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 Click for music events Ryan's hope Kaskade brings love and happiness home to Chicago
Ryan Raddon, aka Kaskade, felt like an outsider growing up in Chicago's
suburbs as a practicing Mormon.
"I felt really disjointed growing up in high school--here was this
guy who didn't play sports, who didn't party. I didn't really fit in, so
I got into music." Of course, he's laughing about it now, not only
because this year's debut album has him pegged as one of the freshest
new dance-music artists in America, but also because of where he went to
school: the now infamous Glenbrook North. Of course, he's still getting
teased about his alma mater's hazing scandal, even in his new home in
San Francisco. But he doesn't seem to mind too much. Life's too good
right now.
This spring's release of the album "It's you, it's me" has been
greeted by a flood of international publicity, culminating in his
selection as Urb magazine's "Best Up and Coming DJ" at this year's
Winter Music Conference in Miami. And the accolades are well deserved,
for Raddon's put together a fresh collection of deep, soulful house
(and some downtempo) fueled by terrific vocals, engaging harmonies and
crisp beats. Although the lyrics are stripped down, the songs are
infectious enough to cross over from the dance to the pop charts.
When Raddon returns to Chicago this week for a set at Zentra, it will
be his first time back in two years. But he's never really left the
town that sparked his passion, as a teenager in search of something,
when he discovered the sounds of house music being played on the radio,
on WBMX's Hot Mix 5, and started venturing out to hear the DJs at
Medusa's, Limelight, Exit and Metro. He found a sort of home there:
"The whole scene was a place to be, where open thinkers were hanging
out," he recalls fondly. His religious temperance was not a burden in
this world. "One of my best friends was gay... the fact that I didn't
party was cool." It was like "I'm a freak, you're a freak, let's hang
out together." The move from hanging out to joining in was more
gradual. "I heard a commercial on WNUR for Gramaphone" and went to
check it out. "I wasn't buying twelve-inches because I expected to be a
DJ, I just thought it was cool."
He moved to Salt Lake City for college, and discovered that the
vibrant house scene of his hometown was completely missing in the
desert. So he started one, and spent five years in a club residency,
building a solid following and making friends who would later play a big
role in his music. After a two-year stint as a missionary in Tokyo where
he went on a "hiatus from dance music," he finished school and moved
to San Francisco, his wife's home turf and the center of "a really
nice deep house scene." It was there he made the "pivotal step" of
getting a job at Om Records, the dominant West Coast house label and
home to fellow Chicago expatriate Mark Farina. "I didn't know anybody.
I called Om and asked if they had any openings, and they said in fact
they did. I worked as an A&R assistant for two-and-a-half years."
It was while working at Om that he started developing the Kaskade
identity and sound. He did so covertly at first, since he'd make a demo
and then slip it into the label president's stack. He tells of sitting
in his office at the label and checking his personal voicemail messages
and hearing the label's boss trying to woo him. Before long, a deal was
done.
With this new identity, he crafted a new sound. His earlier records
had been "cutting up disco records--bangy, tracky tunes." Now he was
striving for a bigger, more musical sound. To get it, he turned to his
Salt Lake City cohorts (some of whom had since moved to Toronto) who
became his collaborators. The album features guitar, flute, trumpet,
keyboards and so on, but the major players are the voices: Joslyn, Rob
Wannamaker and Amy Michelle. All three bring deep lush vocals ranging
from soul to R&B to the songs, and all three were folks Raddon met in
Salt Lake.
Raddon's also trying to bring his fresh ideas to the turntables for
his DJ sets. He's trying to play mostly original material, including
new mixes of tracks on the album. Eventually he'd like to do a live
show, but he himself doesn't play any instruments. "I was a singer in
the choir. I tried to sing on the record, but I wasn't impressed with
the way I sounded, so I cut myself." Like everything he says, he says
it cheerfully. In fact, his record reflects a rather upbeat worldview,
as well as a PG-13 romantic sensibility in a music genre renowned for
its XXX moments. He admits it might be the influence of his religious
upbringing.
"I'm a pretty optimistic guy--that's the kind of person I am. It's
all about love and happiness. But the sexual thing's cool. I met my wife
on the dance floor--actually I was DJing... ." Given that, who can
blame him for making happy music? Kaskade DJs May 30 at Zentra, 923 West Weed, (312)787-0400.
Also by Brian Hieggelke Fun house
Leader of the pack
Electro energy
The S series
Spin control
When hawks cry
Be Like Lebron
Back to School
Chinese dynasty
Bond age
Tip of the Week
Sugar buzz
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