Playing sold out shows in every corner of the globe is a routine exercise for Kaskade. When Madonna performed at the 2006 Coachella Festival, Kaskade along with Paul Oakenfold were the opening acts. Overseas, Kaskade has headlined at huge festivals and events including Field Day and Park Life in Sydney, Australia. And he'll pop up on any given weekend at mega-clubs ranging from Carfax in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Summer Dance in Manila. If there's a dance culture alive and well in this world, Kaskade has likely been there, and he's likely scheduled to go there again soon.
Tricia Romano of the Village Voice observed, "The ability for new DJs and producers to break in the upper ranks [of the dance music scene] is incredibly hard. Kaskade is one of the few who've pushed past the 'Sashas' and the 'Derricks' to get on the A-list." This is clearly the case when URB Magazine featured Kaskade on their cover alongside Kanye West's A-Trak and NYC's Tommy Sunshine as the three the most influential DJs in North America today. URB explained that "Kaskade is a special breed of house star, one who has increased in popularity over the past few years in an industry where most of the major players have at least a decade (often two) of stardom behind them." That Kaskade has broken rank as well as tradition is a testament to his ability to create music that has succeeded in transcending industry politics and obstinate so-called gatekeepers.
Consistently topping the charts, Kaskade's remix of the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha" immediately hit #1 on Billboard Magazine's Hot Dance Music Club Play, as did his remix of David Morales' "Here I Am." His own songs have proven to be just as chart worthy: the single "Everything," a big-room remix off "In The Moment" made #1 on Hot Music Club Play, and went as far as #6 on the Hot Dance Single Sales. But it was the single "Steppin' Out" that earned Kaskade wide recognition – far beyond the dance music scene – thanks to its heavy radio play, commercial licensing, as well as being named to the annual "Top Ten Singles" list by Entertainment Weekly. From Budweiser commercials to MTV's The Real World, the rocker-styled guitar riffs of "Steppin' Out" mixed to a bass-heavy backbeat was contagious in its appeal, and burst open a wholly new and original sound to dance music.
This broad appeal that Kaskade has been able to tap into has not gone unnoticed by the music industry. The accolades and recognition are numerous, having been ranked in the Top 20 in the "2004 America's Favorite DJ Poll" conducted by BPM Magazine, as well as having been nominated for "The Borders Award for Best New Artist" in 2004. The San Francisco based magazine, SOMA, summarizes it well: "Kaskade has taken over the scene as one of the West Coast's most sought after DJs."
For Kaskade, the fortuitous path of his DJ and producer career is not taken for granted. In the opening track "Stars Align" from his Love Mysterious CD, Kaskade addresses the veritable sea of success he's been sailing with relative ease and without obstacle: "It represents how I feel about my career and the way things have been going for me. I didn't consciously write it to express this point, but listening back to the record, I definitely associate this track with my life. It's about how everything has just lined up and somehow, has seemed to work out. I've been lucky and blessed and this song is just my way of being thankful for it all."
Not taking his profession too seriously, he says, "I'm just a guy who loves to produce music, and I'm having a really, really good time doing so. I'm not it in for the 'scene.' I don't wear shiny sequin shirts and I don't usually hang out in clubs unless I'm going for a specific reason." With his relaxed West Coast demeanor (it's not uncommon for him to show up to a club in flip flops), and his affable personality, Kaskade is an anomaly to the stereotypes often associated with the DJ persona.
Individuality is apparent in Kaskade's personality, and so is the music he produces, which is consistently fresh and discernibly original. Love Mysterious lives up to this reputation and reinforces Kaskade's stronghold in dance music. Dennis Romero of the Los Angeles City Beat couldn't have put it better when he writes, "If there's a man of the moment in dance music, it's Kaskade."
