Published in the August 2008 issue of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 21 - Number 8
By Emily Tan

These days, life is very good for Ryan Raddon. Known professionally as Kaskade, the 35-year-old DJ/producer has seen his career bloom to a point where he’s consistently releasing music the masses appreciate, he’s playing to packed houses and he’s getting remix work from the world’s biggest pop stars. What’s not to like?

The industry appreciation is beginning to stack up, too. This past March in Miami, he was presented with the Club World Award for “Best Resident DJ” (for his booth work at Chicago’s Smart Bar). Also, for the second consecutive year, he’s been nominated for DJ Times’ America’s Best DJ poll and he participated in the adherent summer tour, sponsored by Pioneer Pro DJ. The ABDJ gig—this past June 7 at LA’s Giant party—was off the hook.

From our conversation, it’s apparent that Kaskade’s career path was well considered. Ultimately, he knew that the combo of production and songwriting was the way up and that DJing would remain one of the better avenues to spread his original music. With a string of radio-ready tunes like “I Like The Way” and “Stars Align” under his belt, the booking offers never end. Still, one of his biggest challenges is finding ways to reduce his tour stops in order to devote enough creative time in the studio. It’s a problem all DJs should have.

Strobelight Seduction (Ultra) is Kaskade’s fifth artist album, and the Deadmau5 collaboration, “Move For Me” is an instant winner. Sitting down with DJ Times for a leisurely chat before his show at New York’s Mansion, the San Francisco-based Kaskade revealed that his posi-vibe music is in direct keeping with his state-of-mind. Things are looking up.

DJ Times: “Move For Me” is my favorite track from Strobelight Seduction. Can you describe your collaborative process with Deadmau5 on that one?

Kaskade: I had Deadmau5 on Instant Messenger a year ago. I’d bought “Not Exactly” and a couple of other [Deadmau5] songs and I was really into what he was doing. I hit him up a couple of times on MySpace because I didn’t have a contact for him—like, “Hey, this is Kaskade and I’m really into what you’re doing. I got one of his tracks and I had an idea for the verse, lyrics and melody…” I went ahead and wrote vocals, got it recorded and I was playing it out in clubs, testing it out. I mashed up an idea I had over one of his tracks and it totally worked.

DJ Times: What did he think?

Kaskade: He’s like, “You’re the guy who rented a jet and flew to DJ three cities on New Year’s Eve?” [Laughs] I sent the track over to him, and he’s like, “Cool, give me a couple of minutes.” I’m on one end on IM and he’s on the other end. It was totally the future! We did it over iChat.

DJ Times: You and Deadmau5 didn’t know each other, but your first collaboration came together over IM?

Kaskade: Yeah, he’s listening to the chorus typing, “WTF!!!” [Laughs] He sends me “I Remember,” which became track number six on the album. It was a classic Deadmau5 sound and ready to go. Instantly, I was inspired.

DJ Times: Who sings on “I Remember”?

Kaskade: The singer’s Haley Gibby—she also sings on “Move For Me” and “Step One Two.” I sent Deadmau5 the vocals, he chops ‘em up and I’m like, “Dude, this was so easy, let’s do one more track together! I’m working on an album and I can put these on the record and have this vibe…” “I Remember” came together super-quick. The other ones took longer because we’re both touring like crazy. I met him in person at WMC and I’d never spoken to him over the phone at that point. By the time we met, all this stuff was done. I was like, “I don’t even know if I wanna meet you!”
[Laughs]

DJ Times: What is WE8?

Kaskade: WE8 is a program that Coca-Cola rolled out and they asked me to write a song for them. They were matching my song with a designer. It’s music [by Western DJs/producers] and [Chinese] designers matched up, and Tiësto and Benny Benassi both wrote songs for it. There’s eight of us in all and Chinese graphics artists, and they do these bottles, the wraps, which are really beautiful.

DJ Times: What’s the concept?

