Pacific Palisades wildfires inspired Kaskade's most personal work yet

"After 24 days of burning, his entire life looked different. Between tours, the famed DJ and dance music producer, born Ryan Raddon, spent the majority of his time at Palisades hot spots like the Village. Now he frequents Santa Monica and Brentwood by force. Of the 30 families in his church, only four of their houses remain standing, including his. Unfortunately, his brother's house was lost to the fires."

""The community is destroyed. It doesn't exist anymore. It's hard not to be angry," Raddon says, remarking that he's been wondering if he should stay in the Palisades. His three daughters grew up there. Does he take away their childhood home? When asked how this sudden and unprecedented shift affected the music he made for "undux," his first album since 2015's "Automatic," Raddon takes several moments to collect his thoughts."

""I've done quite a bit of press for this record, and you're the first person to bring that up," he admits. He made two attempts to write a new album in the last three years, but he was already going through personal struggles before the fires. Divorcing his wife of nearly three decades and watching two of his daughters leave home led to melancholy songs that didn't feel right to release. Eventually, he decided to finish the body of work, no matter what."

""I need to just make this, see what it is and get through it," Raddon says. He was able to complete it with the help of songwriters he's known for years, such as Cayson Renshaw, Finn Bjarnson and Nate Pyfer. "It is therapeutic to sit down and work with another songwriter. [Telling them] I have a lot going on I want to write about.""

Blazing wildfires devastated Pacific Palisades, leaving only four of 30 church families' houses standing and destroying neighbors' homes, including his brother's. The fires forced relocation to Santa Monica and Brentwood and prompted questions about whether to remain in the Palisades where his daughters grew up. Concurrent personal upheavals included a divorce after nearly three decades and two daughters leaving home, which produced melancholy songwriting that felt unsuitable for release. After two stalled album attempts, he completed the record with longtime collaborators. Collaboration served as therapy and a way to work through the emotional material on the album titled "undux."

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