Kaskade

• Genre: House
• Hometown: San Francisco
• Kaskade Website

About

Chicago native Ryan Raddon started out as a fan of British New Wave, listening to Tears For Fears, the Smiths and the Cult. However, after hanging around clubs with the great Frankie Knuckles behind the decks he began to develop a taste for house. By the time he attended school in Salt Lake City he was making a name for himself as a DJ and started releasing his own productions. One of them impressed OM Records so much, that they picked it up for distribution. Lured by the energetic house scene, he moved to San Francisco and joined OM in their Artist Relations department, and released his debut It's You, It's Me in 2003. The title track proved popular with the Lazy Dog club founders (Ben Watt and Jay Hannan), and repeated spins at their Sunday Socials led to Ryan making a name for himself as a deep house DJ. More credibility followed, with Roger Sanchez picking up two tracks for his Release Yourself 2003 mix, and Jay Hannan launching his Society Heights label with Raddon's "In This Life" (2003) release. His latest effort In The Moment (2004) offers more soulful laid-back deep house for the mellow faithful.

- Nicholas Baker