Kaskade on Coachella, Atmosphere, and deadmau5

Transcript

Kaskade: We had a sound system there and everybody got rowdy. It was really sweaty and hot. Shout out to Harvard, you guys do get down.

Bobby: When you played Coachella and had ninety thousand people attend your set, you actually beat out The Weeknd, Drake, and AC/DC for the attendance record at that show.

Kaskade: Feels like yesterday.

Bobby: How does one become cool with deadmau5?

Kaskade: He's the police. The EDM police.

Bobby: Kaskade, what's up, man? What's happening?

Kaskade: That's how we do it around here.

Bobby: Nice intro.

Kaskade: Right.

Bobby: When I do it at the radio station, I have to do the whole, "You are listening to BPM."

Kaskade: Oh yeah, this is much more of a show.

Bobby: Right, dude. We got you two pillows on a couch, a Coke Zero. Brown pillows on the green couch.

Kaskade: The green couch, what does a green couch mean?

Bobby: Don't think about it too deep, bro. Don't think about it too deep.

Kaskade: Actually, my brother, I think, saw the couch and was the one who purchased it.

Bobby: It pops. It'll pop on camera.

Kaskade: Dude, now that I think about it, because this is four years ago, now I remember. I got it from some guy in Miami. That's why it's green. This is a very Miami couch.

Miami, the Green Couch, and Campus Lectures

Bobby: Speaking of Miami, dude, what do you think about the city? You like it here? The scene here?

Kaskade: Yeah, dude, I love Miami. It's dope, right?

Bobby: Who doesn't? Everyone loves Miami.

Kaskade: For the most part, yeah. Well, people come here and have a weekend and go too hard, and they love it at first, and then they leave and say, "I'm never coming back." Nah, I could easily live here. There's not a lot of cities I'd say that about, but Miami, you've got the beach.

Bobby: Yeah, beautiful weather.

Kaskade: The living is awesome, the shopping's awesome, the people are cool, the food's amazing.

Bobby: Food is amazing. You have everything here.

Kaskade: Yeah, especially after 2020, because New York shut down and all the people in New York brought their food down here.

Bobby: And opened restaurants.

Kaskade: That's true. Miami is now little New York, basically. Low key.

Bobby: You're looking at one of the guys that literally came in that way, dude. So I've been seeing that you've been pulling up to colleges and doing lectures, and you did one at Harvard?

Kaskade: I'm glad you're asking me about that, because I feel like everybody's been hitting me up about it. I'm not on a lecture tour, although every time we post something at one of these... I've been doing that my whole career, really. Obviously at the beginning people were less interested, but I've always been doing it. Now with social media it's easier to document. When I used to do it, I never really documented it much, I'd take a few photos or whatever, but I've probably spoken at seven, eight, nine, ten universities. I've spoken at a bunch of schools, middle schools, I've even spoken at a grade school. I speak at companies, firesides.

Bobby: Dude, I don't even know what to call you. I was going to call you a professor, but you've just done a bunch of speaking events, basically.

Kaskade: Yeah. And I think having Harvard and UCLA so close together, I did them within a week or two of each other, and that's why more people are like, "You need to come to my school. We have a music program, you've got to come visit." And I'm like, "Okay, hold on. I have a job outside of this, you know? I actually have a life too."

Bobby: What about ASU? I went to ASU.

Kaskade: That would be an awesome one. That's a party school. Biggest school in the country, actually, by student population.

Bobby: Holy cow.

Kaskade: Yeah, it's like a hundred-something thousand. It gets rowdy. I'm a product of that environment. Kaskades come out of there, you know what I mean?

Bobby: Yeah, yeah. That's fun. ASU's great.

Kaskade: It is. Hit me up next time I'm in town, I'll come by.

Bobby: That's an alumni looking out for you guys. So you threw a show after the Harvard one too?

Kaskade: I did. UCLA, I live right next to the campus, so it was just a little drive down the street. But the Harvard thing, they'd been asking me for years to come and speak, and it's hard because I have to take another day and a half out of my schedule to get over there. We were always trying to get the timing to work, and only certain days work. So it took a few years just to line it up and make it happen. And then they were like, "Oh my gosh, you don't have to leave until the next day," because I was gigging in Canada the next day. They said, "We have this small kind of student unit social thing." They don't call them fraternities there, it's like a social club.

Bobby: Sure, sure. I've heard about that.

Kaskade: But it's basically like a fraternity type of deal. So I went there, some building built like a hundred fifty, two hundred years ago. It was awesome.

Bobby: That's crazy.

