DJ is devoted to house music -- and his Mormon faith
By Phillip Zonkel, Staff writer
Article Launched: 03/19/2008 05:57:03 PM PDT
If there were an 11th Commandment, it might read "Thou Shalt Dance,"
and Kaskade would proselytize.
Inside nightclubs across the country, the San Francisco-based
spinmeister works the deejay booth as his pulpit, spreading the word
of house music and raising the roof.
At the same time, however, members of his flock sometimes become
overindulgent imbibers. Nevertheless, those situations don't conflict
with his Mormon faith.
"I consider myself a devout Mormon. I've never had a drink of alcohol
in my life," says Kaskade, aka Ryan Raddon. "I'm not there to judge.
I'm there to have a good time and give the best performance I can.
Sure there are people in the audience doing things that I disagree
with, but it's not my place to shake my finger at them and say, 'Hey.
You shouldn't act that way or you shouldn't do that.' I just don't
partake in it."
Kaskade, 37, will preach to the converted Friday night in Redondo
Beach at Venezia Lounge. He's touring in support of his fourth CD,
"Bring on the Night."
"Kaskade is one of America's more crafty DJ-producers," said Jim
Tremayne, editor of DJ Times, a trade magazine for DJs. "On one hand,
he has the studio chops and musical sensibility to drop ace pop-dance
tunes like 'Steppin' Out,' which implemented a strummy guitar to good
effect. On the other, Kaskade's a talented DJ who knows how to rock a
room with his tunes or hot ones from others."
Kaskade's passion for house music took root in Chicago. In the early
1980s, Chicago's electronic music had metamorphosed from disco to a
synthesis of kick drums, deep-bass grooves and an insistent four-by-
four beat: House music was born.
In the late '80s, Kaskade, who was born and raised outside of Chicago,
ventured into the Windy City and frequented its teen dance clubs,
where he found himself in the middle of the house revolution.
"I liked the simplistic nature of house. It was very raw and soulful,"
says Kaskade, calling from Denver International Airport during a
layover on his way to Tampa, Fla., another stop on his tour.
But Kaskade was attracted by more than the music; the entire scene
grabbed him. Unlike his high school classmates, the youths who
attended the teen dance clubs shared Kaskade's interests in music and
the arts.
"Everyone was very inclusive and really into music. That helped me
enjoy it that much more," he says.
After graduating from high school in 1989, Kaskade went to Salt Lake
City and enrolled at the University of Utah. He selected the
university not only for his love of snowboarding and the mountains,
but also for its location in the heart of Mormon country.
"For a Mormon kid growing up in Chicago, I didn't socialize with that
many Mormons, so I was like, 'Cool. I can have other Mormon friends
who are into other interesting things I'm into and relate on a
religious level, too,' " he says.
"It wasn't music, that's for sure," Kaskade says, chuckling. "There
was almost no music going on out there."
But that house-music void also was Kaskade's greatest motivator.
"Up to that point in my life, I was very passive (about dance music),
just buying records. It was a hobby," he says. "But if there was going
to be a scene (in Salt Lake City), I was going to have to be the
person to create it. It was a test of my passion."
During his 11 years in Salt Lake City, Kaskade promoted and deejayed a
successful Friday night club, opened his own record store and
experimented with composing music.
In the summer of 2000, Kaskade migrated to San Francisco, which had a
burgeoning house-music scene.
"I missed the city. It was time to go back to another urban area," he
says. "There were more opportunities in San Francisco, and I was drawn
to what was happening there."
San Francisco also is where Kaskade fostered his signature sound -
melody driven with vocals and warm atmospheres - and began releasing
tracks under the Kaskade moniker. It was a stage name he randomly
selected, but when his singles sold, Kaskade's record label at the
time branded him and persuaded him to keep the name.
Fans attending his gigs still expect to hear those songs from his
early days.
"My DJ shows have become more like rock concerts. People want to hear
the tracks I created," he says. "I fought it for a little while. The
DJ in me wants to play this new and exciting music that they don't
know about.
"(But) they drove 45 minutes and paid $20, and they want to hear 'Be
Still' or 'It's You, It's Me.' I can understand that. When I go to see
Beck, I want him to play 'Odelay.' "
Phillip Zonkel, (562) 499-1258 phillip.zonkel@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Venezia Lounge, 655 N. Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach.
When: Doors open at 8 p.m. Friday; opening act is DJ Jimmy Little,
with Kaskade taking the stage after 10:30 p.m.
Admission: $20; must be 21 or older.
Information: (310) 379-2900, www.ticketmaster.com.
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