Ryan Gary Raddon, best known by his stage name Kaskade, is a Grammy-nominated DJ and producer who is famous for his incredible talent and for reaching No. 1 twice on Billboard’s “Hot Dance Airplay” chart. He was recently a keynote speaker at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit conference which was held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19 and 20 January 2017. Per the Deseret News, he “spoke candidly about what it’s like to lead a business and build a brand.” He also talked about what makes the Beehive state so successful.
Ryan took his stage name from a nature book when he saw a picture of a waterfall and a co-worker agreed “cascade” was a good choice, but he later changed the spelling. The 45-year-old DJ and record producer is a native of Chicago. He grew up in nearby Northbrook and attended Glenbrook North High School. He attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, from 1989 to 1990 where he worked on his DJ skills in his dorm room. He, his wife, and three daughters currently live in Los Angeles, California.
On Friday, 20 January 2017, Ryan sat down with Josh James, founder, and CEO of Domo, for an exclusive interview with Deseret News in which he talked about his family, his faith, and his career. About coming back to Utah, he stated, “I’ve got family here. I always got to come out for my snowboard trip. We just came out for a week and rode Snowbird, which was amazing. I was here when it dumped.” Speaking of having a successful career and supporting his family, he commented, “Put the important things first. Prioritizing. What’s important to you? I know what’s important to me. I’m married, and I have a beautiful wife, Naomi, and three kids, and making time for them is top of the list. Obviously, having a great career and supporting them is important too, so juggling those things and finding a way to make it work.” He further stated, “I’ve tried to stay out of the hurrah and all the hype that’s out there. I’ve tried to keep myself grounded and keep moving forward.”
Ryan Gary Raddon is a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During the interview, he also spoke about his faith and the important role that it plays in his life. He said, “I’ve been very vocal about who I am from the beginning. I’m a devout Mormon, and that plays into my music and into my shows and everything I do. And I’ve never been scared to discuss those things with people, so I think that makes me a bit different from most celebrities on the landscape out there and certainly most DJs. But only in the small trivial ways. In saying that, I’ve still made many friends in the industry who are great, upstanding people regardless of the difference of opinion on certain subjects.”
When asked about how he encourages his children’s passions, he said, “It’s simple. Get your kids out of the house. It’s happening all around us. … I think just letting your kids go out and experience that to a degree as you kind of watch them. I’m still new as a parent. We’ll see how that experiment plays out.”
