“Oh my God, he has so many songs!” It’s about halfway through Kaskade’s set on Coachella 2026’s Weekend 1 Sunday eve. After debuting a new track, the producer has just transitioned to a familiar one, and I can see tears in the eyes of the woman next to me reflecting off a barrage of lights and lasers, synced meticulously to the massive wall of sound enveloping the endless Sahara stage crowd.  The set would run the gamut of Kaskade’s 30 years in music — deep and melodic house, big room anthems that defined the heyday of Vegas where he had a pioneering residency, and even some new wub sounds never heard before. “We got Kaskade dubstep before GTA 6,” guest DJ and producer Crankdat says from the stage about his collaboration with the icon after they play an unreleased track. Eleven years after delivering one of the most monumental performances in Coachella history, Kaskade (Ryan Raddon) returned to close out the 2026 fest. In 2015, his main-stage set drew more than 90,000 fans — one of the largest crowds in Coachella history at the time — and is widely credited as a pivotal turning point that helped cement electronic music’s place on major festival stages. This year, he returned with his ambitious new live concept “Origin //,” which felt like a coronation following a three-decade journey. Despite challenging high winds that forced other artists to scale back or cancel elements, Kaskade and his team delivered the full vision: a towering monolith structure, elevated DJ platform atop a pyramid of prismatic mirrors, extensive pyro, sweeping custom visuals, all brought to life by a relentless setlist that kept fans moving nonstop. Kaskade has long stood as one of electronic music’s most influential and grounded pioneers. A Chicago native raised in a Mormon household, he honed his skills early, served an LDS mission in Japan, and broke through in the early 2000s via San Francisco’s Om Records scene. Over 30 years and more than 5,000 shows across 75 countries, made Las Vegas residencies a thing, became the first in-game DJ at the Super Bowl, and the first starting-grid DJ at Formula 1 Miami.  An eight-time Grammy nominee, he has consistently blended his iconic sound with emotional storytelling while maintaining a drug-free, faith-centered lifestyle that sets him apart in a bonkers industry. His 2025 album undux drew from real-life upheaval, including the loss of his Pacific Palisades community in the devastating LA wildfires. The record’s introspective themes of renewal and resilience expanded into the large-scale “Origin //” live experience, which fans couldn’t get enough of, both in-person and on the Couchella live-stream. “One last time with me, Coachella!” Kaskade roars at the end of his thrilling hour-plus set, over the gentle tones of “obvious” from undux, which he plays out to fade. The crowd roars back in appreciation. The lasers cease and the stage lights come on. There’s a pause as the fans around me soak it all in after the final release of the weekend culminating in this massive high. For some, it’s not enough. The group next to me starts to chant, “One more song!”  Kaskade could play many more songs if they gave him the time — hours, probably days, worth — but alas, like all good things, Kaskade’s set is over, and so is the weekend. But the prolific DJ has much more in store. Of course, he will be returning this Sunday, April 19, at Coachella Weekend 2. And following up last year’s undux, he has plenty of new music on the way, and this Coachella run is where he is testing it. “The album isn’t finished yet and these Coachella weekends are part of finishing it,” Kaskade says. We spoke with him ahead of his Weekend 1 set. He reflected on the evolution of electronic music, the difference between proving a genre’s worth in 2015 and simply representing where he stands as an artist today, and what the stage reveals about his next chapter. LA WEEKLY: It’s been 11 years since your landmark 2015 main-stage headline set, widely credited as a pivotal moment for electronic music at Coachella. Looking back now, how has the festival, and the broader cultural acceptance of electronic music on main stages, evolved in a way that makes this 2026 return feel like a full-circle moment for you? Kaskade: When I think about where I started versus where we are now, it’s absolutely wild. I remember getting electronic music onto big stages back in the day was a massive negotiation. The audience wasn’t convinced it was real music. And now you look at a Coachella lineup and it’s loaded up with electronic music. This community of artists and our audiences just kept showing up until we got a seat at the table — or on the stage.  Kaskade at Coachella 2015 (Tim Mosenfelder/WireImage) Coming back in 2026 feels big. I’ve cut my teeth over the years on small stages, with passionate crowds, years where I could conjure up the faces of 50 fans that always showed up in front. That’s grown and grown over the years, it’s now crowds of 50,000, 80,000, 100,000 sometimes. So that chapter is done. I get to walk out on that stage knowing the culture caught up to what we always believed in.  The full circle moment isn’t just Coachella. It’s the whole arc. From Chicago to SLC to OM Records, the Vegas residencies, the Super Bowl, Sun Soaked, we did that together. This return feels like we all earned it together. It’s a celebration and acknowledgement that when a person works hard, is surrounded by people with integrity and courts an audience that understands the art, sometimes it just works out.  What does this 2026 set represent for you personally, and how does that compare to 2015? 2015 was about standing at the edge of a cliff and then jumping. I had to grow wings on the way down. Electronic music was still earning its place, and every big set felt like there was more at stake than just the music. It’s interesting that I’ve been making and performing this music for decades and still bump up against feeling like an outlier. So in 2015 I truly felt like an ambassador. Or a kid on prom night. I needed it to go well, there was a lot riding on it, and not just for me. There was this weight to it.  The crowd at Kaskade’s Coachella 2015 set (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images) 2026 is different. I’m not out here trying to prove anything. I’m out here because I’d like to build on what’s happened over all these years. I have something new to show everyone! New music, a completely rebuilt live show, a whole creative melee I’ve been sitting on. It represents expectations inverting from external to internal, which I think will translate to the experience my audience will have.  