Summer heats up with Kaskade

As an overnight success in the house music community, 33-year old artist-DJ-producer-writer Ryan Raddon, better known as Kaskade, can’t help but smile these days. Not only will he be touring Europe and the States, he will be coming to Asia and making a stopover in Manila and Boracay this summer. That’s right partyphiles, get ready as Dunhill Dimensions, in cooperation with O Music and Superfly Entertainment led by DJ Karl Ty, Leo Po, and GP Reyes, brings you Kaskade in two events on April 12 at The Coconut Palace, CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City; and on April 14 at Aria, Station 2 Boracay, Aklan.

With two sold-out albums and over 18 singles to his name, hits like It’s you, It’s me and Everything, Kaskade will hit our club scene with those punchy, well-programmed beats that have all the light, uplifting influence inspired by the San Francisco music scene, but also the soulfulness of his Chicago upbringing.

Kaskade who was called "The Best Up and Coming Artist of 2003" by URB magazine and as crafting "a captivating debut" by Billboard, Ryan remains unchanged, humble, and low-key. Starting his career in 1992 in Salt Lake City, DJ-ing in clubs which helped fund his education at the University of Utah, Ryan launched a weekly house night that lasted five successful years while owning and operating a local record shop called Mechanized Records. Though there were others promoting house music in Salt Lake, Ryan was the city’s pioneer, lighting a spark that set the scene on fire. It was in Salt Lake where he began building a studio, released several records on the Mechanized imprint and sold a breakthrough track to his favorite label, Om Records. "DJing inspired me to make music," he said. "It was definitely a simple evolution for me."

Moving to the Bay Area with his wife fast-tracked his career. What better way to get into the scene than to land a job as A&R assistant to Chris Smith at Om Records, where he created his alter ego Kaskade. Ryan would anonymously slip his tracks into the stacks of Om demos.

The past two years have promoted Ryan’s success. Kaskade tunes have become anthem-able simply because of their uplifting sound, organic instrumentals, and catchy vocals. Influenced by his Mormon upbringing and beliefs, Kaskade’s music embodies his life, love and happiness. "Everyone who works around me knows how I feel about things, so people are respectful of that. I’ve never had too many problems. I’ve been on the road where it’s been a little bit freaky, and I’ve been in situations (where) I’ve had to excuse myself. When I was getting into dance music when I was 15 or 16 years old, I always looked at the community as a very open and honest community. Everyone was from different backgrounds, different sexual preferences, different everything. But we all got along and we all relied on each other. Later, the whole rave thing came up and it became less about the music and more about the drugs. It did change my perception a little bit, just because it saddened me, and I withdrew a little bit. But I think it’s come back around for sure. I’m still into it because of the openness. I do my thing and people respect that," he said. "Besides," he added, "I’m an optimistic guy. There’s a lot of love in house music and this is just what comes out." He is equally as optimistic about the scene that has embraced him with such open arms. "Dance music is so fast moving and so forward thinking; it has morphed many times over. It will be interesting to see what the future holds."

With Dunhill Dimensions and Superfly hosting this event in cooperation of O Music, it will be an event that no one can afford to miss. Catch Kaskade live in Manila or party with him on the island of Boracay! For more information e-mail superflymanila@yahoo.com or click on to www.kaskademusic.com.