This is the inaugural edition of the EDMTunes monthly Artist Spotlight. At the end of every month, the EDMTunes team will select an artist to feature in this space.
Ryan Raddon, better known as Kaskade, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in the early 1980s. He attended Brinham-Young University for 4 semesters before taking sabbatical to complete a 2-year mission with the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan. In 1992, Kaskade returned the United States and complete his communications degree at the University of Utah. While at school he met his wife, Naomi, and worked at a local record store called Mechanized.
In 2000, the couple moved to San Francisco where the aspiring DJ secured his first industry job working for Om Records. Kaskade released his first single, “What I Say“, in 2001. His debut album came in 2003, titled “It’s You, It’s Me“. He would remain with Om for 6 years until 2006 when he signed with Ultra Records. With Ultra, Kaskade released 5 full length studio albums including the internationally renowned records “Fire & Ice” (2011) and “Atmosphere” (2013); both claimed the No. 1 spot on the US Dance/Electronic Album Chart, and breached the top-20 Billboard top 200.
Over the span of a 25+ year career, Kaskade has earned a reputation as being an industry leader in progressive/trace crossover music with flowing melodies and rhythmic undertones. In 2011, The New York Times published the story; “How Ryan Raddon Became the $200,000-a-night DJ known as Kaskade“. Earlier this year, his set at Coachella’s main stage drew a record crowd of more than 80,000.
The now-44-year-old DJ’s talent to release emotional electronica has been unmatched by any other American producer, and on September 25, 2015, Kaskade released “Automatic“, his 9th studio album, and his first on the Warner Bros label. The record includes original singles “A Little More”, “Never Sleep Alone”, and “Disarm You”.
Buy Automatic on iTunes
The last 10 years has obviously seen a massive shift in the electronic music scene in the United States, and Kaskade continues to stand on the firing line of the industry. He works to preserve our scene, and stand up for the fans when other artists might be more concerned with public relations and perception. In 2013, Kaskade spoke out about drug-related event cancellations, and gave an emotional response to an L.A. Times article which condemned electronic dance music.
Last year, he made headlines by vocalizing his outrage towards Soundcloud’s streaming services. Most recently, Kaskade shared his support for the TomorrowWorld attendees who were stranded in mud due to festival management and unmanageable weather conditions, tweeting a link to the story on Mashable, saying it’s important that people hear about disasters in our scene.