We kick off the New Year with one of our favorite DJ/Producer and Grammy nominated artists, Kaskade. We have a number of his mixes in our playlists to enjoy for activities that we do throughout the day and night. He ended the year with a fantastic NYE show that was socially distanced at a drive-in that was an extension of a number of the shows that he was able to safely perform at as we navigated 2020. We caught up with him to talk about how he got his start, his passion for music, how he stays inspired and what he's working on.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’ve been a fan of your music for a number of years as it’s on a number of my playlists, love working out to it at home, spinning to it at SoulCycle and seeing you at a number of shows most recently at Electric Zoo here in NY in 2019. When did you first fall in love with music and when did you realize that you wanted to create music?

KASKADE: Wow well thank you for the support over the years! I’ve been under the influence of music my whole life, not sure when it took over. I guess the obvious answer is when I was growing up in Chicago, getting educated in these clubs by the world’s best teachers. At some point I just decided I didn’t want a safety net, it was going to be music or nothing.

AM: You have had an amazing background in music from being a record store owner, an A&R director, DJ, songwriter and producer. How have these roles fueled the way that you approach music?

K: Every experience colored the story, gave it some texture. Running a record store is not an easy way to make any money at all but it’s an embarrassment of riches if you think about the fact that you just need to listen to music all day, know who wrote it and what other songs it might reference so you can recommend more music to the person who loves that one song. Working for a label was a huge deal because I got to be inside the machine and see what made it tick. Moving forward from there to playing out and producing and songwriting were just natural progressions like playing on monkey bars. Let go of one and it leads you to the next. They were all important to get me here.

AM: Who were your mentors or sources of inspiration when you began your journey as DJ?

K: I really looked up to the Chicago guys, naturally. They were untouchable and wildly cool. I began by listening to the Hot Mix 5, where they played old disco and B-boy mixes. Frankie Knuckles, Jesse Saunders, and when Steve “Silk” Hurley put out “Jack Your Body” it was over, I was done for. There was never an option to not love this music and make it my house.

AM: How do you define the Kaskadesound?

K: Yeh, I really try not to. Let the music speak and so forth.

AM: How do you stay inspired when it comes to creating new sounds?

K: I try not to overthink it. If you go looking for inspiration it just slaps you around. Is the sky pretty enough to write about? Is the way the ocean is moving lyrical? That girl that just fell down rollerskating, is she my muse? I can’t search for it or I come up empty. But if I leave myself open to remember what’s happening around me, the experiences I’m hearing about and sharing with friends, taking in memories of beauty instead of filming them, I find that they come to me at the times when I need them.

AM: When you begin working on a new song or album, what’s your process in terms of how you begin to create it?

K: I have a hard drive full of ideas, songs that are not right for other projects but needed to live. Usually, I'll go there and start pulling things apart I try not to ever think “this song will begin here, move there and then finish all the way at that point." I put it together in the way that makes sense at the time, then let it rest. Sometimes when I pick it up again, there’s one line that stands out or a lick I hadn’t really felt that suddenly punches me in the stomach. Music is so subjective, always just a reflection of what is happening to a person in that moment. So the idea factory might be full of stuff I hated3 months ago but after my last trip to the supermarket is going to really speak to me.

AM: How do you decide on new projects that you want to take on or those who you wish to collaborate with?

K: It’s usually friends of friends of friends. I can reach out to an artist I think is doing something interesting but there are so many gatekeepers, even in my own camp. It’s trickier than you’d think just to get a conversation. So I like to keep it close, with up and coming people who are working hard in the same way I did. Putting in the time, putting the product out there and hustling in all the ways. If someone hits me up with a line or vocal that rings my bell I’ll always say yes. I don’t really need them to be “the next big thing." I just need them to bring it for our collaboration.

AM: Is there a collaboration that you have yet to do that you would like to see happen and is there a song or album that you would have liked to have been on?

K: Of course everyone has their dream collabs. If Sade hit me up I would have to say no because I would actually die, RIP. I’ve been watching new talent like Gus Dapperton who is interesting as well as someone like Kaytranada and feel like if everything lined up there would be an interesting tapestry there.

AM: There are a number of songs that are on our playlists like Sexy with Kosha Dillz, Lick It with Skrillex, Room For Happiness with Skylar Grey, Move For Me with Deadmaus, Sometimes and your remix of Imag-ine Dragons’ Believer – to name a few. What have been some of your favorite songs that you have created and/or people that you have collaborated with?

K: I get asked this question a lot and never have found the right answer. Honestly, I’ve listened to and played all of my music so much over the years that my favorite ones become whichever ones I haven't heard recently.

AM: What was the moment when you realized that you had made it?

K: In my mind I’ve made it and blown it so many times that it’s just a blur of trying. Always putting in the time, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I guess making it just means that you have the opportunity to continue to work.

AM: You have played a number of festivals and were a pioneer in the concept of Las Vegas residencies, what is it about these environments and playing live shows that you love?

K: It all comes down to the energy of the audience. The show will live and die by what they’re feeling.

AM: What is your favorite festival to play?

K: Sun Soaked.

AM: You’ve been performing via your Road Trip series. How did this come about and how did you decide what cities would be included?

K: It was the most literal instance of necessity being the mother of invention. Obviously with COVID we had to get creative about performances. It was safety first, timing and location second, then the logistics of how can we make this cool and a really new experience for everyone. There were a lot of challenges and I think as we move forward it will only get better but I'm really proud of how we rolled it out and crazy impressed with the audience for respecting the safety guidelines the way they have. We all want what we had before but we all are appreciating what we can get now.

AM: We're assuming that because of the success of that series, that your recent NYE performance was an extension of this as well?

K: Absolutely. When Road Trip succeeded like it did we knew that we could pull NYE off safely as well. Even with the strict guidelines and a curfew before midnight, we got our party.

AM: Are there plans for future Road Trips?

K: Absolutely.

AM: What do you want your legacy to be when people think about the impact that you have had in music?

K: I just hope that people will understand my true love for music. Whether they dig what I created or not, if a person can look at what I’ve done and pull the true intent out of it, we are good.

IG @Kaskade

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | Mark Owens