We are proud to present the Toronto debut of San Francisco's Kaskade to Garage 416! This edition will celebrate Kaskade's new CD release "It's You, It's Me" on Om Records. The party will also feature the Garage 416 regulars Blueprint and Moreno.

Meeting a life long friend is always a highly electric and mysterious occasion, felt but not easily described. Such is the feeling of hearing San Francisco producer and DJ Kaskade for the first time. Whether on the sweat drenched floors of West London's LAZY DOG in the sets of DJ's Jay Hannan and Ben Watt or the intimate setting of Los Angeles' premier house music night DEEP with Marques Wyatt, there is definitely something special about this young man's music. On his debut artist album, "it's you, it's me", Kaskade introduces himself and invites us on a journey into his deeply sensual songs that are a celebration of life, love and happiness.

Although his 12" releases on Om Records, Afterhours, Low Down, Hed Kandi and Naked Music Recordings have earned him support from some of the biggest taste makers in the music industry, not much is known about the man behind the music of Kaskade. Born Ryan Raddon in the house music capitol of the world, Chicago, IL, Kaskade and young DJ's Derrick Carter and Mark Farina frequented clubs like Medusa's, Limelight and Metro where they gained their education from the forefathers of house music. Remembering back, Kaskade explains, "They were not only mixing, but segueing, busting out sound-blasts, using reel to reel machines and early samplers; it was all the way of how it was being delivered that intrigued me." Kaskade subsequently discovered the now legendary Gramaphone Records, and began to search through the stacks of vinyl (weekly) for what he was hearing at the nearby club, and hence the DJ to turn producer was born.

Kaskade soon found himself disjointed from the musical innovation of Chicago's late night house scene upon moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, which "was a shock musically" laments Kaskade. Refusing to let this get him down, his commitment to house music drove him to found, promote, and DJ the only house night in Salt Lake at the Manhattan Club. This infamous night ran for 5 years, not only gaining a following of the uninitiated, but also changing Kaskade's life. Remembering those years, he reflects "It was perfect. It was small, intimate, and a place where I could play really deep stuff to a crowd of 250-300 people." The success of this night enabled Kaskade to pay his tuition, get a degree, purchase a local record store called Mechanized Records, and begin laying down his first original tracks. The record store remains open to this day, but after 2 years of ownership, Kaskade decided it was time to take his music to the next level, sold Mechanized and moved to San Francisco.

Upon reaching the house heavy scene of the Bay Area, Kaskade immediately contacted his favorite record label, Om Records. It just so happened that Chris Smith at Om was looking for a production assistant, and Kaskade was more than qualified for the job. While working at Om, Kaskade began slipping in his demo's anonymously into the stacks of music being reviewed. Working under cover, these demos began turning heads around the office. "There was a time when Chris was calling my cell phone and leaving messages for Kaskade, but nobody at Om knew who that was." laughs Kaskade. The positive feed back for his demo material was so great that eventually Ryan Raddon the production assistant had to admit that he in fact was Kaskade. "It was getting too hard to play two people at once, I eventually had to let them know what I'd been up to" admits Kaskade.

Tapped to mix the third edition of the highly successful series "Sounds of Om", Kaskade joined the likes of other Om Records mix-masters Andy Caldwell and DJ Fluid and was soon signed to a three album deal. Gaining strong buzz support from Billboard Magazine, Radio One (UK), KCRW (LA), BPM MAGAZINE and URB along with constant touring through over six countries in 2002, Kaskade stands poised to be a 2003 break through artist following in the foot steps of Zero 7 and Miguel Migs. For the debut album "It's You, It's Me", Kaskade brought in three gifted young vocalists Joslyn (an incredible R&B talent-featured on tracks 1, 2, 4, 7, 11), Rob Wannamaker (pure soul tracks 3, 8, 12) and Amy Michelle (the deep and captivating siren on tracks 6, 9, 13) to join him in completing a deep house debut that transcends the genre, a true masterpiece of smooth vocal gems and soulful compositions.