Kaskade: I think the whole idea behind this was the spirit of the [Beijing] Olympics and bringing people together. Like, you’re from the U.S. and we want you to write a song about healthy living. Each bottle has a theme, and mine was “healthy living.” It made a lot of sense. This is my fifth artist album and my whole theme is euphoric, very positive. My stuff is very hands-in-the-air, close-your-eyes-and-soak-it-in kind of music. I think the whole idea of getting artists across the world to collaborate is a good thing. For me, the idea behind it is very positive, and the idea behind the Olympics is getting people together. It’s really cool to be involved with this. It’s a limited-edition thing. Only certain bottles are sold in certain territories. The collector’s sets are like $75-a-pop.

DJ Times: Are they selling your CDs with the bottles?

Kaskade: They’re giving the music away [for free] with promotional codes when you buy the bottle. My territory is China. Only certain places sell certain bottles. It’s pretty punk-rock for Coca-Cola to do.

DJ Times: Do you feel as though commercial success takes away from your credibility as a serious DJ/producer/artist?

Kaskade: I’m sure as my brand expands and more people know my name, it erodes some of the underground popularity. Take Tiësto. Guys get respect in the underground, but as soon as they get big… I think there are really hardcore fans who feel very connected to the music, and they get a little rattled and maybe jealous when other people find out about this [music]. Like, “This is my secret!” Ninety percent of the people are so happy for your success, though. It’s cool going to [the movie] “Sex & The City” and hearing [“I Like The Way”] in there. Stuff like that is awesome.

DJ Times: How did you start in this business? Did you ever do mobile gigs?

Kaskade: I’ve had a very steady climb and I never did mobiles. I played a few weddings and I still get quite a few wedding requests. I probably get 20 a year because I write a lot of love songs. I also wonder how many people have procreated while listening to my music. [Laughs]

DJ Times: You haven’t played any of the mobile parties you’ve been requested for?

Kaskade: I’m so used to the club and festival setting where I’m booking up four, five months in advance. I’ve played a wedding or two in my day for friends and small gatherings. People come up to me all the time, like, “My first dance was to ‘It’s You It’s Me.’ Tonight it’ll happen, you’ll see.”

DJ Times: What advice would you give to aspiring DJ/producers?

Kaskade: You gotta worry about what’s right in front of you. When I moved to San Francisco in 2000, the underground was just massive back then. Naked Music was this global brand at that moment and I looked around like, what’s gonna differentiate me? There’s a million DJs here! It doesn’t matter that I’ve been a DJ for 15 years and I can match beats in my sleep. That’s not what matters. What’s gonna make me unique is writing and producing new music. I aspired to be more of a songwriter. I realized that if I can write something really honest and from the heart, people will connect with that. Find the thing that you love and make your own sound.

DJ Times: That’s what sets you apart.

Kaskade: When Justin Timberlake hires me for a remix, or Seal or Nelly Furtado or Britney Spears, they don’t say, “Make a club smash.” They’re like, “We want Kaskade to give his interpretation of this song.” It’s an artistic approach. I always tell aspiring people: Be honest with yourself and find your niche. Find what you love and focus on that.

DJ Times: You feel DJs still need to produce in order to break that barrier and make a name for themselves?

Kaskade: For sure. In your local market, anyone can be a DJ and do something interesting in a local market. But if you wanna break out of North America or be more of a global brand, you need to produce.

DJ Times: How do aspiring producers get their music to high-profile DJs like you?

Kaskade: I just did it myself. No one was listening, so I pressed the first three records I put out. In 1997, I pressed my first 12-inch myself! I got a thousand bucks together, maxed out my credit card at the time. I was a college student at the time and that’s a lot of money. I got on the phone to distributors. I researched who to sell the vinyls to and I believed in it enough to keep going. I needed to get out there, learn how to write, produce and be an engineer.

DJ Times: Do you engineer your own tracks?

Kaskade: I do, but I also work with an engineer. I’m not interested in how people get the output. To a certain extent I do because I’m a computer geek; I learned Pro Tools and I enjoy that technical side. I’m definitely more focused on the vibe. A lot of people master their own tracks—I don’t. That’s why when you buy tracks online a lot of times at Beatport, it doesn’t sound right. That’s not Beatport’s fault—it’s that there’s no mastering engineer! Something was lost when we went straight to digital. It used to be, the guy who mastered it would cut the lacquers for you. Now, all these kids think, “Oh, I’m gonna get a Finalizer plug-in and that’s enough.” That’s not enough.