Kaskade: We had a sound system there and everybody got rowdy. It was really sweaty and hot, and exactly what it should have been. I love that. Shout out to Harvard, I didn't even know Harvard kids got down like that, but apparently they do.

Bobby: Yeah, shout out, for real.

Coachella 2015 and House Music's Second Wave

Bobby: I want to take this back to 2015, when you played Coachella and had ninety thousand people attend your set. You beat out The Weeknd, Drake, and AC/DC for the attendance record at that show, and it was a really big, monumental moment for dance music. Do you remember what that day was like?

Kaskade: Yeah, feels like yesterday. In my mind that's very recent. But it was just one of those things where everything kind of came together. I think the timing was right. From 2010 or '11, I'm sure the people watching this will have some commentary on that, there was just so much buzz around electronic music, and people were trying to understand what it was. I had a few songs that were really delivering at that moment, and I was on the cusp of releasing a new record. I just think a lot of things lined up. And I was playing main stage, so it was fitting to have a moment on that stage.

Bobby: Yeah, it's crazy, such a monumental time. On DJ Lovers Club we post that clip all the time.

Kaskade: It smashes. I post it whenever, and anybody else posts it, Coachella posts it a lot. Just in this last year's promo they were still using that clip because it's so jaw-dropping. It looks like the whole world's there.

Bobby: Would you consider that time period, 2011 to 2014, 2015, the first EDM boom? When dance music really took off toward the mainstream?

Kaskade: Yeah, I think that was a huge wave of interest, and it crested and leaked into more everyday people paying attention to it. But I kind of feel like we're in the second wave of that happening right now, which is weird for me to say because I've seen a few of these in my career. I've been involved with dance music for over thirty years, and I think we're in the middle of it. It's always weird, you need to get through it and then have a little perspective, but I'd say we're in another one right now. That first wave really crossed over to everyday people. Guetta had songs on the radio, Calvin was really breaking and having multiple number ones. Things were just hitting.

Bobby: Yeah, it's facts. Calvin's Eighteen Months album dropped around 2011, '12. That one was huge too.

Kaskade: Huge. There were so many of you guys during that time period just crushing. And now I actually saw the statistic that house music was the fastest growing genre listened to on Spotify this past year.

Bobby: I saw that too.

Kaskade: I think I saw it because you posted it, I follow you guys, you're my news source. But I believe it, it makes sense. I go to yoga a lot in the morning, and the playlists are always whatever's popping in the club. That's what they're playing, and where I go to yoga is this hip place with lots of young, cool people on the west side of LA. I feel like there's a million yoga studios and gyms and workout places like that, and people are listening to it in their headphones. I think it's just very listenable, and people are interested in it now more than ever.

Bobby: No, absolutely. That's funny you say that, I actually went to a yoga class once in my life and heard your music and Disco Lines played, and I was like, "What's going on? I thought I was supposed to be zen right now."

Kaskade: It is zen, actually.

Bobby: Your music is kind of zen, it's melodic, but whenever I hear it I just want to get after it, you know? It makes me want to move, not stretch.

Kaskade: The very first time I went to yoga was only a few years ago, my first class. The instructor played three of my songs, not because she knew I was in the class or anything, and I was like, "Maybe I like yoga." It kind of got me into it. Yoga's kind of cool, man. If you're a yoga instructor, play more dance music, we're about it. It was hard to hold those poses though, man, I am not flexible. That's why I go, though, got to get me working on the flexibility.

Atmosphere, Singing Live, and Studio Collaborators

Bobby: No doubt. Yo, so your track Atmosphere, which was also nominated for a Grammy, has your vocals on it, right? How many tracks have you put your vocals on?

Kaskade: I've lost count. A few out there, half a dozen, a dozen. A lot of times I sing backup too, where I'm just a supporting vocal, trying to get a certain sound. Lead vocal, probably only three or four or five. And then I just cut one this last week in preparation for Coachella, maybe I'll sneak it into the set tonight.

Bobby: Nice. You ever think about whipping out the microphone again and singing live? I've seen clips of you doing it, I've never seen you do it live, but I've seen clips.

Kaskade: I've done it. On the Atmosphere tour I did it. I'm not much of a singer live. I'm a producer, a songwriter. In the studio I can make myself sound the way I want, I control the environment, I can do fifty takes if that's what it takes to get it the way I want it to sound. Live's a different thing. I remember in rehearsals, you'll find this funny, it was actually here in Miami at the American Airlines Arena, the very first Atmosphere show. For the rehearsals I walked out there, maybe two hours before the show, we were just running through cues, the stage moved around and all these different things. I walked out there and started the show singing Atmosphere, because the album had just come out. I'm like, "I have to start the show with me singing Atmosphere," I don't have a choice. And I walked out there, this is to an empty arena, and I couldn't remember the words, not even the word "atmosphere."

