Honest. Elegant. Beautiful. Such terms are rarely used to describe electronic artists and their music. But KASKADE is a rare breed.
The songwriter/producer/DJ/phenomenon is one of electronic music’s most sought-after emissaries, and one of its most beloved figures. Unaffected and laidback, he’s known to show up at gigs in flip-flops, ready to warm the room – to a simmer or a boil – with his unique brand of feel-good music.
This year alone, the Chicago-born San Francisco resident remixed the works of Seal (“Amazing”), Nelly Furtado (“All Good Things”), Justin Timberlake (“Lovestoned”), and Britney Spears (“Gimme More”, “Break The Ice”) to the top of the Billboard dance charts. Coca-Cola commissioned an original song to accompany their campaign for the Beijing Olympics, which includes a KASKADE-branded bottle. Dirty South’s remix of original KASKADE track “Sorry” snagged a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording. And “I Like The Way” was just added to the Motion Picture Soundtrack of upcoming blockbuster “Sex And The City: The Movie,” in theaters May 30.
Meanwhile, on the road, KASKADE played a staggering 140-plus club and festival dates worldwide, including Global Gathering and Nocturnal Wonderland. (Highlights from previous years include Field Day and Coachella, where he shared a stage with Madonna.) He won the title of “Best Resident DJ” at the 2008 Club World Awards, for his regular gig at music-first Chicago venue Smart Bar. And to ring in the New Year, he mounted an unprecedented three-city, single-night tour, jet-setting from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Las Vegas, and from massive street festival (GIANT Village) to intimate club (Mission Rock) to after-hours free-for-all (Empire Ballroom), showing his diversity as well as his fortitude.
With slowing down not in the equation (“I'm having a really, really good time,” he says), KASKADE is set to release his fifth artist album, “Strobelite Seduction” (Ultra Records) on June 3. The album expands upon on his trademark sound of glistening, guitar-laden melodies, mixing in elements of various styles. Check out the trance-tinged “Move for Me”; the earthy, R&B-flavored “Your Love Is Black”; or electro-house floor-shaker “Step One Two.” Blending different genres and moods, this is KASKADE at his most adventurous.
“I was molded by the city that I grew up in: Chicago. But I have matured, and ‘Strobelite Seduction’ helps showcase a lot of my other influences,” says KASKADE. “The record is a justification of my weekends in big dark rooms with flashing lights and pounding sound systems. I was seduced by the strobelite.”