DJ Times: Do you buy a lot of music from Beatport?

Kaskade: My main avenue is promos, about 80-percent. Beatport’s my main source for info and just seeing what’s out there. I spend quite a bit on Beatport.

DJ Times: Where else do you shop? Do you buy vinyl anymore?

Kaskade: Yeah, sure. I’ve got 10,000 records and I still buy vinyl when I go home to Chicago. It used to be every Thursday on shipment day I was there, like, “Yeah, let’s go!” Now, it’s cool if I make it once-a-month.

DJ Times: In this digital age, is the record store environment important to you in terms of programming?

Kaskade: No. The thing I really liked about the record store was the whole “High Fidelity” thing. I definitely miss being part of the community because it’s like you go in there and bond with other DJs, like, “Man, what’s working for you? Because I dropped this at one o’clock and it emptied out and I thought it was gonna be this huge thing.” And all these guys would be there like, “Dude, you haven’t got this? You gotta get this!” That whole community part—I definitely miss that.

DJ Times: So, the human interaction is something you find essential, yet lacking, today?

Kaskade: The Internet was great when it first came out. The communal part I miss. The first day Beatport and Tracksource went live, I bought music from them.

DJ Times: Did you record this album in your own studio?

Kaskade: I’ve got a studio, but it’s not in my house. I’m on the road so much, a lot of my original ideas start on my laptop. I travel with a Pro Tools LE system Micro, the USB port, and just jack it in. You have to be ready for inspiration. The song “4AM” I wrote after a gig in L.A. It was 4:30 in the morning and I had had a crazy, euphoric night. Packed club, line around the block—it was one of those nights like, “Oh my God!” It was 5:00 a.m., and I’m sitting there eating French toast at an all-night café. The lyrics came to me and I had the melody worked out before I even went to sleep. I was trying to capture the mood.

DJ Times: Did you use a commercial studio for vocals or live instrumentation?

Kaskade: I recorded the vocals for two songs at Moulton Studios in San Francisco. It’s a pretty famous studio. Besides that, everything was recorded in my studio.

DJ Times: What analog gear do you still use?

Kaskade: I don’t have a lot anymore. I’ve got a microKORG and a Juno 106; the micro is all over my sound. A lot of it’s in the box, now, because [software] is just so powerful.

DJ Times: What’s your DJ booth setup at the moment?

Kaskade: Pioneer CDJ1000s and a Pioneer DJM800 mixer—that’s it.

DJ Times: You’re not a laptop, Ableton Live kind of guy?

Kaskade: I’m definitely toying with the idea of switching to Traktor and I’ve had that for a long time and I use it in the studio. It’s extremely powerful, and I definitely feel like I’ll be there very soon. But, I’m slow to switch. I’m one of these guys who held onto vinyl. But I imagine I’ll go to Traktor soon, just because I’m so tired of burning CDs. [Burning CDs] can’t be good for the environment.

DJ Times: How many CDJ-1000s do you use?

Kaskade: I prefer three or four…for a cappellas, and CDs load a little slower, so I like to have four, because if I have an idea, I can load up two or three things and it’s sitting in front of me. Pretty easily I can get three tracks going. I’ll have tricks, and especially with my own productions, I’ll do re-edits. It’s like, I’ve been playing this [song] for eight years! I know where it breaks down. [Laughs]

DJ Times: Is there a piece of DJ gear that’s not yet invented, that you’d like to see?

Kaskade: Don’t get me started! To really do what I want, I think Traktor’s pretty close. I need easier looping functions. I like the effects on the DJM-800 and I use that a lot. I want it all in one unit. I also want better monitors in all the clubs.

DJ Times: When you’re DJing, how do you approach your sets?

Kaskade: My fanbase is very particular and they’re not the typical clubber. They’re a bit more sophisticated. I’d say 50-percent of the music I play is mine.

DJ Times: I’ve seen shows where people are singing the words to every one of your songs, at the top of their lungs, like at a pop concert.

Kaskade: People wanna hear me play my hits. I love pop music—“pop” is not a dirty word at all.

DJ Times: What’s next for Kaskade?

Kaskade: Hard to say. I’m enjoying the ride and I’ll continue touring as long as people are still booking me. I’m having the time of my life.