Bobby: With zero people in the crowd?

Kaskade: With nothing. I was like, "Oh my gosh." I actually have in-ear monitors, it's a very different thing. I think DJing is very comfortable for me because I've been doing it forever, and because I have this workspace in between me and the people watching, that's my zone, nobody's getting in there. I don't have that in front of me when I'm singing, I'm standing right next to the crowd and they're screaming. It was a very boy-band kind of moment. I was like, "I don't know that I like this." It makes me really nervous, and that's harder to sing, so I figured I'd just do like Calvin does and stick to DJing.

Bobby: Yeah, that's your safe space, the decks.

Kaskade: Yeah, and he used to sing too. He's got a great voice, I love his voice. He sings all the tracks, but he was doing a lot of live shows, I remember, he used to have a band. When I was a kid I grew up listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, love them, and Billy Corgan is a brilliant musician, great songwriter, but his voice, I think this is what convinced me to sing, is I listened to his records and it's not that he has the perfect voice, that's not why I like it. It sounds a little off and different, that's why I like it, it's not perfect. And that's when I was like, I cut Atmosphere thinking somebody would come and sing it, somebody who's a singer. That's the producer hat, "I need to have you come in and sing this song, this is the vibe I want." But it's different with the artist versus the producer. As the artist I'm like, it doesn't have to sound perfect, it's okay, I don't need to spend ten hours on the mixdown, it can be a little off and that's okay.

Bobby: Yep, that is okay, absolutely okay. So I was looking at your catalog on Spotify earlier today, you've released a lot of music. Who have been your favorite artists to work with and collaborate with?

Kaskade: That's a funny question. Pretty much everyone I've worked with is cool, especially if I've worked with them a second time, because I'm like, "These guys are cool enough to do it a second time." And nowadays, when people are like, "Oh my gosh, you were in a mix, Lady Gaga," it's not like she came over and hung out in the studio. Maybe that's how it happened in the '70s or '80s, I don't know. But now people just send files back and forth, it's very rarely that I sit in the studio with somebody. I've written a lot of music with Joel, deadmau5, I think I've collaborated with him more than anyone. I've gone to his house and we've worked out of the studio, but I think we did more wakeboarding than studio work, we'd wake up late, go wake surfing, get a few hours in the studio after. But when you're in your own space and you feel comfortable, it's easy to work fast. There is something about sitting in the room, because when you send an idea to somebody remotely, if they like it, it's cool, if they think it sucks, it's all right, you're not married to anything. But once you've done that with somebody a few times, it's cool. I get along really well with CID. The newest one with him and Anabel Englund is doing the business. We're always kind of throwing each other tracks, "Should this be our next collab?"

Bobby: No, absolutely. Speaking of Joel, how does one become cool with deadmau5? I think you had to know him prior to 2010, and then you're kind of grandfathered into the club.

Kaskade: Yeah, because he chirps me sometimes online about my new stats.

Bobby: Of course he does, that's Joel's job, dude. He gives me more crap than my older brothers, man.

Kaskade: That's like keeping everyone in line. He's the police. The EDM police, literally.

Bobby: I'm just trying to be cool with the man, I just want to be like, "Yo dude, be nice to me, please."

Kaskade: Him being mean is showing love.

Bobby: Is that what it means? Damn, dude.

Kaskade: Yeah, I'm a big fan of his too, but I'll always give him love. Whenever he gives me a hard time online now, I'll just take it as a compliment. I'll take it, think of it as him showing love.

Rising Artists and Top Five Songs

Bobby: That's it, dude. I had to ask you that. Yo, so who are your favorite artists right now in the scene, up and coming, kind of curating the culture going forward?

Kaskade: I should probably whip out my laptop and see who I'm playing. Honestly, the last three or four years, watching John Summit and Dom Dolla come up has been my favorite thing, because I was a fan of their sound well before they had this moment. Same thing with Chris Lake. It's funny, all these guys are kind of in my circles, they're sending me music, and it's cool to see them have the moment. But I don't know who's filling in behind that. I'd really have to have my laptop open, because most of these people I don't even know where they're from, they're emailing me, I'm supporting them and playing their tunes, but I don't have much of a relationship with them.

Bobby: That's what's up, I'm a fan of all three of theirs. Chris is actually playing tomorrow, the festival you're playing today.

Kaskade: Yes, I saw that, it's awesome, the lineup is killer.

Bobby: It's killer, honestly. We belong here crushing with this. And they did three days this time instead of two.