In 2015, I was representing a genre trying to gain momentum. In 2026, I’m representing myself, and where I actually am as an artist right now. In my career, this has always been my North Star, and I think that I’m there now.  Playing on Sunday often feels like the “closing ceremony” of the festival. What’s the feeling you want fans to carry with them as they walk toward the exit after your final song?  I want them to feel what it feels like to breathe after holding your breath. The relief of exhaling. Coachella is a lot. It’s sensory overload and that’s the point. By Sunday night, people have been through something. So when my last song plays, I don’t want the feeling to be hype. I want it to be warm. I want everyone to feel like for that small amount of time, we all stepped away from whatever it is that is hard in our lives. We hold our breath Monday to Friday, nine to five, or whatever hours we work. I want to be the one that provides a place to breathe. I know all those things don’t disappear, but they can, just for this time together. We can all let that deep breath out after a really full weekend, after a really full time in the world. It will still be hype, don’t get me wrong. But that kind of hype that feels like you might have just healed something. That’s the whole thing. That’s always been the whole thing. The 2026 performance is being shaped as a precursor to your next conceptual album — can you share how this live performance is helping shape or test ideas for that project? The stage has always been my laboratory. I can spend months in the studio convinced something is working, and then play it for 50,000 people and I’ll know within a few phrases whether it is landing the way I hoped. There’s no faking that feedback. There have been flops and there have been surprise “hands in the air” moments I didn’t see coming. Kaskade at Weekend 1 of Coachella 2026, April 12. (Photo: Mark Owens @markowensphoto) So this Coachella set is very deliberately a testing ground. There are new ideas woven throughout that are directly connected to where the next album is headed. And part of what makes this particular show special is that I’m bringing some collaborators out with me. Artists I’ve been working with both on stage and on the album itself. It’s high stakes, but the chance to see how the crowd responds to these moments together, that energy between us live, that is my data. It shapes what stays and what gets put back under my pillow. I won’t give too much away because some of the best moments need to be discovered in real time. But it’s fair to say that if you pay attention during the set, you’ll experience moments of something bigger.  undux was inspired by personal upheaval you experienced in 2025 along with losing your Palisades community from the devastating LA wildfires — do you feel like there’s still something you’re chasing? Always, and I hope that never goes away. Chasing is moving. Chasing is staying a little hungry. Once that isn’t there, this just might end up feeling like a job. The things I chase change constantly, though. Early on it was validation and trying to pay rent. Now it’s something a little more beautiful. Certain feelings, points of interest, details. I’d say it’s not as blunt or concrete as the early days but something that didn’t really exist for me before because it brings peace in the pursuit. You’ve often spoken about staying grounded through family, faith, and a drug-free lifestyle while touring at this level. As the industry becomes even more high-pressure and spectacle-driven, what advice would you give to younger artists trying to build longevity? The most important thing is to know who you are before the industry tries to tell you who you are. When the offers come, when the pressure to perform a certain way kicks in, when you’re surrounded by people who wouldn’t dream of saying “no” to you (and you will be), the thing that keeps you anchored is having already decided what you stand for. For me that’s been my faith. And it hasn’t been a limitation in my career. It is my career, it’s the reason I’m still here doing this with a genuine love for it. Kaskade hosts a “Ryan Meetup” with fans at Weekend 1 of Coachella 2026. (Photo: Mark Owens @markowensphoto) Every form of entertainment rewards spectacle, and music is no different. But spectacle burns hot and fast, and you can see the effects of it on people who get caught up in that. Longevity lives in the choices you make at 2 a.m. when nobody’s watching. It lives in the way you protect yourself from burning out. Artists I’ve watched burn out didn’t lose their talent. They lost their ability to advocate for themselves. Music will sustain you if you let it. But you have to be sustainable first. With 30 years in music and over 5,000 shows across 75 countries under your belt, what have been the biggest shifts in the dance-music industry that you’ve seen, and what core principles have helped you sustain such a long, consistent career? Oh man, somebody did their math! Those numbers are crazy. Thirty years is a long time to watch an industry reinvent itself, but it has, over and over. The biggest shift is access. When I started, the gatekeepers were real. Labels, distributors, radio, promoters, agents, publicists — you needed all of them to be taken seriously. Now a kid in his bedroom can release a record tonight and have it in front of a million people by morning. I’m not mad at that. I don’t believe we need to be overly precious with music. Has it made the landscape noisier and harder to navigate? Sure. But the hustlers are going to get through that just fine.  The second big shift is claiming our spot in the musical world. We went from fighting for any stage to headlining the biggest ones on the planet. Electronic music isn’t a footnote anymore. That happened fast, and I don’t think we’ve fully absorbed it yet. We still have a ways to go, but I’m watching the needle move.  As for principles — I’d say the guiding one would be that authenticity is king. To get the success you want, you have to keep showing up. Consistently and with something real to offer. Five thousand shows across 75 countries (!!) has taught me that the audience doesn’t owe me anything. I will stand up there and earn the room every single time. And I do it because I love the music more than I love the industry. That keeps me on track. Follow Kaskade on Instagram @kaskade and watch his Coachella Weekend 2 streamed live on YouTube. Kaskade on the April 17, 2026 cover of LA Weekly. (Photo: Mark Owens @markowensphoto; cover design: Mark Stefanos) The post Kaskade Returns to Coachella — The Place Where He Made History — with Origin // appeared first on LA Weekly. ...read more read less