RS: When you were putting together the album, what was in your
head when you were writing it?
Kaskade: I think this is the most 'dance' record I've ever done,
possibly. I don't know, other people might argue that. I just wanted
to have something that kind of represented where I'm at. I think the
dance songs are more like dance floor-oriented. Then the chill stuff
is more, just the way they show, because compared to Love Mysterious,
this was more middle ground stuff. Like, is this deep house? What is
this stuff, you know? There's stuff that was written for the floor,
and then there's stuff that's like kind of Sunday afternoon, you could
put this on and listen to it.
RS: Because you're kind of associated with the whole San
Francisco house sound. and you're sort of progressing away from that?
Kaskade: No, not intentionally. I don't know, this is my sixth album.
Sure, things change and you grow and progress as an artist. But what
is the San Francisco sound? It's very hard to pinpoint that. I'm part
of that landscape for sure, and I've been there for almost ten years.
That's where I came up, and that was initially with the records. But I
think what is very San Francisco to the music is that it's very
musical. Whether it's more epic-sounding, or it's really
soft-sounding, it's got to have that real musical outlet to it. I
still really associate with that.
RS: It's also been interesting to watch where, over the past two
or three years, you've done some really big commercial remixes, which
is not something, when I see Kaskade Ultra, it's not something I would
expect. Was this something you did on purpose? Did you pursue this?
Kaskade: Kind of. I was very open to it, and I let people know that.
Then I think people just approached me early on and I think it was a
good mixture of the sounds. Like pop music… I think I write kind of
pop lyrics anyway, so I like to remix pop stuff. It's not too far
fetched, and I think the A&R people at the majors realized that, and
they go, 'Oh Kaskade could work with this song, it's in his realm of
possibility.' So it's a good match. I've always been a big pop music
fan. I listen to the radio all the time in the car. It presents an
interesting and different challenge, to take something that is this,
and try and make it this. So it's like, is this a pop dance or a pop
record? I can make it more appropriate for the floor. It's cool, I
really kind of enjoy the challenge. It doesn't always work out, not
every remix works, but I still enjoy sitting down and trying to
reconfigure.
Remixing
RS: Which of your remixes has been the most challenging for you?
Kaskade: Probably the hardest one I did was Paris Hilton. I forget
the name of the track.
RS: "Nothing in This World" or "Stars are Blind" ?
Kaskade: Not "Stars Are Blind." "Everyone will follow me tomorrow…."
Oh man, I forget. I can remember the chorus but that's it, not even
the title. But for whatever reason, when I initially heard it, I had a
sound in my head, and I thought, I can work like this. I worked it up
like that, but it didn't really work, so I had to try something
completely different. Usually I can hear something, and I just kind of
follow through with what my initial vision is. Ninety percent of the
time that works, but I worked through two or three different
variations of that song, and kind of struggled. But in the end it
turned out really cool. I was happy. I actually really liked the
original song. I think a lot of people had a problem with that album.
Paris Hilton is a favorite. She has this iconic status.
RS: It's pop for the sake of pop.
Kaskade: Right.
RS: And you accept pop for pop, and you go with it.
Kaskade: Right. I actually thought she sang really well on the
record. I mean, if that's her or not, I don't know. It's hard to say.
