Kaskade

Kaskade
Ryan Gary Raddon in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2012.
Background information
Birth name	Ryan Gary Raddon
Also known as	Kaskade [1]
Born	(1972-02-25) February 25, 1972
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	House progressive house electro house deep house
Occupation(s)	DJ record producer remixer
Instruments	Synthesizer drum machine music sequencer personal computer
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Om Ultra mau5trap Ministry of Sound Warner Bros.
Associated acts	deadmau5 Mindy Gledhill Neon Trees Skrillex Porter Robinson Late Night Alumni Quadron Skylar Grey Haley Gibby Tiësto Nate Pyfer
Website	kaskademusic.com

Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1972), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. On October 20, 2011, DJ Mag announced the results of their magazine, with Ultra Music, Kaskade placed at No. 30.^[2] DJ Times voted Kaskade "America's Best DJ 2011" and "America's Best DJ 2013".^[3][4]

Along with producers deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner, Kaskade became popular during the revival of American progressive house in late 2008–early 2009.

Early life

Born in Chicago,^[5] Kaskade grew up in nearby Northbrook and attended Glenbrook North High School.^[6] His brother, Rich Raddon, became an entrepreneur and film producer.^[7] He attended Brigham Young University in Provo, UT from 1989 to 1990, working on his DJ skills in his dorm room.^[5][8] At age 19, Raddon served a two-year full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan.^[5] Following his mission, in 1992, he moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah, ultimately graduating with a degree in communications.^[5][9] While attending school, he ran a record store in Salt Lake City called Mechanized.

Musical career

Beginnings

In 1995, Raddon began DJing his first monthly Monday night party at a basement venue called Club Manhattan. He used this additional income to purchase studio essentials.^[10] In May 2000, Raddon moved to San Francisco where he got a job working as an A&R assistant to John Elkins at Om Records, a house and electronic label. To Raddon's benefit, San Francisco was an emerging site of a new deep house movement.^[10] While at OM records he continued DJing and producing music. Soon after, Raddon created his alter ego, Kaskade, which his wife worried would remind people of the dish detergent.^[11] He took his stage name from a nature book when he saw a picture of a waterfall and a co-worker agreed "cascade" was a good choice, but he then changed the spelling. He did not take his name from the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest as fans sometimes cite.^[12]

After mixing the third volume in the Sounds of Om series, Ryan was offered a three-album deal for Kaskade. He kicked off the deal with a full-length house debut, It's You It's Me. Garnering critical acclaim on both sides of the pond, spawning several singles, and receiving a prestigious Dance Star nomination for Best New Artist, the release put Kaskade squarely on the dance music world's radar.^[13] Concentrating on his DJing skills, Kaskade started to experiment and develop his own sound.^[14]

Debut single

Kaskade released his first single "What I Say" on the label in 2001.^[15] In the Moment saw Kaskade's first top 10 single with "Steppin' Out" reaching No. 5 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Club Play chart and No. 6 on Dance Radio Airplay.^[16] The fourth single to be released from the album, "Everything," reached No. 1 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Club Play.^[16]

Kaskade's fourth solo album Love Mysterious was released in September 2006.^[17] The first single from the album, "Be Still", reached No. 4 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Club Play.^[16] The single features vocalist Sunsun, and includes remixes by Jay-J and Robbie Rivera. Follow up single "Stars Align" hit number No. 8 on "Billboard Magazine" Hot Dance Airplay chart and just missed the top ten, No. 11, on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. His fourth single released from "Love Mysterious", "Sorry", was his third consecutive top ten hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart, at No. 9. Dirty South provided a remix for "Sorry". The remix was nominated for a 2008 Grammy for Best Remixed Recording.

Ultra Records & Deadmau5

In late 2006, Kaskade left OM Records and signed with Ultra Records.

Kaskade worked with Canadian house/electronic DJ/artist deadmau5 to produce tracks on Strobelite Seduction, including the first single (released as an EP) Move for Me. The single became his fifth top ten hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart, reaching the number one position in its September 6, 2008 issue.^[18] It also gave Kaskade his first number one single on this chart. The dance single has become a crossover hit, managing to reach number 71 on the Canadian Hot 100 as of February 14, 2009. "I Remember", another collaboration with deadmau5, became his first UK hit, peaking inside the top 15 on the UK Singles Chart. The video-clip which accompanied "I Remember" was filmed in Manchester, England. The single became his second chart topper on the Billboard dance chart. The follow-up single, "Angel on My Shoulder" with Tamra Keenan, also found success on the dance chart, placing at number 5 on Billboard's Hot Dance Airplay Chart. His song "Step One Two" was the last single from the album, being released late in 2008.

Headlining UMF & Grammy nominations

In 2010, he added another number one Billboard Hot Dance Airplay track to his credit with "Dynasty", featuring Haley Gibby on vocals.^[19]

In March 2012, Kaskade headlined at Ultra Music Festival in Miami, Florida, coming on before Armin van Buuren Sunday night.^[20]

In April 2012, Kaskade took to Indio, California to headline opposite Radiohead two weekends at Coachella Valley Music Festival.^[21] In June 2012, the American House producer was one of the headlining acts at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[22] That same month, he started the "Freaks of Nature" summer tour in support of his released album Fire & Ice.^[23]

In December 2013, Kaskade was nominated for two Grammy Awards: the song "Atmosphere" for Best Dance Recording and the album Atmosphere for Best Dance/Electronica Album.

In 2014, Kaskade was listed as the No. 8 highest paid DJ in the world according to Forbes, earning $17 million.^[24]

In 2015, he was a guest star on BYUtv's Studio C. He played a DJ whose music makes people do unbelievable things. Additionally in 2015, he headlined Coachella alongside Drake for two weekends and, over the course of the two weekends, pulled in the two largest crowds the festival had ever seen.^[25]

Other projects

Kaskade is also an active member of Summer Of Space, Late Night Alumni and The Sellars.

Kaskade is one of 9 artists who participated in thetruth.com's Remix Project, where he remixed the Sunny Side song "Smaller Babies".

On May 30, 2010 Kaskade became a resident DJ for daytime pool parties at the Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas, NV. The parties were entitled "Kaskade Sundays." ^[26][27]

Kaskade's song "I Remember" with deadmau5 is played on a level of GoldenEye 007 for the Wii. "I Remember" and "Move For Me" were also featured in DJ Hero 2 and are credited as being performed by deadmau5 & Kaskade

Kaskade also produced Haley's album All This Love released by Ultra Records.

Kaskade's single "4 AM" was featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto V on the fictional radio station "FlyLo FM."

Personal life

Raddon is married and has three children.^[28] He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[29]

Discography

Studio albums

• It's You, It's Me (2003)
• In the Moment (2004)
• The Calm (2006)
• Love Mysterious (2006)
• Strobelite Seduction (2008)
• Dynasty (2010)
• Fire & Ice (2011)
• Atmosphere (2013)
• Automatic (2015)

Official tours

• Urban Tour (2011)
• Freaks of Nature Tour (2012)
• United States Formula 1 Grand Prix Weekend (2012)
• It's You, It's Me Redux Tour (2013)
• Atmosphere Tour (2013)
• Redux Tour (2014)^[30]
• Automatic Tour (2015)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

America's Best DJ Award

^[31]

See also

• Om Records
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance airplay chart

References

External links

• Official website
• Artist Site at Ultra Records
• Kaskade on EDM Lounge