Kaskade: So I didn't do a very good job of answering that.

Bobby: Nah, nah, honestly you did. Unprepared, next time we'll get your laptop out. But I guess it's my fault for feeding you pizza and empanadas before, now you're too comfortable.

Kaskade: I'm like, time for a little nap.

Bobby: Yeah, that's what I'm saying, dog. That's my bad. All right, this one's going to be a tough question, because I know it is. What would you say are your top five songs you've ever released, at least five, you're worth it. I think I asked you this before and you were like, "Oh, I don't know, man."

Kaskade: It's so hard. You don't have to label them one, two, three, four, or five.

Bobby: Well, yeah, I'll just throw some out.

Kaskade: I still play most shows, I don't play it every show, but Something Something is kind of a special song that I wrote with Finn Bjarnson, amazing songwriter. And then I mashed that up for Ultra, whatever year that was, a long time ago, because the song itself is more of a down-tempo track. That one always slams when I put it on, it gets me pumped. I've heard it thousands of times and I still listen to it, that riff is so killer next to the lyrics and melody. It just works. On Your Mind, I love putting that one in my list of top songs because it's so different, the tempo is different, but for whatever reason that song caught on. It's one of my highest streaming songs, and it doesn't fit into any of my sets really because it's so slow. But I played it as the last song in Brooklyn once.

Bobby: You played it as the last song in Brooklyn, yeah, I was in the crowd.

Kaskade: It does bang live. If you know it, and you've heard it in your car at loud volume, it's nice to hear it with some people. I closed with that for a really long time. I think 4 AM is still a really special song to me, and it's been cool to see that one connect with so many people. I can still play that now and people know it. But I should go for some B-sides too. Room for Happiness sticks out to me, Skylar Grey is the coolest ever, arguably one of the most talented songwriters of our generation. I felt like I got onto her early. She was working with Puffy, and I heard her song and literally called up and said, "I have to work with this girl." I figured out who she was and how to get to her pretty quickly, fortunately she was living in LA, so I always love to shout out Skylar. We just went out and vibed and hung out, she came over to the studio, then she went home, and I think she was like, "Okay, I get the vibe." I sent her some chords and she sent Room for Happiness back, she said, "I just recorded this in my living room." I was like, "This is maybe the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."

Bobby: That was four, I think you need just one more. And by the way, we'll clarify, we're just listing five tracks right now that you like, all right?

Kaskade: All right, I'll go for a B-side that I still play because I like it, people maybe do or don't, I don't know, but I'm always like, I like it, I'll play it, I'm in control here. We Don't Stop, which is another one I sing on. Out of all the songs I sing on, that one's actually kind of easy to sing live because it's right in my range, I didn't have to work really hard, it's more of a singalong. I like it because I like the message.

Bobby: Hell yeah, it's a good five. I'm actually going to sub out here for a second for the last question, do you mind? All right, I got someone here for you right now. Pop, get over here, the legend. My dad wants to ask you a question. I'm giving him my seat right now. I'll throw him a high five on camera here. Watch out for your head.

Bobby's Dad: As I watch you touring and going all over the world, and how many shows you do, I'm super impressed by how much you work. You're like the hardest working man in show business. So I wanted to know, how do you do it? How do you keep your energy going? How do you keep going like that?

Kaskade: Thank you, that's a huge compliment. I think there are harder working dudes out there, Aoki, I'm always like, "Man, I'm working really hard," and then I pull up his Instagram feed and I'm like, "Steve's working harder." I think when you're doing what you love, for me it's always been a challenge of what do I say no to. I really enjoy a lot of aspects of what I do, from sitting down and making music to going out and performing. The hardest part of my gig is really getting on the plane, getting to the airport, going through security, getting to all these different places. But if that's the downside of your gig, that's amazing. Even after I travel, we just recently played over in Australia, it's a long trip, we went over to Perth, way over there. I'm on the other side of the world, playing to a room full of people that know my songs. It's so rewarding to connect with people like that in Perth, there was some girl who said, "I've been listening to you for twenty years, thank you so much for coming here, you haven't been here in fifteen years, thanks for coming back." Those kinds of things keep me motivated and inspired, and I'm enjoying it.

Bobby's Dad: That's awesome, that's beautiful, great, thank you.

Bobby: Yeah, always good to see you. Thanks.

Kaskade: Good to see you.

Bobby: That was a good one, that was a good one, that's good stuff. All right, dude, that about wraps it up for us. Thanks for coming in, by the way, Kaskade, we love seeing you, as always, brother.

Kaskade: Much love, dude, thanks for having me.

Bobby: Of course.

Kaskade: Peace.