Mormon faith.

Kaskade fans can take comfort that more original work is on the way: he's working on his new artist album, tentatively slated for late Spring, 2008.

KASKADE ON…

… the merging of dance genres.

"I think we're getting back to where it was in the early 90s, when everything was just dance music. It's cool man, the genre bending going on right now. There's House music that sounds like Trance, and Trance music that sounds like House and Breaks… it's just kind of melding together. Which is cool, man! I think people get too caught up in the genre thing. Look, I could care less what it is. I just want to listen to good stuff."

… his perfect night out (and it doesn't involve a club!)

"I love food, so going to some new restaurant in San Francisco and hanging out with friends. Conversation and good food is a good night for me. I love going to shows… I saw The Killers play recently and it was an amazing night. I love music. But I really love my quiet time, too. So I love to go to a new restaurant, have some good food in a nice atmosphere and catch up."

… the eternal fame of the DJ Mix.

"The mix CD is a fascinating thing, man. Dance music has always been kind of sold and packaged in that format and it seems like no matter how many artist albums I do, people really love to hear it mixed and compiled as a DJ would do it. It kind of boggles my mind a little bit. Man, people really love mix CDs! We graduated from the mix tape to the mix CD, and now people download it on iTunes and listen to it on their iPod."

… his greatest moment in performing.

"Every weekend! 700 kids crammed into a room that should probably hold 400, just screaming at the top of their lungs, pumping up and down when I put on one of my songs and singing the lyrics. That's what it's all about, right? Those are the moments I cherish, and I'm lucky enough to be having those all the time…. They don't get old."

… the switch from OM to Ultra Records.

"I had remixed a David Morales track ["Here I Am'] for Ultra a couple years ago. Later, it became a really big hit for me and Ultra and everyone involved. I was working with them, and when it was time to find a new deal Ultra was right there. They were kind of my new friends, and they'd been very supportive of everything I was doing a that time. So it seemed like a good opportunity to try something. I'd been with OM Records for five years at that point, so it just kind of looked like a new opportunity to try something fresh."